Do Hair Loss Vitamins Really Work?

Posted under Hair Loss Shampoo

NBC Channel 10 News, May 4, 2001

by Cherie Bank

There is an over the counter product that claims it can help grow hair. Some women swear by it saying it helps their thinning hair grow back. Medical Reporter Cherie Bank tells us what it is and what local experts think about it.

PHILADELPHIA - Men usually bald in the back. Women lose hair from the top. One quarter of all men begin to bald by the time they’re 30. One third of women have lost hair by age 50. Nobody likes it.

“I was 30 year old, going bald,” said Lisa Mea. “I didn’t know what else to do. I thought my life was going to have to turn into wearing a wig.”

Mea lost a lot of hair from illness and medication. Today her hair is growing back in, and she thinks much of it is due to a product called Thymuskin.

“It’s grown in completely in the front,” Mea said. “Now in the back I’m starting to have more growth in the crown section.”

Thymuskin consists of a daily shampoo and a daily lotion. NBC10 News decided to run an unscientific study of our own by asking Jamie Simmons and Harold Jones to try the products.

While prescription products like Minoxodil or Rogaine are approved by the FDA, Thymuskin doesn’t have to be FDA approved. It’s sold over the counter in health food stores.

The company really stands by their product. They say that it is an effective clinically researched German product.

In a letter to NBC10 the distributors of Thymuskin say, “These preparations have undergone extensive testing and studies and are manufactured under the strict guidelines of the German GMP, equivalent to the FDA here.”

In fact, Thymuskin claims it’s effective 95 percent of the time in women and 67 percent in men. But there is skepticism about those claims from Dr. George Cotsarellis, hair and scalp specialist from the University of Pennsylvania.

“To the best of my knowledge there is no scientific evidence that this works,” Dr. Cotsarellis said.

Thymuskin is made from the thymus gland of a cow, which makes the doctor even more skeptical.

“Do you really think that a product coming from a cow’s organ is going to help you by rubbing it on your head?” Dr. Cotsarellis asked.

The product is supposed to take eight weeks to work. NBC10 only gave Jamie and Harold three and a half weeks.

“I noticed it a little,” Harold said. “In the front and on the sides.”

“Unfortunately, I haven’t really noticed much of a difference,” Jamie said.

Both men plan to continue using the product which costs about $155 for both bottles. That should last you three to four months.

Check your local health food store for Thymuskin products and information.

Duration : 0:2:41

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