Caerus said:
If a doctor isn't going to prescribe it should I even be taking it?
Dutasteride is licensed for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, just like finasteride 5mg (Proscar) originally was, but trials as a hair loss treatment in 2002 were cancelled - probably for commercial reasons. This caused much consternation in the hair loss "community" because dutasteride was widely expected to be superior to finasteride: early results certainly seemed to indicate this.
GSK recently announced new phase III trials for hair loss, so who knows, we may see dutasteride officially marketed for hair loss someday.
I know what rogaine does, but how does nizoral help and where can I buy them?
The effects of chronic use of 1% ketoconazole or a 1% zinc pyrithione shampoo on the general health of hair and scalp.
Authors G. Piérard and G. Cauwenbergh
Institution Department of Dermatopathology, University of Liege, Belgium.
BACKGROUND:
March 04, 2001 - American Academy of Dermatology Meeting - Washington DC - Scientists working for McNeil, makers of Nizoral anti-dandruff shampoo, presented the findings of a study done on 1% Nizoral shampoo which has good news for hair loss sufferers.
It has long been known that 2% prescription Nizoral has beneficial effects on Androgenic Alopecia (male pattern baldness). It however has been unclear whether the same benefits can be obtained by using the non-prescription 1% version.
In the study presented (see below), one hundred male volunteers with mild to moderate dandruff and somewhat oily scalp, were using, in a double-blind fashion, either a 1% Nizoral shampoo or a 1% zinc pyrithione shampoo, 2-3 times a week for 6 months.
Analysis of the different parameters set up in the study shows that the hair diameter gradually increased with Nizoral use (+8.46%) over a 6 month period, whereas the diameter showed a trend to decrease with zinc pyrithione use over the same period (-2.28%).
The sebum excretion rate was reduced with Nizoral (-6.54%) while it increased with zinc pyrithione (+8.2%) over the same period of time. The number of hair shed over a 24-hour period was reduced by 16.46% with Nizoral and 6.02% with zinc pyrithione after 6 months.
Finally, the percentage hairs in anagen phase increased by 6.4% and 8.4% respectively during the study time. The results are similar to a previous study done on 2% prescription strength Nizoral where it was shown that use of 2% Nizoral yielded a 7% average increase in hair shaft diameter similar to what was achieved by the control group using 2% Minoxidil and a non-medicated shampoo.
So for any hair loss sufferer, this research clearly indicates that using 1% or 2% Nizoral 2-3 times per week, will have positive effects on hair growth as well as controlling dandruff.
It is still unclear at this time whether it's the anti-fungal properties or the anti-androgenic properties of Ketokonazole (active ingredient in Nizoral) thats responsible for the hair thickening effects, however because of the decrease in sebum rates as well, it is the authors opinion that the results are due to the anti-androgenic properties of Ketokonazole.
