“ALDACTONE AND MINOXIDIL FOR HAIR LOSS”
Hair loss is a quite common problem which has affected almost half of the population across the globe. People are quite perturbed by this problem as there is not a definite reason which could be ascertained tohair loss as it could be pollution, genetic issues, unhealthy diet, and unbalanced lifestyle. Most of the times, It is hard to point out a single reason for hair loss, as several reasons contribute to hair loss.
There are basically two kinds of baldness pattern viz. male pattern baldness and female pattern baldness. And both kinds of baldness cannot be cured by a single kind of drug. There are several drugs which claim to cure baldness and slow down hair fall. But the FDA has approved very less number of drugs and two of such drugs are Aldactone and Minoxidil to treat the female kind of baldness pattern and the male kind of baldness pattern respectively. Let us discuss these drugs one by one that how they work and what are their pros and cons.
But one thing which you have to understand is that, these two drugs work only when you have hair shedding in primary stage only especially for male pattern baldness. If you are already suffering from baldness, then these drugs will not help you in that case. In such case, hair transplantation is the last resort to get your back. Although hair transplant is done everywhere in the world, but results and price vary from country to country and doctor to doctor. India is already developing as major hair transplantation center with Pune, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata as its prime center for hair transplantation due to affordable cost and reliable results. Among these cities hair transplant cost in Pune is the most optimum as per its location and doctor’s experience in hair transplant field.
MINOXIDIL
Minoxidil which is also known as Rogaine, is very effective in treating male pattern baldness. This drug is quite famous in developed country where it has successfully helpeda large number of patients to combat hair loss. In some patients, it has stimulated new hair growth also. About 35 % of men had reported hair regrowth in 4 to 6 months.
How it works?
Minoxidil works by opening potassium channel and widening blood vessels. In this way it is allowing more nutrient, oxygen and blood to the follicles. Thus, after telogen phase, when hair starts to shed comes anagen phase and in that phase it led to growth of more strong and thick hairs.
This drug is available in two concentrations, first one is 5 %, which is designed to male and second one is 2 % which is designed for females.
Advantage of Minoxidil
Minoxidil is one of the most effective drug when it come to curing baldness and there are certain advantages of these drugs like:
1. More effective for young men: It is most effective when you are in your early twenties. In early twenties, when your hair just start thinning and you have a history of genetic hair loss pattern, then it is most effective.
2. Easily available: This drug is easily available everywhere on medical counter and you don’t require consultation of doctor for getting this. Although it is still advisable that take consultation of a doctor before using it.
Disadvantage of Minoxidil
Minoxidil also come with some disadvantage or say limitations and some of them are:
1. Cost factor: Although it is easily available on drug store, it’s cost factors play a significant role in its purchase. For purchasing minoxidil with concentration of 5 %, it will roughly cost around 50 dollars for three bottles of it.
2. Cumbersome task: It is a time consuming process, and it is a cumbersome work to apply it over the scalp twice a day. So many people tend to leave this practice after some days.
3. Not for everyone: Minoxidil works best for those people who are in their early twenties and just stared to losing their hair. If you are bald already, this therapy is not going to work for you.
Aldactone
This is a second drug which have been approved by FDA for curing hair loss. But this drug is mainly used for treating women pattern baldness. There are several reasons which led to hair loss in women like overproduction of male hormones, androgenetic hair loss (usually happen after menopause). Androgen hormone are usually forms in small quantities in women,but in some women, it is starting to get form in much bigger quantity and then it increases sensitivity to testosterone and it leads to hair loss.
How it works?
Aldactone works as anti-androgen, as it limit the excess secretion of androgen that is generated by the adrenal gland and ovaries. By this way it stops DHT (dihydrotesterone) to react with testosterone which cause hair fall.
Advantages of Aldactone
It is advisable for women, who are suffering from hair loss to take aldactone as it have several advantages like:
1. Affordable: As a contrast to the minoxidil, it is much cheaper in comparison. You can easily avail it for 20 dollars for a month usage. And since it is easily available at drug stores, you can easily purchase it.
2. More focused: It is primarily focused on the root cause of the problem and directly check the excess secretion of androgen hormones by acting on the glands. Hence it is more result oriented.
3. Mix well with other medication: This medicine can be taken with other set of medicine also, thus you don’t have to worry that you are already taking other sort of medicines.
Disadvantages of Aldactone
There are certain disadvantages of aldactone also, which are as follow:
1. More urination: One of the primary side-effect of aldactone is it will lead to urinate more than often. Usually you will need to go washroom after 90 minutes after taking the medicine.
2. Irregular mensuration cycle: It has also observed that, patient who are taking aldactone are suffering from irregular mensuration cycle.
3. Lower blood pressure: Since with intake of aldactone, potassium level increase in blood, which have side effects which is quite dangerous like lowering the blood pressure.