Natural preparation for treatment of male pattern hair loss. Stephen Chizick and Rico Delorscio, both of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Assigned to Proguard. U.S. Patent 5,972,345. Issued October 26, 1999.

The body of this patent alludes to the increasing evidence of the link between male pattern hair loss and elevated levels of the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase, which converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It refers to reports of increased scalp levels of DHT in men with male pattern hair loss, and notes that elevations in 5-alpha-reductase have also been linked to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Proposing that herbal formulations that reduce the elevated 5-alpha-reductase levels associated with BPH should also help control male pattern hair loss, the inventors specify combinations of saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) berry, African pygeum (Prunus africanum, syn. Pygeum africanus) air-dried bark, and stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) young top leaf extracts with vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, in a natural formulation to treat male pattern hair loss. They describe saw palmetto extract as inhibiting the conversion of testosterone to DHT and blocking the action of DHT. They observe that African pygeum extracts have been found effective in the treatment of BPH, and that stinging nettle has a long history of use as a hair and skin tonic. The inventors state that, although the preferred formulations of the herbal mixtures are as tablets, capsules, or liquid, for oral consumption they may be applied directly to the scalp.

Dr. James Duke’s Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases (available on-line through the Agricultural Research Services website at <www.ars-grin.gov/duke>) note that saw palmetto has androgenic and antiprostatitic activities, and stinging nettles has androgenic, antiprostatitic, keratitigenic, and testosteronigenic activities. Although African pygeum is not listed in Dr. Duke’s database, it has traditional use in Africa as a treatment for prostatitis, impotence, and male infertility, and European research has suggested that stinging nettle root potentiates the activities of pygeum, according to studies conducted on a proprietary commercial extract of the two herbs.