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14 November, 2000
The Researcher Annikki Hagros-Koski, Bachelor of Science Hair Academy
Yrjönkatu 23
00100 HELSINKI
Finland
Tel. +358-(0)9-6122 700
Fax. +358-(0)9-6122 7050
E-mail: salon.alexandra@co.inet.fi
The Research Assistant
Pauli Koski and Pia Reinikka, assisting in the video
taping
Annika Hagros, Master of Science, assisting in the diagrams
The Orderer of the Research Arcon World Wide
The Consultants and Overseers of the Research
Risto Oksman, Dermatologist Riitta Meri,Gynecologist
The Writer of the Report Pirkko Hatara,Teacher of Hairdressing,
M.Sc.
The Monitoring System of the Overseers
The criteria and the testing methods were planned together
with doctors Riitta Meri and Risto Oksman.
Pirkko Hatara has been a supervisor in the analysis
phase of the test persons in the finishing situation of the test.
She has accepted the comparison results of the photos and videos
which have been taken in the beginning and in the end of the test.
Testing Products Arcon-Tisane (capsule), active ingrediens:
Fenugreen Arcon-Biospray (mouth spray), active ingrediens: the exract
of serenoa repens
The Type of the Research
A Double Blind Research
The Research Problem
The aim of the research was to find out what kind of
possibilities Arcon products can have to reduce hair loss and to
regrow lost hair to persons who have had a male type hair loss.
In addition another purpose of the test was to find out what kind
of side effects Arcon products may cause to persons who use them.
The Testing Period
The test group started to use the test products after
March 17th 2000. The products were estimated to last for six months.
The Sample of the Research
The first plan was to recruit as test persons 20 women
and 80 men who have the male type hair loss. It proved difficult
to find women who had the male type hair loss and who would be interested
in starting the use of Arcon products. Two women who promised to
start testing the products cancelled their participation in the
test. One of them was frightened because there was a text "for men
only" written on the bottle. The other woman had been in an allergy
test where it was found that many herbs can cause allergic reactions
to her and therefore she did not want to try Arcon products which
include some herbs, too.
It was agreed with the orderer of the research that
men will be taken instead of women so that the total number of the
test group was 100 persons, 13 women and 87 men. The age distribution
of these people was from 20 to 70 years old (Appendix 1).
During the test one woman and one man interrupted their
participation. The woman did not inform at all on her cancellation
and no final photos have not been taken of her. The man finished
after three months and there are final photos of him. One man changed
his hairstyle so much that it was impossible to estimate any results
from the photo comparison.
In total there were 97 test persons in the final photo
and video comparison.
The Selection of the Sample
The test was advertised in Helsingin Sanomat in February
2000. The people who were interested in participating in the test
were asked to contact at Hair Academy. About 1000 people phoned
and nearly 400 people were invited to Hair Academy. After the interviews
and the analyses of the hair and scalp 100 test persons were selected.
In the analysis of hair and scalp it was confirmed that
all test persons had the male type hair loss. The way of the analysis
was to take off about 10 - 15 hairs from every person and examine
the roots of them by microscope. Also scalps were examined visually
if there were any problems in the skin.
It proved difficult to find scalps healthy enough. There
were 16 persons who had a healthy scalp and 36 test persons who
had light inflammation in their scalp. In addition 26 test persons'
scalp was a little irritated and 5 persons had some redness in the
scalp.
The Informed Consent
Before the test started every test person got information
about the products and their uses.
(Usage: One capsule of Arcon-Tisane a day and Arcon
Biospray twice daily [one pressing of spray in the mornings and
the evenings].)
They were told that half of the products were real and
half are placebos. They were informed that after the test period
also the persons who have used the placebos would get same amount
of the real products. The test persons signed the agreement 1) to
use the test products according to the instructions, 2) to come
after six months to the final analysis and 3) to give all information
which would be relevant to the test.
The Assessment of the Initial Phase
The photographs and the videos were taken. The bald
areas of the test persons were measured. They were given written
instructions how to use the test products. Every test person was
informed that healthy skin is a basic requirement for the good hair
growth.
The Distribution of the Testing Products
The test products were marked as number 2 or 3. They
were dealt out randomly to the test group by Salon Alexandra reception
personnel.
The Assessment of the Final Phase
The photographs and the videos were taken. The persons'
own opinions of the changes of their hair amount and the possible
side effects were asked. The researchers' opinions were written
down according to the comparison of the initial photo with the persons'
hair themselves.
The differences of the initial situations and the final
situations of the hair amount were easiest to find out by comparing
the photos of the initial phase and the photos of the final phase.
The video tapes proved more difficult to use as the comparing material
but in some cases videos can confirm the photograph comparison.
