There has been a lot of talk recently about the health impacts of artificial sweeteners. But a new study might be the most surprising. Scientists have found that stevia can boost the effectiveness of a common hair loss treatment.
A team from Australia and China made dissolving patches of stevia and minoxidil — the active ingredient in Rogaine. In lab tests with balding mice, the patches improved the absorption of the minoxidil and how well it restored hair.
Hereditary-patterned baldness, or androgenetic alopecia, impacts both genders, even though it is sometimes called male pattern baldness. Almost 40 percent of people have some level of androgenetic alopecia. And it often begins in people’s 20s or 30s, but gets more pronounced as we age.
“This work opens exciting possibilities for more effective and user-friendly treatments for hair loss,” said study author Lifeng Kang, a senior lecturer at the Univ. of Sydney’s School of Pharmacy.
While minoxidil is widely used, it doesn’t dissolve easily, and it isn’t absorbed easily into the body when applied topically. So a lot has to be used to be effective. While ethanol and propylene glycol can improve the absorption rate, they can also cause rashes, itching and dandruff.
For the study, they first induced hair loss in the mice. Then they split them into three groups: a control group that wasn’t treated, a group that got standard minoxidil and a group that got the stevia and minoxidil patch. The mice who got minoxidil saw 25 percent of their hair come back. The mice who got the patch regained 67 percent of their hair.
“While the mouse model results are promising, human hair growth cycles differ, and androgenetic alopecia is influenced by multiple factors,” Prof. Kang said. “Therefore, clinical trials are essential to confirm efficacy and safety in humans.”
If nothing else, this may help people who have been on the fence about Rogaine. If you have ever wondered if it really works, the answer is yes, but you may have to use more of it than you would expect to see the results you desire. We have to wait for human studies for these patches to be confirmed as being useful and become widely available.
“Using stevioside to enhance minoxidil delivery represents a promising step toward more effective and natural treatments for hair loss, potentially benefiting millions worldwide,” said Prof. Kang.
