abcdefg said:
I prefer links to double blind studies and not studies done on rats for a week with no control group. Link me those studies, and ill turn that frown of yours upside down.
There are a couple of good quality studies published in peer-reviewed journals that show ketoconazole increases hair count. No, they're not as good as the evidence for finasteride and minoxidil, but they're better than the evidence for anything else. Maybe nizoral shouldn't be considered part of the big three, but the evidence clearly shows that after minoxidil and finasteride it's the next best thing.
Add to this the fact that it's very cheap and easy to use. That's important too.
I don't have the links to all the studies on hand but they have been posted many times before. How about this one for the moment:
The Journal of Dermatology, 2002 Aug, 29(8):489-98, Comparative efficacy of various treatment regimens for androgenetic alopecia in men, Khandpur, Sujay; Suman, Mansi; Reddy, Belum Sivanagi.
This was a parallel-group study comparing different treatments. It didn't have a control group. Also, it was not blind unfortunately. It was randomized though.
"At the end of one year, hair growth was observed in all the groups with best results recorded with a combination of finasteride and minoxidil, followed by finasteride and ketoconazole, finasteride alone and minoxidil alone.
Not the best evidence, but pretty damn good compared to all the snake oil out there.