08 / 02 / 16

Caffeine for Baldness – Fact of Fiction

Caffeine, considered a drug by many professionals, comes from the leaves and seeds of certain plants. When taken internally, it stimulates the nervous system, but now there seems to be beneficial uses of caffeine for baldness.

There was a published article in the Journal of Dermatology that concluded that caffeine can stimulate human hair growth. This was based on a study that was conducted on fourteen men. Biopsies were taken from these men who were all in the early stages of hair loss. Some of their hair follicles were exposed to solutions with varying levels of caffeine. Some of their hair follicles were exposed to DHT (the hormone that is responsible for hair loss). At the end of eight days, all of the hair follicles, including the ones exposed to DHT, showed noticeable growth. But, the greatest growth occurred in the follicles that were placed in solutions of caffeine only.

Please, do not take this as a green light for you to go ahead and consume mega portions of coffee and Red Bull. According to the scientists involved in the study, you would need to consume a minimum of 60 cups of Joe a day in order for significant amount of caffeine to reach your hair follicles. That means that the 6000 mg of caffeine that might regrow your hair, would do so only after stopping your heart.

There needs to be an alternative to drinking the caffeine. It needs to be something that can be rubbed into the scalp. Fortunately, there are some caffeinated shampoos on the market. This is the best way for your hair follicles to absorb the caffeine. Because doctors can expose your hair follicles to a high dose of caffeine without causing side effects that occur when caffeine is ingested.

Another exciting possibility as a result of the caffeine study is in the case of cancer patients. Caffeine could become a possible treatment for hair loss during radiation therapy. Many cancer patients receiving radiation suffer hair loss. Laboratory mice were treated with caffeine and it helped reduce their hair loss following radiation.

Some of the population experience hair loss and baldness as they get older. Caffeine might not slow the rate of hair loss with these people, however there are several medical treatments using caffeine that show promise in treating hair loss and baldness. The hope is that caffeine will eventually develop into a safe and more effective drug therapy for alopecia.

If you have any questions about caffeine and its effects on baldness, contact us today!