An Old Medicine Grows New Hair for Pennies a Day, Doctors Say (nytimes.com) 66
Several readers have shared a report: The ads are everywhere -1 and so are the inflated claims: Special shampoos and treatments, sometimes costing thousands of dollars, will make hair grow. But many dermatologists who specialize in hair loss say that most of these products don't work. [...] But there is a cheap treatment, he and other dermatologists say, costing pennies a day, that restores hair in many patients. It is minoxidil, an old and well-known hair-loss treatment drug used in a very different way. Rather than being applied directly to the scalp, it is being prescribed in very low-dose pills.
Although a growing group of dermatologists is offering low-dose minoxidil pills, the treatment remains relatively unknown to most patients and many doctors. It has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for this purpose and so is prescribed off-label -- a common practice in dermatology. "I call us the off-label bandits -- a title I am proud to bear," said Dr. Adam Friedman, professor and chair of dermatology at George Washington University. He explained that dermatologists have been trained to understand how medicines work, which allows them to try drugs off-label.
Although a growing group of dermatologists is offering low-dose minoxidil pills, the treatment remains relatively unknown to most patients and many doctors. It has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for this purpose and so is prescribed off-label -- a common practice in dermatology. "I call us the off-label bandits -- a title I am proud to bear," said Dr. Adam Friedman, professor and chair of dermatology at George Washington University. He explained that dermatologists have been trained to understand how medicines work, which allows them to try drugs off-label.
Dermos do like off-label (Score:3)
My dermotologist is at Johns Hopkins and is considered among the top of his field. The only doctor I have ever been to that routinely prescribes me stuff off-label.
This is an eye-drop for glaucoma, he says. You're going to want to apply this to your hooha 2-3 times a day (paraphrased).
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This is an eye-drop for glaucoma, he says. You're going to want to apply this to your hooha 2-3 times a day (paraphrased).
Why do you have an eye on your "hooha"?
Actually, never mind, I'll just wait for the Reddit AMA.
Re:Dermos do like off-label (Score:5, Funny)
"Sorry I can't come to work today, boss. I've developed a bad case of rectal glaucoma: I just can't see my ass coming in!"
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This is an eye-drop for glaucoma, he says. You're going to want to apply this to your hooha 2-3 times a day (paraphrased).
Wow. I must need to apply something to *my* eyes; I thought you wrote honda. ...)
(though, not sure that's worse
Give me a pill that makes all the hair fall out (Score:3)
I'm tired of shaving!
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Good news on multiple fronts! If you're into injections or pills chemotherapy can do that. 500 REM or more whole body dose of radiation can too, and as plus you'll lose unwanted pounds from digestive tract mostly dying and being shed out your ass in a bloody mess. Then there is always overdosing on caffeine like some body builders used to do back in the day, along with hair loss there can be convulsions, chest pains and difficulty breathing which gives you excitement instead of boredom while waiting for
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You want to get rid of all hair? I recommend some polonium pills. Warning, it might have some side effects as it is considered one of the most radioactive elements.
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It works only if you have some hair left. (Score:2)
So some people might benefit, even if it is to grow sides and and back and depend on combing over balding scalp.
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Attention bald guys: Your combover fools no one! It is much much worse than straight up baldness.
Re:It works only if you have some hair left. (Score:5, Funny)
Why do you libs have to make everything about Trump?
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Legit the first time I've laughed at a Trump related joke in ages. Thank you for making Trump funny again.
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MTFA doesn't have the same ring as MAGA, though if you try to pronounce it is does sorta sound like muthafucka.
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I parse as 'mutfa.' Seems appropriate enough to me.
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Why do you libs have to make everything about Trump?
I like Penn Jillette's description of Trump's hair: "Candy floss made of piss"
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Sounds good for me. I'm 40 now and my hair isn't really receding, but is definitely thinning. It's not as noticeable when its dry but if its wet and I comb it you can definitely notice it.
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It can also kill you. This isn't a new use for monixidil (unless it's new in the US), it's been used like this here for years. Problem is that minoxodil's primary effect is on blood pressure, so it can cause all sorts of heart problems. For this reason when used to treat hair loss it's administered under medical supervision and monitored for side-effects until it's certain your system is OK with it.
