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Hair Loss Treatment For Women: Spironolactone/Aldactone

April 3, 2017 by in Patient Resources

Hair Loss Treatment For Women: Spironolactone/Aldactone

Hair Loss Treatment For Women

Aldactone, or spironolactone, will not work for everyone who is suffering from hair loss. But for women who are losing hair because of a hormone imbalance, it can be the key to hair restoration.

Hair Loss In Women

Hair loss in women is a bit trickier to diagnose and treat because it can be caused by so many more reasons than for men. One of the most common causes of women losing their hair is due to some kind of hormonal imbalance. Androgenetic alopecia, most notably called female pattern baldness, is caused by the hormones and genes in the woman that is suffering from the hair loss. It is due to the estrogen being converted into a form of testosterone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT causes women to lose hair at the top of the scalp along the part of their hair and spreading out from the middle to eventually cover the entire surface of the top of the scalp. The hair starts off by thinning gradually over time until it eventually leads to the hair being gone from the majority of the top of the head.

This type of hair loss is hereditary and tends to worsen after menopause. Some women will lose hair in this pattern faster than others due to the higher-than-normal levels of the androgens or hormones responsible for the loss of hair. Some women who produce very high levels of these androgens can experience not only hair loss on the head, but also increased growth of hair on the face.

Treating Female Pattern Baldness

Aldactone, also known as spironolactone, helps restore a balance to these androgens and, in the process, helps treat female pattern baldness. This treatment hasn’t specifically been approved as a hair loss treatment, but good science and studies have shown that this is a perfect “off label” treatment for female hair loss. Spironolactone is basically a water pill that works by flushing the body of excess fluids while not ridding it of potassium in the process like most diuretics do. The medical treatments that it is used for are typically high blood pressure, swelling, and low potassium levels. But because it also acts as an androgen blocker for women, it slows down the hair loss that is caused by higher levels of these androgens.

Aldactone slows the production of the harmful androgens generated by the adrenal glands and ovaries. It also blocks the receptors of the androgen DHT when it is produced and therefore stops this harmful hormone from attacking the hair follicles.

Spironolactone, like every other drug or treatment that is not a hair transplant, will not grow new hairs. It is only a treatment to be used to stop the progression of hair loss so that for as long as possible you can keep the hair that you have not lost to androgenic alopecia. A hair transplant is the only way to restore any hairs that are gone.

Brian Kessler

Brian is the manager of the Toronto Hair Transplant Clinic. He is experienced in managing different businesses and people. After the loss of their house in the fires of Fort McMurray, Brian and his family relocated to Toronto. Brian has not only moved to a new city, but also into a new position where he enjoys being able to help others who struggle with hair loss. He is also a patient of the THTC and a hair transplant recipient of 2,200 grafts.

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Brian Kessler
Brian is the manager of the Toronto Hair Transplant Clinic. He is experienced in managing different businesses and people. After the loss of their house in the fires of Fort McMurray, Brian and his family relocated to Toronto. Brian has not only moved to a new city, but also into a new position where he enjoys being able to help others who struggle with hair loss. He is also a patient of the THTC and a hair transplant recipient of 2,200 grafts.
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