Tocotrienol (vitamin E) may reverse male pattern baldness

[clandestine]

Edit: Accidentally posted this to 'Cutting Edge / Future Treatments' forum when it should probably be in the 'Hair Loss Treatments' forum. Perhaps a moderator can move it? Couldn't figure out how to delete and repost. Thanks!

Found this claim in a wikipedia article;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldness

"An eight month study performed at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Science Malaysia showed daily supplements of a patented tocotrienol (vitamin E) complex may increase hair growth in people with male pattern baldness by 42 percent.[56]"

Here is information regarding the study conducted;

http://www.tocotrienol.org/images/st...d%20beyond.pdf

"An 8-month study was performed at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Science Malaysia with 28 volunteers aged 18 to 59 years with mild to moderately severe hair loss.

Volunteers supplemented with Tocomin SupraBio showed statistically significant higher hair counts postsupplementation (p<0.01). An average of 41.8% increase in the number of hair was observed after 8 months whereby

• 8 volunteers (40.0%) showed >50%
hair growth
• 1 volunteer (5.0%) showed 25-50%
hair growth
• 9 volunteers (45.0%) showed
10-25% hair growth
• 1 volunteer (5.0%) showed <10%
hair growth"

Article regarding the study results;

http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/...baldness-Study

"Daily supplements of a patented tocotrienol (vitamin E) complex may increase hair growth in people with male pattern baldness by 42 per cent.

Hair coverage, measured by counting the number of hairs in a pre-selected 2x2 cm area, was significantly increased by an average of 41.8 per cent in the tocotrienol group, with eight volunteers experiencing greater than 50 per cent growth."

Additional source;

http://www.naturalnews.com/028050_vitamin_E_hair.html

"Vitamin E helps with the growth of capillaries. When there are more capillaries, the circulation improves and it is thought that the improved circulation to the scalp is the trigger for preventing hair loss."

Thoughts?

[Thinning@30]

This is intriguing. But before anyone runs out to the drugstore to buy a whole shopping cart full of vitamin E pills, notice that the study claims that the participants were given a patented vitamin E complex. I'm curious to know what was in the complex other than vitamin E. Who funded the study? I'm also unsure of what to make of the fact that the study was performed at a university in Malaysia. How is that institution regarded within the global academic community? Also, did measurements count only terminal hairs? A 41.0 percent increase in terminal hairs seems like it should be enough to be cosmetically significant. Are there photographs? I think more information and independent verification are needed.

[HairTalk]

The number (average re-growth>40%) sounds impressive, but the single before–after image published would be lucky to underwhelm a person — it's likely just lighting and angle, but I think the subject actually may be showing less hair in the "after" shot...

[Thinning@30]

The number (average re-growth>40%) sounds impressive, but the single before–after image published would be lucky to underwhelm a person — it's likely just lighting and angle, but I think the subject actually may be showing less hair in the "after" shot...

I saw the single photograph too. I don't think the picture (figures 2 and 3) is referenced in the article, so I don't what it is trying show, but there appears to be no growth at all. The only difference I see is that the hair looks wet in the before picture--a well known tactic of people selling snake oil hair loss cures.

[mrmanns]

Couldn't help but registering and commenting on this thread

I've been a lurker

Well it does grow hair, literally

If you shave your beard, it'll grow back 5x as faster and thicker (This is how you will actually see first hand it can grow hair)

Us bodybuilders use it

Here are the two top toco products

Jarrow Formulas, Inc.
Toco-Sorb

and

TOCO-8 - Primordial Performance

It also has awesome fat burning attributes to it, boost metabolism.

I've been on toco for about a year now

[HairTalk]

Originally Posted by mrmanns

Couldn't help but registering and commenting on this thread

I've been a lurker

Well it does grow hair, literally

If you shave your beard, it'll grow back 5x as faster and thicker (This is how you will actually see first hand it can grow hair)

Us bodybuilders use it

Here are the two top toco products

Jarrow Formulas, Inc.
Toco-Sorb

and

TOCO-8 - Primordial Performance

It also has awesome fat burning attributes to it, boost metabolism.

I've been on toco for about a year now

Sounds more as if you may have registered to promote products.

[mrmanns]

Originally Posted by HairTalk

Sounds more as if you may have registered to promote products.

uh no, if I wanted to promote I would of gave you a link

Plus those two companies compete with each other

[clandestine]

mrmanns; you make some interesting claims, if veritable. perhaps you could provide us with some photographic evidence? it does a world of difference, compared to claims made by written word.

[mrmanns]

Originally Posted by clandestine

mrmanns; you make some interesting claims, if veritable. perhaps you could provide us with some photographic evidence? it does a world of difference, compared to claims made by written word.

You can do a simple google search, people who take Steroids use Toco-8 it's stronger than tocosorb. So Imagine how strong it is, they take it because they're taking high levels of DHT


EDISON, NJ***8212;Results of a human clinical trial evaluating the effect of a tocotrienol-tocopherol complex (as Tocomin®SupraBio***8482;, from Carotech) on hair-loss prevention has been published in the journal Tropical Life Sciences Research (Dec. 2010; 21(2):91-99). The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Science Malaysia.

The study involved 38 male and female volunteers who suffered hair loss; they were given either mixed tocotrienol softgel capsules containing 50mg Tocomin®SupraBio***8482; (n=21) or a placebo (n=17) twice a day for eight months. At baseline, four months (16th week) of supplementation and eight months (32nd week), researchers measured hair count and hair weight over a designated scalp area of 2x2 cm, and recorded obvious hair thinning.

After statistically analyzing the collected data, researchers found 95 percent of volunteers in the tocotrienol group (19 of 20 who actually finished the trial) experienced hair growth. Of these, 40 percent (8 volunteers) had more than 50 percent hair growth, 5 percent (1 volunteer) had 25 to 50 percent hair growth, 45 percent (9 volunteers) had 10 to 25 percent hair growth, and 5 percent had less than 10 percent hair growth. Only one volunteer in this group had a slight decrease in the number of hairs. In the placebo group, only one volunteer experienced more than 20 percent hair growth, seven volunteers (46.7 percent) had negligible increases, while the remaining 7 volunteers (46.7 percent) had a decrease in the number of hairs. Overall, the results indicated supplementation with 100 mg/d Tocomin SupraBio for eight months increased hair growth by 34.5 percent and resulted in a significant increase in the number of hairs, compared to the placebo group. There was no significant difference between he groups in the area of hair weight.

The researchers concluded tocotrienol***8217;s effect on hair loss could be due to its potent antioxidant activity on lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress in the scalp, which can contribute to hair loss.

***8220;The million dollar hair growth product market is currently being dominated by pharmaceutical companies that require stringent compliance on usage yet not without undesirable side effects,***8221; said WH Leong, vice president, Carotech Inc., who noted Tocomin®SupraBio***8482; is naturally extracted from virgin crude palm oil and FDA-approved GRAS. ***8220;The bioenhanced Tocomin®SupraBio***8482; natural full spectrum palm tocotrienol complex ensures an average of 250-precent increase in tocotrienol oral absorption which greatly assisted in delivering a consistent supply of tocotrienols to different tissues.***8221; Leong also noted the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted a patent (Patent No. 7,211,274 ) for Tocomin®SupraBio***8482; as a novel hair growth formulation due to its proven efficacy.

[PatientlyWaiting]

I was in to using vitamins for hair regrowth last year but I gave up on that because all it did was make my existing hair grow faster, not give me more hair or thicken my existing hair.