In 2002 a published double blind clinical study undertaken to examine the utility of HairGenesis® demonstrated safety and efficacy in a botanically-based, natural hair loss treatment. This was the first time a naturally-derived hair loss treatment was proven to work. Saw palmetto extract was one of the active ingredients used in the 2002 HairGenesis® formula, proven in this study.
Prior to the publication of this research, almost no one used saw palmetto for hair loss. Certainly, HairGenesis® was the first commercially sold product line featuring the use of this material. When word got out, many me-too saw palmetto containing products were cobbled together and sold in the mass market. Now, almost every hair treatment product incorporates some form or version of saw palmetto. At HairGenesis® we are heartened to see our early hypothesis picked up on by so many of our competitors. However, we also note that no one else has, thus far, managed to successfully repeat the experiments wherein we proved that our saw palmetto containing formula reversed pattern hair loss. Surely, saw palmetto is saw palmetto is saw palmetto, right? But if so, why has nobody else been able to prove that their saw palmetto mixture stimulated hair growth?
There are a number of important factors that contribute to this anomaly. In the first place, saw palmetto is an unusual material. It is basically a stew containing numerous fatty acids and sterolic fractions, that nature has mixed together into a kind of macromolecular emulsion. When consumed in their raw form, saw palmetto berries have been purported to offer a number of nutritionally valuable advantages, including the support of healthy urinary function. Saw palmetto can be ground into a powder that can be used as a tea, or ingested in capsule form. However, in this manner, the active concentration of fatty acids and sterols is actually quite low. It is only when saw palmetto is carefully distilled into a high potency extract that the hair related benefits may occur.
So, again, if its merely a matter of selecting for high potency saw palmetto, why have the other hair treatment lines not been able to show clinically relevant hair growth benefits? Another factor becomes important here. That is, how well does saw palmetto get from the stomach into the hair follicle. Now we enter into a realm where intellectual property becomes important. In our company, we have worked hard to develop carrier techniques and methods of process that enhance the ability of our active composition across the gastric mucosa, through the bloodstream and into the target structures of the hair follicle.
Do we wish to disclose everything we know, thereby printing a roadmap for our competitors to follow? No, not really. Were you us, would you? So, everything we've learned in twenty years of studious research helps us stay several steps ahead of our competitors, when it comes to this facet of our formula, and many others.
Most importantly, and as has been compellingly demonstrated in a number of peer-reviewed research studies, HairGenesis® is unique in its ability to back its claims with objective evidence. In our next installment we will explore the materials used to address pathologic inflammation in the hair follicle.
