I made an account specifically because of the Brotzu thread. Commenting on other threads would then mean that I casually frequent a hair loss forum, which is not something I want to be known for even to only myself.
I've said all this before multiple times, but I'll do it again.
I was an early defender of the lotion. I did all the research and I did the necessary mental gymnastics for the science to make sense, and I won't lie that parts of it still theoretically make sense (but so do those of many drugs that end up failing). What's sad is I can see the same logic people use now that I also used back in 2016, so I can somewhat empathize. I also went through the faulty logic that Merck would try to shut it down because it would cut into their sales. I also went through the faulty logic of "why would a respected Doctor lie" and "Fidia is a reputable company, they wouldn't risk their reputation on a scam." I won't sugarcoat the fact that I was f*****g retarded back then just like you and others are now. The thin threads of hope blinded me to the flagrant inconsistencies in Brotzu's own words and the fact that the ingredients are basically the same as hundreds of other cosmetic anti-fall products that have existed on the market for decades that don't work:
All of them share the same basic ingredients:
1. A derivate of gamma linolenic acid
- Borage oil and evening primrose oil and others, all very very old hair loss treatments. They all consist of Gamma-linoleic acid, aka GLA. GLA converts to DGLA in the body. DGLA is the main ingredient in Brotzu's lotion.
2. Some form of phytoestrogen (plant-based estrogen) or soy isoflavone. A popular one is Glycine Soja oil. They're meant to bind to estrogen receptor beta. They also play a large role in the whole chain of enzymes and metabolites that have been researched for decades to play a role in hair, such as PGE2, PGD2 and the COX-2 enzyme.
-S-equol and R-equol, the secondary ingredient in Brotzu's lotion, are soy isoflavones. Excluding their interaction with DHT, they very actively bind to estrogen receptor beta.
3. Some amino acid that aids in cell metabolism. There are so many of them. One that's used in some of these anti-fall lotions is L-Methionine.
-Brotzu's lotion uses L-Carnitine.
Those are the main ingredients in Brotzu's lotion. They're alarmingly similar to many other anti-fall lotions that have been out for decades and have research supporting that they are good for your hair.
It's important to know that the only 'discovery' ingredient is the DGLA (which is a precursor to the real discovery ingredient PGE1). the equol and L-Carnitine are "these 15 year old papers says it might be good for hair, so I'll just throw them into the batter and see how it works" ingredients. They were never anything and they do nothing. And we know from above that DGLA is nothing new in the hair loss industry.
The only 'new' thing is liposomal delivery, which aren't actually new. Hollywood hair doctors are big into the egg mixture scalp injections for hair treatments that have existed for many years. Guess what the Brotzu patent says they use for liposomes? phosphatidylcholine. Guess what's in eggs? phosphatidylcholine.
With that we've finally come full circle to the realization that this product will do basically nothing. It might make your hair feel nicer, who knows. But you will not regrow hair.
