by Bob Flaws

In Chinese medicine, it is said that “The hair is the surplus of the blood.” Therefore, hair loss is usually attributed to blood vacuity. However, there can be different kinds of blood vacuity and, hence, different formulas for the treatment of these different patterns of hair loss.

Follow up:

On page 359 of issue #6, 2008 of Shi Yong Zhong Yi Yao Za Zhi (Journal of Practical Chinese Medicine & Pharmacology), Chen Yue-chang published an article titled “The Treatment of 50 Cases of Hair Loss Via Pattern Discrimination.” Among these 50 cases, there were 30 males and 20 females aged 20-45 years with a disease duration of four weeks to 10 years. In this study, Dr. Chen identified four different patterns: 1) qi and blood insufficiency, 2) blood heat engendering wind, 3) kidney yin insufficiency, and 4) heart-spleen dual vacuity. Although the word “blood” does not appear in the names of the last three patterns, blood vacuity is implied, including in the case of blood heat engendering wind. In this pattern, one nourishes blood as a main way of treating wind based on the dictum, “To treat wind, first treat the blood.” Twenty-four cases got a marked effect, meaning that they saw hair regrow by a rate of 70% or more in the areas of hair loss. Eighteen cases got some effect, meaning that hair regrowth was between 30-70%, while eight cases got no effect. The total effectiveness rate was, therefore, published as 84%. In Dr. Chen’s conclusion, no single ingredient was singled out as being the most effective for promoting hair regrowth. Rather, her methodology was merely based on pattern discrimination and the appropriate administration of medicinals for those patterns.

Observations of the contents of issue #6, 2008 of Shi Yong Zhong Yi Yao Za Zhi (Journal of Practical Chinese Medicine & Pharmacology)

Out of 18 sections in the table of contents of this journal, one of those sections was “integrated Chinese-Western Medicine.” This section contained 13 RCTs. Only one other section, “Clinical Reports,” contained as many articles. The Clinical Reports section contained 13 studies using only Chinese medicine. In the Integrated Chinese-Western Medical Section, diseases studied included:

Hyperthyroidism
Ulcerative colitis
The acute stage of ischemic cerebral vascular disease
Chronic hepatitis B accompanied by insomnia
Chronic congestive heart failure
Perianal eczema
Condyloma acuminata (venereal warts)
Geriatric pruritus
Carbon dioxide poisoning brain disease
Post-surgical joint stiffness
Pulmonary tuberculosis
Irritable bowel syndrome
Upper arm neurological skin pain

In the Clinical Reports section, the diseases studied included:

Hair loss
Chronic rhinitis
Peri-arthritis of the shoulder
Primary onset dysmenorrhea
Urinary tract lithiasis
Cough
Acute lumbar sprain
Dizziness
Chronic gastritis
Hyperlipidemia
Male sterility
Cholelithiasis
Cough

Other sections contained studies on:

Neurovascualr headache
Bile-reflux gastritis
Chronic atrophic gastritis
Depression
Functional indigestion
Arthritis of the knee joint
Insomnia
Geriatric constipation
Post-medicinal abortion vaginal tract bleeding
Liver cirrhosis and ascites
Acute gouty arthritis
Lumbar disc protrusion
Low back pain
Chronic prostatitis
Chronic urticaria
Recalcitrant dry throat
Fever
Chronic heart failure
Urinary retention
Metabolic syndrome (syndrome X)