Medical Questions » Hair Questions » Question No. 454
| Question: | I have read recently about some home cures for baldness and alopecia. What do you think of these remedies? |
| Answer: | Alopecia (patchy hair loss) and baldness are quite separate conditions.
Male baldness is an inherited condition that passes from one generation to the next. It cannot be prevented and it cannot be cured. If the man wishes to have more hair on his head, it is possible to treat baldness in a number of ways. Wearing a hairpiece is the simplest method, and is very effective, particularly if you start wearing one when you change jobs or move to a new city. Hair transplants, and progressive scalp tightening (removing the bald area) operations can be performed by plastic surgeons. A lotion containing a drug called minoxidil and Propecia tablets (available only on prescription) are proving successful in causing hair regrowth in some men after prolonged use.
Alopecia is a sudden patchy hair loss that can occur in both sexes and all ages. It may be caused by stress, drugs (eg. for cancer), rapid weight loss, iron deficiency, an underactive thyroid gland, diabetes or a number of other diseases. Treatment of alopecia involves treating any underlying cause, using scalp irritants, and injections of powerful steroids into the scalp.
Quack practitioners are always advertising remedies for incurable conditions such as arthritis, cancer and baldness. There has never been any evidence that any of them work. If they did work, the ingredients could be patented, and sold to a major drug company for a very large sum. Buying these unproven remedies is a waste of your time and money.
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