In the local pharmacies in the UAE a hair-loss treatment product by the name of Foltene is readily available. What are your thoughts on it’s components and do they hold any merit on it’s effectiveness? foltene.eu

I haven’t heard of Foltene before, but I checked out the site. The ingredients are a bunch of vitamins and something they are calling “Tricosaccaride”, which according to information I can only find on their company site, is something that they discovered in the 60s. Common sense time — If this really worked as claimed, don’t you think in the past 40+ years it would’ve been a little more well known? The vitamins in the ingredients will nourish the hair, but I have no idea how they can assume that means it’ll regrow hair. Looking a little further into what Tricosaccaride is, it seems like it is an acid that helps with blood circulation to the scalp. The idea of poor circulation leading to hair loss is false. See here for more on that.

The product claims to change the number of hairs in the anagen (growth) and telogen (sleep) phases. In other words, it claims to be able to tweak the cycling of your hair growth. Hair cycle is something that is controlled below the skin (genetics) and not above the skin… so a topical treatment that can do as they claim just doesn’t make sense.

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