How to reduce hair loss in men and women

STEP ONE: I was fortunate to spend a sabbatical at Ciba-Geigy where they were developing a drug to slow prostate hyperplasia.  That condition is the growth of the prostate as men age which makes it more and more difficult to urinate.  Prostate growth is stimulated by the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase, which converts testosterone into a form that stimulates prostate growth.  I was involved in the discovery of the drug which inhibits that enzyme, now available commercially as finasteride.

Finasteride slows the growth of the prostate, thus making it more years before men have to have prostate surgery to allow them to urinate more easily, which for most men happens after age 50, though the process begins with puberty.  Remarkably, the only side effects of finasteride are slowing hair loss and reducing acne!  If a man goes to his doctor and explains he does not want to get an enlarged prostate, he can get a prescription for finasteride, taken once a day.  If you have health insurance, it is likely to be free!  I have a moderate amount of hair at age 74, 40 years longer than my brother, though my father was bald at 35.

STEP TWO: A second recent discovery is minoxidil. Decades ago it was marketed to be applied topically to grow hair.  It was expensive, and it did not work.  In 2022 it was found that Low dose minoxidil may promote regrowth of hair on balding heads. The authors proposed the following dosing for low dose minoxidil based on response and tolerability: Females: Starting dose of 0.5 mg/day followed by 0.25 mg increments every 3 months up to a maximum dose of 2.5 mg/day. Males: Starting dose of 2.5 mg/day followed by 1.25 mg increments every 3 months up to a maximum dose of 5 mg/day.  I tried this, again by prescription so medical insurance pays for it, and it is working for me.