If it's being used off-label in the US then presumably there'll be little to no medical control over dosag
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It does not create new hair.
Headline says "New hair"
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Minoxidil (Score:5, Informative)
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Hmm..wonder if that makes it good for a blood pressure med?
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Apparently it does not. It's used to treat hypertensive patients who do not respond to other medications, in combination with other medications to counteract its more serious side effects.
Definitely sounds like something you want to be taking off label for cosmetic reasons.
Cat Sweat Scalp Tonic (Score:4, Funny)
As long as there are no "acking" side effects, they should make millions.
Pros and Cons (Score:4, Funny)
Pros:
You get more hair.
Cons:
You don't get to decide where.
Re:Pros and Cons (Score:4, Funny)
I'm picturing Elmer Fudd growing hair rapidly only for it to sprout flowers at the ends.
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Better yet, picture Homer Simpson in the episode where he took it (drug name slightly changed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Surprised no one has mentioned this yet.
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On Married With Children, Kelly came up with the hair growth miracle, name was "Bleen" [youtube.com].
Re:Pros and Cons (Score:5, Informative)
I regret to inform you that this is exactly how it normally works.
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Re: Minoxidil (Score:2)
Oral application? (Score:2)
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It is used to treat high blood pressure. A dermatologist prescribed it for my wife, who has been taking it for a couple months now to combat thinning hair. It works. She does have more facial hair, but it is very fine and doesn't grow that quickly compared to the coarse bristles that I scrape off my face every morning. She has a nifty little battery-operated hair trimmer that is far kinder to her face than a standard razor.
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I buy the generic 5% topical treatment and I believe the oral treatment has stronger side effects (causes high blood pressure) and women should use it as well.
Oral Minoxidil us used to lower blood pressure, but, apparently, in the very low doses used for hair growth doesn't affect BP -- at least in this patient referenced with female-pattern baldness. From TFA (a little more than 1/2 way through):
Dr. Sinclair tried cutting minoxidil pills into quarters. To his surprise, the low dose made her hair grow but did not affect her blood pressure, the original purpose of the higher-dose drug.
He subsequently lowered the dose more and more until he got down to effective doses of one-fortieth of a pill and began routinely prescribing the drug. That first patient still takes it.
Only one drawback (Score:3)
It only works in your nose, your ears and on your ass.
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Hey, no kinkshaming! A hole is a hole!
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Because horse dewormer not only wasn't shown to have any impact on coronaviruses (not just Covid-19) but was shown to be toxic in improper doses. Quite a lot of people made themselves sick with it, and may have long-term impacts. So far Minoxidil doesn't seem to be toxic and has shown promising results. In addition, the hair growth properties of minoxidil are well-documented, as well as potential side effects when taken that way. So not really comparable situations, although someone taking minoxidil that wa
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Wait, let me see if I got this right. Taking off-label medicine to treat COVID is a big no-no, because reasons, but doing the same to treat hair loss is OK?
Taking something off-label is generally no big deal. DEPENDING on the (repeatedly disproven) efficacy of something taken off-label to protect lives and limit/prevent the spread of an infectious disease is idiocy on a good day.
So, to answer your question: Yes. that's exactly correct.
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No. Neither one is good. If a physician ever says to you "this isn't approved for this use but I've been trained to understand how medicines work, so try it" go see someone else.
Unclear. (Score:1)
What if you're like 53, and you've never kissed a girl or even held hands, and you joined a weird Christian sect but got kicked out because they thought you were a pedo for being creepy at teaching Sunday, and now you live in a tiny studio apartment and write child porn?
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What if you're like 53, and you've never kissed a girl or even held hands, and you joined a weird Christian sect but got kicked out because they thought you were a pedo for being creepy at teaching Sunday, and now you live in a tiny studio apartment and write child porn?
You're perfect. You should take large doses of this.
off-label versus untested (Score:1)
Is it just me or do they make it sound like the off-label use is taking a topical medication in pill form?
That's not just off-label, that's recklessly dangerous. Lots of topical medicines can have VERY bad side effects if consumed. Hence "For external use only".
The reality though is more conventional - minoxidil pills are an approved medication for treating high blood pressure. The off-label use is taking approved dosages for an approved medication for reasons it's not approved for.
