Treatment of androgenetic alopecia with a 7.5% herbal preparation

A standardized 7.5% herbal extract preparation used to increase the density of hair growth was subjected to scientific investigation to evaulate its hair growth-promoting properties. A group of 24 healthy male subjects under the age of 55 years with stage III-IV androgenetic alopecia were enrolled in a randomized double-blind parallel-group vehicle-controlled study lasting 48 weeks. The hair inside a 1-cm tattooed triangle was harvested bimonthly. Measurements included total hair counts, non-vellus hair counts, average hair length and total hair weight. After 40 weeks of treatment, the mean total hair count increased by 77% in the active group compared to a 3% increase in the placebo group (P = 0.003). The number of non-vellus hairs in a 0.433 cm2 area increased by 169% for the active group compared to 33% for the placebo group (P = 0.01). In the active group, 90% of the subjects showed an increase of more than 35% in non-vellus hair count compared with only 33% of the placebo group (P < 0.05), and 60% of the active group had excellent results (100% increase in non-vellus hair count) compared with only 8% of the placebo group (P < 0.05). It was seen that the standardized herbal preparation was significantly more effective than the placebo.