Bald fact: Hair Loss Treatments Rating

We can see many reviews about hair treatments but it is not often that hair loss treatments will be systematically rated. Here the first study to systematically rate exisiting hair loss treatments was reviewed by The Japanese Dermatological Association, according to Asahi Shimbun.


It was found that three in 10 hair treatments studied had strong scientific credentials for hair loss treatment. “We wanted to give men a road map through the forest of competing cures.”  Ryoji Tsuboi, a professor of dermatology at Tokyo Medical University,the head author, said.

The Japanese Dermatological Association report was attempted by a team of 10 dermatologists and doctors specializing in the treatment of hair problems. The team looked at 10 medications, hair-growth promoting agents and hair implantation techniques. Data provided by the makers of the hair-growth formulae was analyzed. Evidence from other organizations and medical literature was also looked at.

The study, ranked the hair loss treatments on a five-point scale from "strongly recommended" to "advise not to use," gave two treatments the best rating.

Merck & Co.'s Propecia, a prescription drug containing finasteride, and Taisho Pharmaceutical Co.'s RiUP, an ointment containing Minoxidil are drugs that described as highly recommended for drug treatment.

The second-highest rating of "recommended." was hair transplantation, the implantation of one's own hair tissues in the back of the head into bald spots.

While products containing five ingredients, including adenosine and t-Flavanone, were described as worth trying but lacking scientific proof to be recommended, products containing cepharanthine, made from the root of a plant that is supposed to promote blood circulation, were classified as "not recommended because it has no scientific basis."

However, the study warned against grafting artificial hair made of chemical fibers as there have been numerous reports of infections and rejection reactions due to the treatment.

There are also guidelines on how particular types of patients should be treated.

In not extensive hair loss case, they advise the use of a combination of Propecia and RiUP for a year or alternatively some of the hair-growth promoting agents described as being "worth trying but lacking in scientific basis." If there is no result, hair implantation, using the patient's own hair tissue, is recommended.

On the contrary, if the hair loss is extensive, the use of Propecia and RiUP together is recommended, followed by implants.

Hair loss and baldness is not limited to only the westerners anymore, though most popularity of people suffered from hair loss and bald is in the West. The increasing numbers of receding hair line problems in Japan are more than double since 2005.


We know that there are many  hair loss treatment options - drug treatment, surgical therapy, nutrition and supplement, or even alternative treatments.  But it seems that most acceptable hair loss treatments are drug therapy and surgical therpy at the moment.