On this Day in History: August 18, 2022

August 18, 2022 New York Times Article Fuelled an Already Growing Interest in Oral Minoxidil

Wishing you a Happy August 18.

It was one year ago today that an article in the New York times discussed the use of oral minoxidil. The fuelled the already growing interest in the medication.

The graph from a Google Trends search shows that interest is growing and growing and growing. The spike in the graph corresponds to the timing of the New York Times article.

Oral minoxidil is among the options for treating androgenetic hair loss. For women, doses are 0.25 to 1.25 mg typically and sometimes up to 2.5 mg for some women. For males, typical doses are 1.25 mg to 5 mg but 2.5 to 3.75 mg is often used.

Side effects don’t happen in everyone and many do great on properly chosen doses. Potential side effects include hair growth on the face and body, swelling in the feet or around the eyes, dizziness, headaches, insomnia, breast tenderness, chest pain, heart palpitations, ECG changes and weight gain from fluid retention. The medication must never be used during pregnancy.

REFERENCE

Kolata G. An Old Medicine Grows New Hair for Pennies a Day, Doctors Say. August 18, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/18/health/minoxidil-hair-loss-pills.html