Long-term progression study of placebo treatment for AA

bornthisway

Established Member
Reaction score
9
Progression of hair loss in men with androgenetic alopecia (male pattern hair loss): long-term (5-year) controlled observational data in placebo-treated patients.

Eur J Dermatol. 2008 Jun 23;18(4):407-411.
Kaufman KD, Girman CJ, Round EM, Johnson-Levonas AO, Shah AK, Rotonda J.
Merck Research Laboratories, 126 East Lincoln Avenue, RY34-A248, Rahway, NJ 07065, USA

Relatively little is known about the progression of androgenetic alopecia (Androgenetic Alopecia; male pattern hair loss) in untreated men. We evaluated the long-term (5-year) progression of Androgenetic Alopecia in men treated with placebo in a controlled clinical trial setting. We analyzed pooled data over 5 years from two replicate studies with finasteride 1 mg/day in men with predominantly vertex-pattern Androgenetic Alopecia. Each study consisted of an initial 1-year, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled base study and four consecutive, 1-year, double-blind, placebo-controlled extension studies. Change over time in scalp hair growth was evaluated by four predefined endpoints: scalp hair counts; assessment of standardized clinical photographs by an expert panel; investigator clinical assessment; and patient self-assessment. All four predefined endpoints demonstrated progressive scalp hair loss in men receiving placebo over the 5-year study period, with a loss of 239 hairs from baseline (26.3% decline in hair density) measured in the target area at 5 years (p < 0.001 vs. baseline). Similarly, visible progression of scalp hair loss was demonstrated by global photographic assessment, with 75% of placebo patients rated as worsened from baseline at 5 years. We found that scalp hair loss continued in a progressive manner over a 5-year period in placebo-treated men with Androgenetic Alopecia.

PMID: 18573713
 

rusty_y2k2

Established Member
Reaction score
0
so hairloss untreated continues....

Ground breaking research there. Where exactly did they get their grant for this one?
 

sammo

Established Member
Reaction score
3
by untreated they mean using reviviogen... joking... lets hope it works... for my sake :p mabye i should stop bagging it till i get to month 12 when my crown stops THINNING!

Sammo
 

abcdefg

Senior Member
Reaction score
782
Yeah I agree. It truly is amazing how much time and money and wasted on the dumbest studies someone could even dream up. I mean I have seen studies on teen pregnancy, teen drug use, stuff like this, and countless others. I mean what on earth do you study to figure out some teens use drugs? or that hairloss progresses without treatment? How can people so smart be manipulated into wasting their time like that?
 

harold

Established Member
Reaction score
11
rusty_y2k2 said:
so hairloss untreated continues....

Ground breaking research there. Where exactly did they get their grant for this one?

Look at the text in bold in the first post. Good old Father Merck generously bequeathed the money - not that it would cost anything since its basically the placebo results from the other 5 year finasteride study I assume.
Pharmas often stand to gain more by pumping up sales for old meds and extending patents with new formulations then they do by spending all the money trying to come up with something new and get it approved.
hh
 

sphlanx2006

Experienced Member
Reaction score
0
I dont think these studies are THAT useless. Dont get me wrong i would much rather seeing serious science involved, but -since evaluating hair loss treatments is not always that easy- its good to have a study to compare the results of a medicine.
 

harold

Established Member
Reaction score
11
Agreed its better than nothing but as research on hair loss is relatively rare it is frustrating to not really learn anything new when a new paper does come out. So the attitudes of people displayed here are not surprising.
hh
 
Top