The Role of Botanical Products in the Treatment of Alopecia

The document reviewed the effectiveness of botanical products in treating alopecia, focusing on androgenetic alopecia and alopecia areata. It summarized 13 studies involving 11 different products. One study showed that a topical treatment with Procyanidin-B2 led to an increase of 6.68 hairs in androgenetic alopecia patients after 6 months. Another study reported an increase of 3.3 hairs after 6 months and 11.5 hairs after 12 months using a 0.7% procyanidin solution. A study on a Chinese herbal mixture called Dabao also showed positive results. Additionally, a study with 273 male participants found that a lotion containing red clover extract and acetyl tetra peptide increased anagen hairs by 13% and decreased telogen hairs by 29% after 4 months. A study comparing Serenoa repens to finasteride showed 38% of the Serenoa repens group had increased hair density, compared to 68% for finasteride. A combination of Curcuma aeruginosa and minoxidil increased hair count by 32.6 hairs, and a small case report suggested that EGCG, a green tea polyphenol, could promote hair growth. Other botanicals like capsaicin, croton oil, total glucosides of peony, glycyrrhizin, garlic, and onion juice were also evaluated with mixed results. The review highlighted that most studies were small-scale or pilot studies, with only two having more than 100 participants, indicating a need for more extensive research to confirm the efficacy of botanical treatments for alopecia.