A difficult menopause is no joke, but adding rapid hair loss and balding to that, is every woman’s greatest nightmare. Understanding that 95% of hair loss in women and men has an androgenic undercurrent, the team at Dr. Wolff Research decided to find a way of preventing the downward hair loss spiral from beginning.
“Nature is the greatest laboratory you can imagine.” Says Dr. Adolf Klenk, head of research and development at the cosmeceutical company, Dr. Wolff Research. During his time with Dr. Kurt Wolff Klenk came up with the idea that caffeine could be a very useful cosmeceutical ingredient, after some interesting research Dr. Kurt Wolff finally developed Plantur 39 hair products for women and Alpecin for men.
The Nature of Hairloss
“I have been researching hair for over 30 years,” shares Dr. Klenk. “I found that hereditary hair loss affects about 50% of all people, 95% of which is androgenic in nature.” Dr Klenk, a German scientist and leading world expert on hair loss, was the guest speaker at our recent reader events, held in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg in conjunction with Longevity Magazine and Plantur39.
A recent survey shows that women in Cape Town are more concerned about their hair and the role it plays in self-esteem than their Johannesburg and Durban counterparts.
The survey of 505 women over 30 by independent company, Plus 94 Research, showed that 76% of Capetonian women polled said hair was a huge part of their life and self-image compared to 71% in Durban and 60% in Johannesburg.
60% of Cape Town women surveyed believed healthy hair boosted their self-confidence and attracted attention from males compared to 58% in Durban and 46% in Jo’burg.
Durban women thought about their hair most (92%), with Cape Town second (82%) and Johannesburg behind at 67%, according to the survey commissioned by Plantur 39 phyto-caffeine shampoo to counter stress-related hair loss.
Almost 40% of the women polled said they were showing signs of early hair loss. This had impacted negatively on their self-confidence and their appeal to their partners, which had led to symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Cape Town women were once again in the majority – 53% said they had experienced anxiety and depression related to hair loss compared to 39% in Durban and 19% in Johannesburg.
Dr Klenk, said there could be many reasons for thinning hair, most notably stress, genetics and menopause. If you lose more than 50 hairs a day it might be an alarm signal that hair loss could be beginning. A lost hair contains a small bulb at the end, one that is jagged, or sharp is a broken hair, advises Klenk.
“If you have a dominant build up of testosterone in the hair root this can increase hair loss. However in terms of a negative issue, which in most cases is a genetic predisposition, you have a certain time in life when this begins. For men, it can begin at the end of puberty. For women, with the onset of menopause. Stress and menopause may lead to lower oestrogen levels and boosted testosterone, which may lead to thinner hair and hair loss. Fast food also creates an imbalance of trace elements, which can contribute to bad hairgrowth. Many forms of medication can also have a negative effect on hairgrowth. If you can work preventative before this you can help prevent the hair loss from starting.”
The hair root works for 6 to 7 years but it must recover. The existing hair is then lost and after a period of recovery the root re-establishes normal hairgrowth. “Once the testosterone increases, the growth period can be compressed, creating a greater number of growth cycles. This can lead to exhaustion in the hair root. This is the final stage of thinning hair. We suggest you start as early as possible with the prevention of hairloss in order to keep your existing hair, not to wait and look for a way to regrow your hair, which cannot happen.” Findings show that local treatment works better than any systemic treatment. Plus you don’t have to deal with negative side-effects.
In 2001, Dr. Klenk discovered that the harmful influence of testosterone can be countered with a caffeine treatment.
Caffeine
“When we started our caffeine development because I was convinced caffeine was a charming substance. We know it’s a safe substance to work with and I had a vision that caffeine would hold tremendous qualities. We started by working on a skin model. We assimilated puberty to see what happened to the skin then we added caffeine and discovered that it had a suppressive effect on testosterone. With this positive finding we moved to the hair organ. We also discovered that caffeine also stimulates and encourages new hair growth, it literally wakes up the hair root.”
Plantur 39 and Alpecin
Caffeine has no side effects and it penetrates the root easily. Only 2 minutes of contact time on the scalp is needed to have a protective effect. “Caffeine is stored in the hair root where it can protect the hair shaft from testosterone damage.” As well as the caffeine complex, zinc and niacin are both needed to complete this product.
Plantur 39 and Alpecin are available at Clicks, Dis-Chem and most major pharmacies.
If you have hereditary hair loss in your family, or have had intense periods of stress, Plantur 39 or Alpecin could be a great way to help prevent a downward hormonal cycle from damaging your hair growth.