Saw palmetto, Serenoa repens, is often known as sabal, especially in Europe but is also found under many other names. It is a native fan palm of the Southeast United States, particularly in Florida. It was at one time a regular diet of the Native American Seminole people, even though the taste was described by some as repulsive. They would collect it, dry it and use it as a staple food for the rest of the year. It was also used by early settlers as a medicine for cattle with urinary problems, and saw palmetto drying facilities were established in Florida in 1907 by Lilly & Company. It began to be introduced by pharmaceutical companies in the 1950s when it was used to treat prostate enlargement. It was particularly effective when treating the early stages of the disease and was thought to be less likely to harm the patient through side effects than using other drugs. Later it was found that it helps with hair loss problems by limiting 5 alpha reductase action and thus promoting healthy hair follicles. Saw palmetto is now becoming the herbal treatment of choice for androgenetic alopecia.
Saw palmetto baldness treatment is said to work by disrupting hormonal signals and therefore reducing the uptake by hair follicles of a harmful chemical called dihydrotestosterone (DHT). There are both topical and oral preparations and these can complement each other by reducing DHT locally on the scalp and throughout the body thus promoting healthy hair growth.
The study most cited when explaining the benefits of saw palmetto baldness treatment was a trial run in 2002 by a group of scientists Nelson Prager, Karen Bickett, Nita French and Geno Markovici*. This was a relatively small study conducted under double-blind conditions on 19 men aged 23 to 64 with mild to moderate hair loss. The trial involved administration of an oral daily dose containing 400 mg of Liposterol Extract of Saw Palmetto (LESP). [beta]-Sitosterol and additional nutrients. Results after five months showed that 60% of the men taking the herbal combination had improved hair growth. This compared to an 11% improvement for those who received a placebo. Although the small number of men participating in the study meant that the results could have come about by chance, the findings were still very encouraging.
Now many companies are selling saw palmetto baldness There may be a problem with the difference in treatment and thus the recommended dosage. It is a natural product which means that the amount of active ingredients present in the berries varies. There are currently no regulated manufacturing standards for the purity of Saw Palmetto and the treatment has not yet been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for safety. Therefore purity and effectiveness cannot be guaranteed and there can be wide variations in quality and concentration from brand to brand. Therefore customers should buy only from reputable companies and ensure that the preparation contains Saw Palmetto Lipid Extract. These are plant natural active ingredients such as fatty acids, oils, waxes and steroids and are not contained in the juice, bark or dried berries.
saw palmetto baldness The treatments are low in toxicity and are now widely used in North America for the treatment of hair loss and are also used to treat prostate enlargement. Sometimes as an added step, higher concentration Saw Palmetto in gel form is applied topically to the scalp for even better results. For the early stages of male pattern baldness, saw palmetto offers a relatively safe treatment before resorting to prescribed medications.
A note of caution, although saw palmetto can be used by most people, it has not been proven safe for women during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
*Prazer N, Biquet R, French N et al. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of botanically derived inhibitors of 5-K.[alpha]reductase in the treatment of androgenetic alopecia. J Altern Complement Med 2002; 8(2): 143-152.
