Hair today, gone tomorrow
Since the birth of vanity, men have tried
endless lotions, potions and quackery, with little success.
Ancient Egyptians reportedly rubbed
their shiny pates with a mixture of lion, hippopotamus,
crocodile, cat, snake, and ibex fat. One of Cleopatra's cures -
a paste of ground horses' teeth and deer marrow - was tried on
Julius Caesar.
Hippocrates wisely observed that
castrated eunuchs resist hair loss but few men were lining up.
Instead, he recommended a mixture of cumin, pigeon droppings,
horseradish and beetroot to restore mangy manes.
In 1874 Dr Chase's Recipes suggested:
"Take common box, four handfuls of stems and leaves; boil in
three pints of water for a quarter of an hour and let stand for
ten hours or more; strain and add an ounce and a half of eau de
cologne or lavender water. The head should be washed with this
solution every morning."
Some try folk remedies like flaxseed
and sawpalmetto berry.
Two modern treatments are known to
have an effect, and while they help prevent hair loss they do
not generate new hair. The first, introduced in 1988, was the
drug minoxidil, marketed as Rogaine.
