This paper will be concerned with the baldness treatment known as Rogaine. Hair loss is a problem which affects a large percentage of the American population. Estimates have shown that about 65 percent of men and 35 percent of women experience hair loss during their lives (Kanner 20). Rogaine is the first medical drug to have been proven at least somewhat effective in treating this problem. Rogaine, which is manufactured by the Upjohn Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is a solution containing 2 percent of a high blood pressure medicine known as minoxidil (Folkenberg 9). Despite the approval of the Food and Drug Administration, the drug has become the center of controversy in recent years. In particular, many researchers have been critical of the results of Upjohn's own 1983 study on the drug's effectiveness. This paper will demonstrate that, although Rogaine is only minimally effective in treating most cases of baldness, it nonetheless represents an important step toward the development of a true medical solution to the problem in the future.
Baldness in men is caused by an over-abundance in the scalp of the male hormone testosterone ("RX For Baldness" 88). Throughout history, balding men have sought ways to overcome this problem. During the 1800s, for example, many men purchased ineffective "hair restoring elixers" from traveling medicine shows (Folkenberg 9). In the twentieth century, the medical profession came up with surgical methods for transplanting hair. These included "punch grafts," in which hair removed from the back of the head is transplanted to the bald spots, and "scalp reduction, in which a portion of the bald spot is cut away and the remaining hair-covered skin is stretched to cover it" ("RX For Baldness" 88). Although these surgical methods are effective in providing new hair to bald spots, they are an expensive and uncomfortable ordeal for the men who use them. However, until very recently, no drugs, e...