What is the name of the health-food supplement that might help compulsive hair pullers?”
A common health-food supplement might help ease the urges of people with a compulsive hair-pulling disorder called trichotillomania, U.S. researchers report. They tested the effectiveness of the amino acid N-acetylcysteine in a 12-week study that included 50 people with an average age of 34. Most had started compulsive hair pulling by age 12. Some participants were given 1,200 milligrams of N-acetylcysteine every day for the first six weeks and 2,400 milligrams a day for the next six weeks. Others were given a placebo. After nine weeks, hair pulling was significantly reduced among those taking the supplement. After 12 weeks, 56 percent of the participants taking the supplement reported feeling much or very much improved, compared with 16 percent of those taking the placebo. The results appear in the July issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. “Trichotillomania is compulsive in the sense that people can’t control it,” principal investigator Dr. Jon Grant, an associate professor of psy
Fifty people enrolled in a double-blind 12 week study; half were given N-Acetylcysteine, an amino acid commonly found in health food supplements. The average age of patients who enrolled was about 34, and most started pulling hair compulsively by the age of 12. Patients were given 1,200 mg of N-Acetylcysteine every day for six weeks. For the following six weeks, the dosage was increased to 2,400 mg per day. After nine weeks, those on supplement had significantly reduced hair-pulling. By the end of the 12 week study, 56 percent reported feeling much or very much improved, while only 16 percent on the placebo reported less pulling. “Trichotillomania is compulsive in the sense that people can’t control it. People feel unable to stop the behavior even though they know it is causing negative consequences,” said Jon Grant, M.D., J.D., a University of Minnesota associate professor of psychiatry and principal investigator of the study. “Some people don’t even know they are doing it.” Those who
TUESDAY, July 7 (HealthDay News) — A common health-food supplement might help ease the urges of people with a compulsive hair-pulling disorder called trichotillomania, U.S. researchers report. They tested the effectiveness of the amino acid N-acetylcysteine in a 12-week study that included 50 people with an average age of 34. Most had started compulsive hair pulling by age 12. Some participants were given 1,200 milligrams of N-acetylcysteine every day for the first six weeks and 2,400 milligrams a day for the next six weeks. Others were given a placebo. After nine weeks, hair pulling was significantly reduced among those taking the supplement. After 12 weeks, 56 percent of the participants taking the supplement reported feeling much or very much improved, compared with 16 percent of those taking the placebo.
