NEW ORLEANS -- There is a promising supplement that could help regrow hair by taking a daily vitamin.
Eighty-five percent of men and half of all women will experience genetic hair thinning and baldness. Some will turn to surgery, but many others don't want the expense and down time.
Judy Welch started noticing what half of all women experience, female pattern baldness.
"You're always trying to find new ways to comb your hair so it looks a little less like you're losing your hair," Welch lamented.
It's from genetics, inherited from either side of your family. She did not want to have transplant surgery or other procedures. She wanted to start with a simple treatment.
"I was very concerned because I've been losing hair over time, and I was hoping to find something that would help me regrow my hair," she said.
So six months ago her dermatologist recommenced a supplement with vitamins called Nutrafol.
There is one formula for men and one for women. It's formulated to thicken hair and improve the growth phases. It also is designed to specifically decrease the effect of the hormone cortisol that is released during stress. Cortisol can accelerate hair loss in women.
Dr. Mary Lupo is treating Welch and believes the Vitamin D in the formula is important.
"It is extremely important, especially for women who are regularly using sunscreens, that they get their vitamin D checked. And you optimally want your Vitamin D level between 50 and 70," explained Dr. Mary Lupo, a Board-Certified Dermatologist.
Vitamin D has been shown to lower the risk of diabetes and blood sugar levels. Dr. Lupo has seen women with low vitamin D feel more depressed, gain weight more easily, have dry eye symptoms and thinning hair too.
When you're on a supplement, she says you need to be monitored and reevaluated to make sure it's being absorbed. The current Allure Magazine states that Nutrafol inhibits male hormones that trigger hair loss in women and men. It also explains that it contains lots of antioxidants to tone down inflammation.
After six months, 80 percent of women reported increased hair growth while 73 percent saw more volume.
"You have a timetable in which you evaluate the effectiveness. I typically tell Nutrafol patients you have to give it six months," Dr. Lupo said.
That's exactly what Judy did, stay on it so far for six months, and has noticed her hair getting slightly thicker.
"I did have one woman come up to me and say, 'I don't know what it is, but your hair does look better.'" When asked if she told the woman that it was because of a vitamin, she laughed and said, "No."
Dr. Lupo says along with checking levels of Vitamin D in your blood test, the level of ferritin should be checked as well. That is a protein that helps store iron in the tissues and is important for hair growth. It is not in the Nutrafol formula.
As with all supplements, the results have not been evaluated by the FDA. Nutrafol can be combined with ROGAINE and other hair growth products.
Nutrafol costs $88 a bottle before tax. Visit their website here.
Along with Dr. Lupo's practice in New Orleans, here is a complete map of places it is sold in Louisiana and Mississippi.