REGAINE, ROGAINE

Understanding Hair Growth and Loss

The Follicle and Your Hair
We're born with all of our hair follicles in place. A certain number of follicles are predetermined to grow long, thick, pigmented hair, like normal scalp and eyebrow hair. These are called terminal follicles. Others are predetermined to grow short, fine, nonpigmented vellus hair. Vellus hair, which covers much of the body, is often not visible to the naked eye. 

Your Hair Grows in Cycles
Under normal circumstances everyone loses a little hair every day between 40 and 100 hairs. That's not as much as it sounds, considering that the average head has about 100,000 individual shafts of hair.

At any one time, as much as 85% to 90% of the hair on your head is growing, advancing in length by to 1 inch per month. And it keeps growing for a period lasting from 2 to 6 years, during which the hair-shaft diameter increases in size and the hair reaches maximum length.

When the growth phase ends, the hair follicle begins a 2 to 6 month phase of resting and then shedding. Only 10% to 15% of your hair is in the resting phase at any one time: when it sheds, it does so randomly. 

Eventually a new hair shaft begins to grow, replacing the older hair shaft above it as a new growth period gets under way. 

Normally, as your scalp hair goes through these cycles, the follicles tend to remain constant in size. However, hair follicles throughout the body have the potential to change size and produce different types of hair. During puberty, for example, follicles on some parts of the body increase in size, producing longer and thicker terminal hairs instead of short, fine, vellus hairs previously produced.

The Most Common Type of Hair Loss
Scientists believe that 95% of the hair loss seen in both men and women is caused by a progressive condition called androgenetic alopecia, or common hereditary hair loss. In men, this is known as male pattern baldness and frequently progresses to the familiar horseshoe-shaped fringe of hair. In women, it manifests itself as a generalized thinning of the hair over the entire crown of the head. 

It is estimated that androgenic alopecia affects some 30 million men and 20 million women in the United States. Hair loss can begin as early as the teens, and by age 35 almost 40% of men and women show some degree of hair loss. 

How You Lose Your Hair
In androgenetic alopecia, a combination of heredity, hormones, and age causes a progressive shrinking, or miniaturization, of certain scalp follicles. This causes a shortening of the hair's growing cycle. Over time, as the active growth phase becomes shorter, the resting phase becomes longer. Eventually, there is no growth at all.

Because hair length and thickness are determined by how long the hair is allowed to grow before entering the next resting and shedding phase, the hair-loss process in both men and women is thus a gradual conversion of terminal hair follicles to vellus-like hair follicles. The net result is an increasing number of short, thin hairs that are barely visible above the scalp surface. 

Despite the sometimes dramatic change in follicle size with androgenetic alopecia, the follicle is not altered in structure; and the number of follicles does not change. 

How Rogaine & Regaine Works
Rogaine (minoxidil) works in part by partially enlarging miniaturized follicles and reversing the miniaturization process. This prolongs the growth phase of the hair cycle, allowing the hair to become longer and thicker. And with more follicles in the growth phase at the same time, it is possible to see improved coverage of the scalp. 

Although the growth phase may be prolonged, the follicle will continue to cycle. Several cycles may be necessary before maximum potential hair regrowth can be achieved.

Effectiveness of Rogaine, Regaine Proven in Clinical Studies 

Male Studies
Clinical tests were conducted by dermatologists at 27 US medical centers involving over 2,300 patients with male pattern baldness on the top (vertex) of the head. At the end of 4 months, hair counts showed that, on average, the patients using Rogaine (minoxidil) had significantly more hair regrowth than those who used placebo (a similar solution without minoxidil - the active ingredient in Rogaine (minoxidil)). Based on patients' self-evaluation at the end of 4 months, 26% of the patients using Rogaine (minoxidil) had moderate to dense hair regrowth compared with 11% of those using placebo. 

By the end of 1 year, virtually half (48%) of the men who continued in the study using Regaine (minoxidil), rated their hair regrowth as moderate to dense. An additional 36% had minimal regrowth, and the rest (16%) had no regrowth.

Female Studies 
In clinical tests conducted by dermatologists at 11 US medical centers, Rogaine (minoxidil) was significantly more effective than placebo (a similar solution without minoxidil - the active ingredient in Rogaine (minoxidil)) in regrowing nonvellus hair in women with androgenetic alopecia.

Effectiveness was measured by physician and patient evaluation and by non-vellus hair counts. Almost two out of every three women in the Rogaine (minoxidil) group were evaluated by physicians to have regrown some hair: 13% had moderate regrowth and 50% had minimal regrowth. The rest (37%) had no regrowth. Thirty-nine percent of the women in the placebo group also saw some regrowth. 

However, when the actual number of newly regrown hairs in the 1-cm2 area of the test were counted after 8 months of treatment, the group using Rogaine (minoxidil) averaged more than twice as much regrowth (22.7 more hairs) as the placebo group (11 more hairs). 

What to Expect
Because the level of response defined as "success" by different individuals can vary widely, it's important that you understand what you can realistically expect from treatment with Rogaine (minoxidil).

Hair regrowth with Rogaine (minoxidil) takes time. Remember, hair only grows - to 1 inch per month, and a follicle's resting phase can last from 2 to 6 months. While some people see results faster than others, studies show that at least 4 months of treatment are usually necessary before there is evidence of regrowth with Rogaine (minoxidil). 

If treatment is successful, the first thing you may notice is less hair shedding within 90 days of beginning treatment. This is because Rogaine (minoxidil) may prolong the growth phase of the hair cycle, thus increasing the number of follicles in the growth phase at the same time. 

New growth may be soft, downy, and barely visible at first. This can be an encouraging sign, because it shows that Rogaine (minoxidil) is actually stimulating regrowth. If you continue to respond with further treatment, the soft, downy growth may change into hair of the same colour and thickness as the other hairs on your scalp.

Because Rogaine (minoxidil) is a treatment, not a cure, further progress is possible only by using Rogaine (minoxidil) continuously over the long-term to oppose the normal genetic process in the affected follicles. Lapses in therapy or discontinuation of therapy can cause follicles artificially kept in the growth phase to enter a resting phase. If you stop using Rogaine (minoxidil), you will probably shed the newly regrown hair within a few months. I

Packaging
Each bottle of Regaine (minoxidil) contains enough medication to last for 26-30 days when used as directed. A bottle of Regaine (minoxidil) is three quarters full. This fill level is intentional so that if the rub-on applicator is used, the tube is not submerged in the solution when the bottle is inverted for dosage administration.

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