Hair loss drug minoxidil, the effect is better if you take itDr. Hong Hye-gal

Oral effects of minoxidil?

Today's topic is hair loss. Especially for those who have thinning and falling hair, especially men, but for women, I think it's worth listening to today.

Not long ago, there was a very interesting article in the New York Times. It is said that a very old drug, minoxidil, helps to grow new hair.

Here's what I'm talking about. There are only two approved hair loss treatments. One is like Propecia, which you eat. 'Finasteride' and 'dutasteride' in a similar family are the two. The brand name is 'Avodart'. This can now only be eaten by men and not by women. There is no approved medication for both men and women, and the only one that is approved is a scalp drug called minoxidil. In the past, this method was used a lot, but when minoxidil was taken by mouth, it was much more effective, according to a report in the New York Times.

New research on minoxidil

Let me tell you the history of minoxidil. In fact, the drug minoxidil has been known to the medical community for almost 100 years. Originally, minoxidil was developed as a treatment for high blood pressure. I rarely use it now. Because there are a lot of drugs out there that are much better than minoxidil. However, 40~50 years ago, when I took this medicine to treat high blood pressure, I observed that my hair was growing. That's why people started to switch to minoxidil for hair growth rather than blood pressure-lowering drugs, and today it's called minoxyl rogaine. But the problem is, you can't make them eat this. Because it forces blood pressure to drop, there is a risk of side effects.

That's why I applied it to the skin instead. That's the hair loss treatment used all over the world today. But the problem is that the effect is weak. It's not absorbed by the whole body, it's only absorbed by the scalp. And it's very troublesome. As those of you who have done it know, you have to dry your hair after shampooing and spray it evenly on your scalp, which itself takes more than 10~20 minutes. My hair becomes sticky, which makes me feel bad and is very troublesome.

But a professor at the University of Melbourne in Australia makes a surprising discovery. A female hair loss patient was allergic to the formulation of minoxidil and was given a very small amount of the same ingredient. This is called 'desensitization'. Therefore, it is a kind of allergy treatment that is taken in small quantities to soothe sensitive allergies and make the ingredients familiar to our body. Then, to my surprise, it turned out that my hair was growing even though I didn't apply it. When I took a small amount, I didn't see any side effects such as forcibly lowering blood pressure from the original dose. This case was reported to a conference and a worldwide study began.

Minoxidil, how can I get it?

At this point, you may be wondering. It's not even FDA-approved, can I use the drug like that? In conclusion, I can write it. We call it off-label use. It's in the non-authorised prescription category. What this means is that even if it's not approved by the FDA before a major clinical trial, a licensed doctor has the right to legally prescribe a drug based on medical probability, or even if it's a small study. So, minoxidil is not yet approved by the FDA, but it is legal in the U.S., South Korea, or any other country where doctors prescribe it.

I told you about a year ago that preemptively applying this minoxidil can be just as helpful as eating it in small portions for two reasons. First, it's safe. That's because you can cut down to 1/4 or 1/40 of the drugs originally sold for high blood pressure and still be effective.

The second is cheaper. I don't even pay 100 won for a pill. So, even if it hasn't been confirmed by the FDA yet, if there's evidence of its effectiveness, even on a small scale, it's cheap and safe, so there's no reason why we shouldn't let people who suffer from hair loss know.

So, let's get to the bottom of it.According to this article, surprisingly, it has been scientifically proven that when it enters the blood through the mouth, it increases the activity of several important enzymes under the scalp much more than when applied to the scalp. That's why it works. But one thing, it's still a prescription drug in our country. Therefore, you can only get it if your doctor prescribes it.

Also, the effects don't work for everyone. Some people may be effective and others may not. So let me tell you that it's not a one-size-fits-all. It is said that it does not help with completely naked hair.

Today's topic is interesting. Hair loss pills that I applied When I tried it in small amounts, it had the effect of growing hair, and it was widely verified in the medical community, including the United States, and it was even listed in the New York Times. If you are suffering from hair loss, I tell you that it is not a bad idea to use it for good.