Posts Tagged ‘Toppik’
Help for Thinning Hair: Quotes, Products from the Hair Foundation
In a recent Oprah Magazine article, Your Biggest Hair Problems – Solved!, one of the topics discussed was thinning hair. Within the article, the Hair Foundation’s Dr. Jerry Shapiro, a member of the Scientific Advisory Council and an adjunct professor of dermatology at New York University, was quoted in a passage about hair supplements as an alternative to help thinning hair.
Called, The Truth About Hair Growth Supplements, Shapiro said:
“I have never seen a study that proves vitamin supplements work to make hair grow longer or thicker. If you’re losing hair, supplements can help stop or slow the shedding—but only if you have a deficiency in certain vitamins.”
Shapiro further suggested supplements for those whose blood tests have shown they are low in vitamin D, zinc, or iron, according to Oprah.com. He noted that he doesn’t test for deficiency in biotin, a vitamin most commonly found in supplements promoted to help hair growth. Shapiro added,
“If you were truly biotin deficient—which is extremely rare in this country—you would be too sick to make it into my office.”
In a second section to the story it discusses, Illusions of Thickness. Two products are suggested for thinning hair and one of them, Toppik, is made by a Hair Foundation partner, Spencer Forrest.
And readers on oprah.com rave about two products for concealing thinning hair: Toppik ($22; toppik.com), a shake-on powder made of tiny keratin fibers that cling to your existing hair to fill in sparse patches.
And in one final section for the article, it discusses areas of research for thinning hair. Currently conducting clinical trials by the drug company Allergan, is a topical hair-loss treatment that contains bimatoprost. This is the active ingredient in Latisse, which grows eyelashes.
Allergan is currently seeking FDA approval. The treatment could be available in 2014, according to Oprah.com.
While not cited in this article, a few of the Hair Foundation’s doctors are involved in the clinical trials. They include Hair Foundation Chairman and President Dr. Matt Leavitt, D.O. and Treasurer Dr. Dow B. Stough, IV, MD, FAAD.
Stay tuned for more information about the trials as we will post updates in this blog.