The number of hair-growth products on the market is literally hair-raising! Sadly, however, very few actually grow hair, although the companies that sell them are taking in a lot of your money. Several products and product lines make claims about hair growth, including Avacor, BioFolic, Fabao 101, Folliguard, Folligen, Hair Factor PX-2000, Hairgenesis, Hair Prime, Helsinki Formula, Nioxin, Nisim, Nutrifolica, Proxiphen, Pro-Genesis, Regenix, Revivogen, Shen Min, and I’m sure dozens—perhaps hundreds—more.
“[First,] most alopecias are not a gradual progressive hair loss. Most, including andro- genetic alopecia, develop in spurts and then stop. There may even be some improvement for a short time before the hair loss begins again. Someone using a hair growth product might falsely attribute this slowdown or temporary reversal to the use of the [product they purchased].
“Second, people who want to believe will believe. When real drug companies test products for hair regrowth they run at least two methods of analysis side by side. One method is entirely empirical evidence. They mark an area on the volunteer’s head and count the hair density in the area before and after treatment to see if there is improvement. The other analysis method they run is more subjective. They give a questionnaire to the volunteer and ask how the volunteer tester perceives the drug is working. Most human trials of drugs for alopecia are classic double-blind studies involving a group that receives the drug and another control group that receives an innocuous placebo compound. No one knows whether they are using the drug or placebo. Frequently what is found is that volunteers on the drug or placebo indicate they believe they have regrowth of hair, but when comparing their positive comments to the hair count/density data it is revealed there is no actual improvement and there may even be a deterioration. Call it optimism or an overactive imagination, it is an important factor for professional scam artists” [because they can tell you a product works when it only appears to work due to a placebo effect].” (I have added my comments in square brackets.) (Source: www. keratin. com.)