Hair Loss: Finding Root Of Problem

You're at the bathroom sink, washing your hands or brushing your teeth, when you happen to glance at your reflection in the mirror. You realize that your hairline is a bit farther back than it used to be. Upon closer investigation, you realize the top is also starting to thin.

You start to think back -- there has been more hair in the shower drain lately ... and in your hairbrush and on your pillow.

Then the reality starts to sink in: That hair isn't coming back.

About 25 percent of men have this experience -- give or take a few tantrums -- by the time they're 30. By their 60th birthdays, two-thirds of men begin balding, according to the American Medical Association.

For most of these men, noticing hair loss is just another realization that they're getting older. It's easy to see balding men aren't suffering from a rare affliction -- a quick look around any public place will reveal dozens of guys whose scalps are in plain view. They've been around forever, and there's no end in sight to the smooth, shiny heads.

In their marketing, some manufacturers of hair-loss products lead people to believe that male pattern baldness, or androgenic alopecia, is a traumatic, life-altering event -- and for some men, it is.

These men start looking in earnest for a magical drug that will make their hair grow back, but with few exceptions, they don't find what they're looking for. In the meantime, they're dropping hundreds -- sometimes thousands -- of dollars on medical treatments they hope will rebuild their self-confidence.

Searching For A Cure

Drug companies and other, shadier, operations are working hard and fast to pump out the miracle cure these men are seeking. So far, though, only two products have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating male pattern baldness.

Minoxidil, popularly known as Rogaine, was originally used to treat high blood pressure. Now it's widely used as an over-the-counter topical solution that's applied twice a day by men who are crossing their fingers that it will regrow their hair. Studies have indicated that it does so in 10 to 20 percent of users, while it's been shown to slow the rate of hair loss in 90 percent of people who use it, although nobody knows exactly how.

The other FDA-approved drug is finasteride, sold by Merck & Co. as Propecia, which was first used to treat enlarged prostate glands. The prescription drug, taken daily in pill form, has proved in studies to be more successful than minoxidil in regrowing hair and stopping hair loss. But it also has serious potential side effects, such as loss of sex drive, reversible impotence and a decrease in semen count. The drug isn't approved for women because it can cause birth defects.

It takes months before results are evident from either drug, and if men ever stop using them, hair loss will continue and their regrown hair will fall out, according to the drugs' manufacturers.

But men who are truly agitated by their hair loss don't stop with these two FDA-approved drugs. Online hair-loss forums are full of men sharing information on the latest treatment regiments -- ranging from vitamins like zinc and topical vitamin B-6 to Chinese herbs to body-cleansing techniques to more potent varieties of drugs that are already available.

Tyler, a 30-year-old computer operator in western Michigan, began losing his hair when he was 22. Tyler, who didn't want his last name published, estimated that he's easily spent $5,000 on supposed treatments, and perhaps as much as $10,000.

What has he spent it on? Minoxidil is on the list, as is Fabao 101D, a natural product Tyler said was a waste of money. He's also tried a number of Asian products, which he described as rip-offs, and remedies like grape seed extract, antioxidants and vitamins.

Tyler said he's tried at least 100 different products for which he heard success stories in online forums or news groups. "If I have one chance out of 100 to be one of those people who gets great results, it's worth it," he said.

Next:

Part 2: Marketing A Disease
Part 3: 'I Wanted To Fight It'

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