How Minoxidil works?
How minoxidil works to grow hair is somewhat of a mystery. Since it was originally a blood-pressure pill and because it is a vasodilator it was thought that it worked by increasing the amount of blood to the hair follicles. However other vasodilators do not stimulate the same response so that it is now thought that minoxidil works by a different mechanism. Recent studies have shown that topical minoxidil does not cause an increase in skin blood flow which was originally though to be the mechanism by which minoxidil works. Studies carried out by L’Oreal recently suggest that minoxidil works by activating PGHS 1 (prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase-1) which helps promote hair growth. How effective is topical minoxidil? Topical minoxidil has been shown to be effective in both men and women. Clinical tests that were conducted by 27 US medical centers involving over 2,300 patients with male pattern baldness on the top of the head showed that after one year of use 48% of the men who had used
