What starts as a few hairs on your pillow can swiftly transform into glaring bald spots on the top of your head. As a young man, you might of never thought you’d be faced with the reality of male pattern baldness. But here you are. In the United States, male pattern baldness accounts for roughly 95 percent of hair loss among men.
Although there are literally hundreds – if not thousands – of products proclaiming their ability to regrow hair or thicken your thinning locks, few of these actually deliver their promises. While there’s no such thing as a miracle pill when it comes to reclaiming your lost hair, there may be hope right at the horizon.
Before delving into the potential of saw palmetto for hair loss, let’s take a moment to explore the roots of thinning hair and male pattern baldness.
Hair Loss | A Brief Overview
According to data outlined by the American Hair Loss Association, roughly 85 percent of men above age 50 experience significant loss or thinning of their hair. Thinning hair even affects nearly 25 percent of men as young as 21 years old.
There are many conditions and diseases that result in hair loss. Even improper hair care can result in dramatic loss. Although unique situations exist, the most common cause of hair loss is due to your heredity.
The Causes of Hair Loss
In order to gain a fuller understanding of your thinning hair, it’s important to know the causes of why your one-thick hair has begun to fall out.
Excessive or improper use of hair care products, such as gels, dyes, perms and hair spray.
Tightly pulling hairstyles, such as braids or ponytails.
A myriad of physical diseases. For example, thyroid disease often results in significant thinning of hair.
Side effects of major surgery, fever or a severe infection. Even the common flu can result in hair loss in some men.
Nutritional deficiencies resulting in a lack of iron or protein. Eating disorders, such as bulimia and anorexia often result in significant hair loss.
Prescription medications, such as medication for depression, heart problems, arthritis and high blood pressure can cause rapid hair loss.
Hormonal imbalances often result in hair loss in men, but this is especially common in women.
Alopecia areata, which is a specific condition characterized by hair loss in round patches. Those diagnosed with this condition generally experience hair loss in round patches throughout their scalp.
Hereditary conditions, which as stated above, is the most common cause for hair loss in men.
Traditional Hair Loss Treatments
Men and women seeking to restore their hair have four primary options. Although these are proven to regain a certain level of hair, they often come with unsavory side effects – not to mention the high price.
Topical Medication – Ointments, such as minoxidil, are commonly used as a topical application to help regrow hair or delay active hair loss.
Injectable Medication – Injecting cortisone directly into the scalp has shown to accelerate hair growth for certain types of hair loss. However, this is not always an effective treatment.
Hormone Replacement – For hair loss caused by hormone imbalances, specifically in women, estrogen or other hormone treatments can help slow or reverse hair loss.
Hair Transplant – By far the most popular option, hair transplants work by gathering hair from other parts of the scalp and using dermatologic surgery to transplant this hair to thinning or bald portions of the hair. Although this delivers near-instant results, its expensive, and if done incorrectly, leads to unsightly results.
Saw Palmetto for Hair Loss | The Answer to Your Growing Problem?
Throughout the past decade, saw palmetto has gained quite the amount of attention, specifically in hair loss circles. The use of saw palmetto for medicinal purposes dates back over a hundred years. During the beginning of the 1900s, men throughout North America called upon its natural healing properties to boost libido, increase sperm count and treat urinary tract ailments.
Since its humble beginnings, the scientific community has discovered many interesting benefits of this simple herb. However, few are as intriguing as its ability to curb hair loss.
Saw Palmetto | A Biochemical Solution to Hair Loss
When we look at the biochemical causes of hair loss – specifically, male pattern baldness – research shows it’s the conversion of testosterone to DHT that is the primary factor. This conversion occurs due to the interaction between testosterone and an enzyme known as 5-alpha-reductase. For years, researchers knew that by blocking this enzyme, they can effectively reduce (and even stop) hair loss.
Evidence of such activity is found with the medication Propecia, or Finasteride. This treatment effectively reduces the circulating levels of DHT within the scalp. This reduction hinders hair loss at the chemical level, which is the most effective way of stopping hair loss and promoting new growth. However, as with many synthetic chemicals, Finasteride comes with a host of potential side effects.
This is where saw palmetto comes into play. Several studies have confirmed, this herb interacts with the scalp and DHT conversion along the same lines as the aforementioned medication. In fact, one study found that after consuming 200 milligrams of saw palmetto twice a day, 60 percent of participants experienced an improvement in hair thickness and a decrease in overall hair loss. While these findings are preliminary, it’s quite promising when it comes to winning the war against hair loss.
Saw Palmetto Hair Loss Supplements Dosage
Taking the proper amount of saw palmetto is essential to ensure maximum benefits. Using data from the study listed above, take 200 milligrams of saw palmetto extract two times per day. Make sure it features a 85-95% fatty acid and sterol concentration. It’s important to note, as with many herbs, it make take up to 8 weeks before any results are noticed. So, patience is key when combating hair loss with saw palmetto.
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Conclusion
I have personally taken saw palmetto hair loss supplements but I hardly saw any results in regrowing any loss hairs. Maybe the reason can be because I wasn’t really using other hair loss nutrients or oils or shampoo in conjunction with it. Or maybe DHT alone wasn’t the cause of my hair loss since I never massaged my hair with oils or use any herbal shampoos. However presently I have made some lifestyle changes and started to use herbal oils and shampoos to curb my hair loss.
I have noticed that my hair has stopped fallen and it looks thicker and fuller. So if you want to effectively see the results of using saw palmetto hair loss supplement, you need to use a complete herbal hair regrowth product. This includes more vitamins and minerals for hair growth and also a topical hair lotion. I have discussed the top 3 hair regrowth products for men that accomplish this. But none of them contains Saw Palmetto. They have other ingredients that have clinically shown to reduce DHT, so you don’t need saw palmetto. However, the #3 ranked, Groei360 is a topical formula without any hair vitamins. If you decide to buy Groei360 then I highly recommend you use a saw palmetto hair loss supplement with it.
Sources:
http://www.americanhairloss.org/men_hair_loss/introduction.asp
https://www.aad.org/media-resources/stats-and-facts/conditions/hair-loss
http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/saw-palmetto
http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2007/1/aas/page-01
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/qalibrary/f/sawpalmetto.htm
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