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No, they aren't talking about buying Rogaine and putting it into gelcaps. Minoxodil - the active ingredient in Rogaine - was initially created as a blood pressure medication in pill form. It just so happened that one of the widely reported side effects - increased hair growth - was far more profitable to focus on than as a blood pressure medication.
The pill predates the stupidly expensive shampoo.
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Is it just me or do they make it sound like the off-label use is taking a topical medication in pill form?
That's not just off-label, that's recklessly dangerous. Lots of topical medicines can have VERY bad side effects if consumed. Hence "For external use only".
I wrote a longer comment but slashdot ate it--the crux is: I'm skeptical that this could be so dangerous, given that the oral dose is at least 100x smaller than the dermal dose. (That's assuming a relatively large oral dose of 1 mg. If less minoxidil is needed orally, the difference is even more dramatic.)
Is no one going to point out that this is Rogaine? (Score:2)
Just one question (Score:2)
Why? [thestatesman.com]
Finasteride ... (Score:5, Informative)
Minoxidil is only one of several medications that promote hair growth.
Finasteride [wikipedia.org], a medication widely prescribed for benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH or enlarging prostate) - which is sold under the brand name Proscar for that application - also promotes hair growth. In fact, it is also sold (for a significantly-higher price, of course) under the brand name Propecia for THAT purpose.
I'm and old fart, so I've been taking it for years to keep my prostate from growing to the size that it prevents me from being able to pee altogether. And I noticed early on that it caused my hair density to increase.
I was also one of the first patients Kaiser approved to be prescribed Omeprazole [wikipedia.org] (aka Prilosec) for morbid gastric hyperacidity - over the outraged screams of its accountants, because it cost more than $700 a month at that time - soon after the FDA approved it for that application. It immediately put out the permanent fire in my lower esopheagus (and, over the course of a couple of decades, reversed my Barrett's Syndrome completely). Over the course of several months, I discovered that it also had halted the thinning of the hair on the crown of my head.
I reported that side effect to my doctor - whose reaction was, "Hmm." - but I've never seen any studies of omeprazole as a treatment for hair loss, which leads me to conclude that AstraZeneca might have missed a bet. I say that, because a drug whose patent protection has expired can legally be re-patented, if it's approved for a different application, and the expiration of AZ's patent on Prilosec cost it a huge income stream. (It's now available over the counter for a whole lot less than it was as a prescription medication - and for only pennies a dose, if you buy it in generic form from Mexican or Indian suppliers. Which I do, because I can get a year's supply of omeprazole from them for the same cost as a six-week supply of Prilosec from Walmart.)
There are other, lesser-known medications [uspharmacist.com] that are effective, as well - at least one of which, dutasteride [wikipedia.org], is even more effective than finasteride at controlling both BPH and male pattern baldness ...
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Malepattern baldness (MPB), also called malepattern alopecia,androgenic alopecia, androgenetic alopecia, and alopecia androgenet-ica, is the most common hair loss in men. It affects approximately50% of Caucasian males by middle age and at least 90% of Cau-casian males by the age of 80. It involves hair follicle size miniatur-ization in the frontal and vertex scalp. Androgens generally stimulate hair growth on many parts of the body, such as the beard, but sup-press growth on the scalp for those genetically
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or if you are annoyed by the copy paste out of a pdf, here's the pdf https://www.researchgate.net/p... [researchgate.net]
Re: Finasteride ... (Score:3)
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I've been taking it for 30 years now. I'm 69, and I have very minor osteoporosis - as well as pulp stones in my teeth and asteroid hyalosis in my aqeous jelly from decades of eating a bottle of Tums a day before my chronic, morbid hyperacidity was diagnosed, and I went on omeprazole to treat it. I'm fine with the tradeoff. I also had what my gastroenterologist called "the worst case of Barrett's Syndrome (which is what they called it before it was renamed Barrett's esophagus) I've ever seen." That's gone no
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Again, it's now off patent protection, and there are other proton-pump inhibitors available for it to compete with - now.
When it was first approved for sale in the USA, there were NO competing PPI's. Once Protonix was approved, the price of omeprazole dropped to around $170 per month. (I lost my medical insurance around that time, so I had to pay that price out of pocket ... )