Caffeine Used for Treating Hair Loss?

Hi Doc,

I found this article about caffeine and hair loss. It seems a little silly to me. Care to comment? Once again thanks for all of your work.

Coffee could help cure baldness

This article is referring to the research that was done in Germany and recently published in International Journal of Dermatology. In this study, researchers removed some hair follicles from balding patients. They have cultured the hair follicles and then exposed them to testosterone and/or caffeine. The growth of the hair follicles has shown to be increased after being exposed to caffeine, so the investigators suggested that caffeine may have a protective mechanism against testosterone effects on hair growth.

Does it mean that you should double the amount of coffee you take every day to prevent your hair loss?

The answer is “absolutely not“.

Although interesting, this basic study was done in the lab and not in the human body. There are several factors involved in the process of hair loss that can not necessarily be contemplated in cell culture. In order to reach the conclusion to use caffeine as a medication for hair loss, several other studies should be done. Efficient levels of caffeine should be determined in animal studies in an appropriate hair loss model (topical, as well as systemic). Safety of caffeine at those concentrations should be determined with toxicology examinations. After these phases, and if it is proven to be both efficient and safe in animals, the product should pass different phases in human trials, like any other medication. The human part of the study usually takes years before it could be approved for human use.