Hair Restoration Blog

What is Saw Palmetto?

Saw Palmetto is an extract of the fruit of Serenoa Repens. It is rich in fatty acids and phytosterols. It has been used in alternative medicine for a variety of indications, most notably benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

Indications:

Prostate treatment

Saw Palmetto has also been used in treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a condition known by enlarged prostate size to the degree that it makes urinating difficult.

Hair loss prevention

The role of Saw Palmetto in hair loss prevention has also been documented. Saw Palmetto is one of the few effective herbal treatments that can reverse hair loss process in some people to some degree and slow down the process of  balding in men. Saw Palmetto bio active ingredients prevent conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT).

That is how Saw Palmetto helps to stop the process of balding on the hair follicle level. It can help increase the thickness of miniaturized hair and make them grow longer. The Saw Palmetto effect is comparable to finasteride or other DHT blockers by mechanism. Saw Palmetto is available in oil extract for topical use on scalp or as pills used for prostate enlargement treatment.

Q:

Hello,

I did a search for hair re-growth, hair loss, etc. and I found your email address.  These internet searches are definitely far from perfect, in fact sometimes they are way off!  So if this is not the type of business or practice you’re in, I apologize and please disregard this email.

I’m a 43 year-old male.  I started losing my hair, very slightly, at age 27.  I really haven’t lost a whole lot since then, however, my hairline has receded a little and I have been using Rogaine pretty faithfully.
I’m trying to find the best way or multiple ways of re-growing my hair.  First, I am curious to know if it is okay to use Rogaine (5%) and take Propecia?  Do you know if Nioxin or any other shampoos or hair thickeners are helpful?  Would you recommend any?  Are there any other factors that make a difference in re-growing hair such as: vitamins, hormones, foods or physical exercise?

Do you think these types of remedies are all stop-gap solutions and I will need to look for something more permanent? Do you have any insight or additional thoughts or sell any products or services that I can purchase that will help?

Thank you,

A:

Thanks for your email.  You have asked many questions which most have been answered in our Hair Restoration Blog.  There are many hair loss products in the market, but most of them do not have any active ingredients that can help your hair loss condition.  There are only two FDA approved medications that have been approved and proven to be effective and safe for hair loss treatment and prevention.  Those two medications are Rogaine and Propecia.  If you are suffering from male pattern baldness, hair transplant surgery may be the only option that can improve or eliminate the appearance of baldness by bringing good quality hair from the permanent zone to the front and balding areas.

I do not have any particular hair loss product nor recommend many different lotions and potions that are out there in the market for hair loss.  You can find other valuable information on our postings in our blog and can answer your questions on:

• Nioxin - hair loss product
• other shampoos for hair loss
• vitamins for hair loss
• balding and hormones
• foods for hair restoration
• physical exercise and hair loss

I recommend that you find a good hair restoration doctor who can evaluate you and come up with a master plan for your condition.  This may include medications, surgery or even cosmetic changes that you need to bring your hair and beauty back to your life.  We do offer an online consultation for hair restoration through pictures and if decided that you are a candidate and you choose to have a hair transplant with us, it could be easily done.  Our California offices of hair restoration can arrange your trip to our Los Angeles office for your hair restoration surgery.

You can contact our office at 888-302-8747.

Good luck,
Parsa Mohebi, MD

Last month I had an interesting patient who had one sided hair loss. He was visiting me for treatment of his male patterned hair loss and eyebrow hair loss. He also had patchy hair loss on the back of his donor area of scalp that had been bothering him for a long time. His eyebrow hair loss was more pronounced on one side. During his examination, he was pointing out his hair eyebrow hair loss which was more prominent on one side. During the examination of the other parts of his body, I noticed hair loss on one side of his body that was quite distinguished primarily on his legs and eyebrows.

Unilateral balding, or one sided hair loss, is rarely reported in medical literature.  There is a report of a rare medical syndrome in which patients experienced alopecia as part of the presentation of the syndrome. The condition is called Satoyoshi syndrome in which patients may have a slowly progressive disorder of unknown etiology with a poor long-term prognosis.

The syndrome consists of the following clinical features: (1) painful, intermittent muscle spasms; (2) alopecia or hair loss; (3) diarrhea; and (4) skeletal abnormalities. The reported age of onset is typically less than 20 years of age, but three adult onset cases have also been reported. There has been only one sided report of Satoyoshi syndrome so far.  Our patient did not recall the other manifestations of his condition in the past, but did have one sided hair loss on his eyebrow and lower extremities.

Q:
I am 24 with a strong family history of hair loss in the male members at and around early 20s. Recently, I started seeing hair in my sink and on the bed that is much lighter my regular hair. Is it normal? Am I balding and can I use a hair transplant to prevent further hair loss.
A:
Male patterned hair loss is characterized with miniaturization of hair shafts before complete losing them. In genetically prone men to male pattern baldness, hairs of an affected area gradually become thinner and thinner, before they ultimately become nonexistent.

Miniaturization hair shafts make them look thinner, because of the smaller size and then the smaller amount of darker pigments that could be seen.

It seems that you started with hair loss phenomenon and you only need to get it diagnosed by a good hair specialist who can also get you started on medication treatment if need be. A miniaturization study can give you some ideas of where you are heading before starting with the medications.

Dear Dr. Mohebi,

I was doing a quick research on the hair loss solution, that I came across your weblog. I wanted to ask you regarding my hair loss problem. I am 28, with history of hair loss in male members of my family. My hair loss started more than 10 years ago, and I started using Minoxidil (first 2% and then 5%). At the time, I was told that Minoxidil will just postpone the total hair loss. Well, I never went bald that much. About four years ago, I started taking Finasteride 1mg, and I think it worked out really well. But the concerns regarding the side effects for men made me stop it about a year ago. Now, I am seeing more hair loss. I was just wondering how careful should one be in taking Finasteride, especially when all the researches are doomed to an inherit uncertainty, and that the side effects might prove much more severe only in future.

So, I would appreciate if you please advise me and let me know about the solutions that is out there for my case.

Thanks very much,

Patient’s name

A:

I understand your concern. You have stopped finasteride (Propecia), despite of experiencing good results. Finasteride has been out in the market and widely used for prevention of hair loss in past 10 years. Finasteride has a few side effects that they are all reversible with discontinuation of the drug. The most problematic side effect of finasteride is decreased libido that if occurs should go away in about 3-7 days after stopping the medication. I have seen this side effect mostly in elder patients who recently start taking finasteride. I have never seen any patients who won’t recover from this side effect within a few days. In fact, instead of stopping the medication, I usually change the dose to half or prescribe it in alternate days and that way I have been able to manage the side effects in the most cases.

You are concerned with delayed Propecia adverse effects that may have not been discovered or reported and could potentially be a cause for concern in the future. That could be brought up for almost every medication, but I believe we had better stick to the proven facts. All medications that are used in the United States are regulated by the FDA after thorough evaluation of solid results from extensive clinical research.

There are other medications that are prescribed by some doctors for hair loss treatment. Some are currently being evaluated for hair loss prevention such as Avodart (dutasteride), which works through a mechanism similar to Propecia. Avodart is even more effective for hair loss prevention in comparison with Propecia, but it also causes more side effects and that is why the FDA has not yet approved it for hair loss treatment. I do recommend Propecia to most of my patients with male pattern baldness because even if you want to treat your hair loss with hair transplant, you are still better off doing a lesser number of sessions and preserve your own natural hair as much as possible.