Original Article: Preliminary Study on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Used for Androgenetic Alopecia
July 2011
in “
대한피부과학회지
”
TLDR Most patients with hair loss used alternative treatments, especially topical applications and health food supplements, based on recommendations from others.
In a study conducted 12 years ago, 151 patients with androgenetic alopecia (AGA) were surveyed to determine the prevalence and types of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) used in their treatment. The study found that 70.2% (106/151) of the subjects reported current or previous use of at least one CAM. The most frequently used CAM was topical application (56.3%), followed by diet therapy (23.2%), health food supplements (9.9%), massage therapy (8.6%), and Oriental medicine (6.6%). The most common reason for using CAM was recommendation by people around the patient (59.4%). The subjective therapeutic effect and satisfaction with CAM were highest with health food supplements and topical application (80.0% and 21.1%, respectively). The study concluded that as the use of CAM in AGA patients continues to rise, there is a need for reliable information about specific CAM therapies and further studies to assess their efficacy and safety.
