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 Dr. Lee is the founder and owner of Regrowth LLC, a company based in Los Angeles and dedicated to the treatment of hair loss. He has been developing innovative products and treating hair loss sufferers for the past 16 years. Dr. Lee is the creator of the Xandrox line of hair loss treatments.
Important Note: Due a busy schedule, Dr. Lee cannot answer any new questions at this time; however, he will be providing high quality answers to questions he receives from his own practice exclusively to Morphollica.com regularly
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2004-01-30
Emu Oil
Is the use of topical emu oil beneficial for treating MPB?
It may be. Although the composition of emu oil can vary and is not commercially standardized, emu oil typically contains myristic, palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic fatty acids. Some of these fatty acids have been shown to inhibit the synthesis of DHT in vitro, so there are potential positive effects for treating MPB with emu oil.
The stratum corneum of the epidermis is the primary barrier to absorption of topical medications. Emu oil was found to have a high concentration of on-polar monounsaturated fatty acids, which may explain its ability to penetrate easily through the stratum corneum. Emu oil is almost 100% triglyceride lipid. Triglycerides are abundant in human skin lipids, so that the composition of fatty acids in human skin is similar to that of emu oil, which makes the absorption of emu oil into human skin faster and easier.
Unfortunately, one of the major drawbacks of using any non-FDA approved or regulated medications is the lack of reliable information in regards to its efficacy and safety. As for 'any herb or natural product for MPB', we have a Catch-22 situation. It costs in the hundreds of millions of dollars to obtain an FDA approval for a new drug and the FDA will not grant an exclusive patent for 'herbs and natural products'. Since the pharmaceutical company cannot recapture the cost of any research and development of emu oil as a treatment for MPB, we will never have well-designed studies to prove its value or to establish the optimal doses for emu oil as a treatment for MPB.
For an excellent and exhaustive treatise on emu oil, access href=http://www.agsci.ubc.ca/ubcquail/Research/ emu_report_final_dec3.pdf
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