The Assessment Problems of the Results
It was not possible to find 100 persons with the male
type hair loss who had not any problems with their scalp at all.
And so the test group included persons who had light inflammation
in their scalp. It was difficult to estimate how much inflammations
influenced the hair loss.
The persons had used different amounts of Arcon Biospray
because some of them had difficulties in measuring out the mouth
spray. Some of them had used up all the Arcon Spray a few days earlier
and some of them had still some left after the six months period.
One of the test persons used his Arcon spray for less than three
months. Arcon-Tisane capsules had been used properly. On the average
the test persons had very carefully followed the instructions how
to use the products.
The final measuring of the bald areas of the persons
proved inexact because of technical reasons. Usually there had not
been so clear dividing line around the bald and hairy area, and
therefore it was impossible to determine the measuring point.
The photo comparison was more difficult to make if the
length of the hair, greasiness, colour or curliness were changed.
If the hair was cut nearly bald it was also very difficult to notice
whether more hair had grown. After summer the scalps were more tanned
and the hair was lighter. The comparison was also more difficult
if there was no clearly bald area in the scalp. In Appendix 13 the
testers' comments of the photo comparison of the initial photos
and the final photos are shown.
The Results
The test persons who had used product 2 got more hair:
9 persons had got a little stronger hair but the rest of them had
got moderate additional hair growth, two persons had got clearly
more hair.
The test persons who had used product 3 had mostly (23
persons) the same situation with the hair amount as in the initial
situation. In addition three of them had decreased hair amount.
14 persons that used product 3 had got a little more hair and 6
persons had got quite moderate more new hair. There was also one
person who used product 3 who had clearly more hair. (Appendix 2).
The men who used product 3 had stayed more commonly
in the same situation with their hair amount than the women who
used product 3. The women in this group had got more commonly new
hair. Both men and women who used product 2 had got more hair. The
group of women (13 persons) was so small that the comparison situation
between men (84 persons) and women was not equal. (Appendices 3-4).
No great differences in the growth of hair was seen
between the age group 20 - 35, 36 - 50 and 51 - 70 years old. Persons
in the youngest group had got a little more (it has marked number
1) additional hair growth than the age group 36 - 50 and 51 - 70
but the older groups had got more common moderate more (it has marked
numbers 1,5, 2 and 2,5) new hair than the youngest test persons.
(Appendices 5-7).
The duration of the hair loss varied in the test group
from 2 years to 40 years. If we compare the duration of hair loss
to the addition of the hair between groups 2 - 6 years, 7 - 15 years
and 16 - 40 years we find that the persons who had had hair loss
for 7 - 15 years and used the product 2 had had the best improvement
in the hair growth. A few test persons from the group which had
had hair loss 16 - 40 and used the product 2 had very good results
in the hair addition. If hair loss had lasted 2 - 6 years (product
2) there was slightly less new hair than in the other age groups.
Actually there were no great differences between these
three groups. When we compare these three groups we have noticed
that the group which have had the hair loss for 7 - 15 years was
the largest one. (Appendices 8-10).
If we compare the test persons' own opinions and the
testers' opinions how the situation of the hair amounts had changed
during the test period to the results of the photo comparison we
can notice very large differences. In many cases the test persons
themselves said that there have not happened any changes in the
amount of their hair after the initial situation, but the photo
comparison had indicated that there had been moderate improvements
in the hair amount. The overall majority of the test persons who
used product 2 thought that they had got a little more hair during
the test period. Meanwhile the test persons who used product 3 mostly
commented that the situation of their hair amount had not changed
at all. On the average the testers had often been a little more
optimistic about the hair additions than what the photo comparison
indicated but in many cases the testers had also estimated the hair
amount to be less than the photo comparison. (Appendices 11-12).
The test persons did not have many side effects. 8 test
persons (5 using product 2, 3 using product 3) had noted that they
had had some side effect symptoms during the test period. The users
of product 2 had had two positive and three negative side effects.
The users of product 3 had had one positive and two negative side
effect symptoms. (Appendix 14).
Conclusions
The research pointed out that:
1. The product 2 seems to influence increasingly on
hair amount with the men and women who had male type hair loss.
The product 2 also seems to give more thickness of the body to a
hair because all the test persons used product 2 hair felt stronger.
16,3 % of the test persons using product 2 had got a
slight increase (Table 1),
65,1 % of them had got a moderate increase, and
18,6 % of them had got a clear increase in hair. (Appendices
2-4).
In the tables below both the men's and women's hair
growth is compared but it should be noticed that the group of the
women is much smaller than the group of the men.
Table 1: The increased amount of hair of the men
Product 2 The Hair Addition (43 persons) No increase
- 0 % A slight increase - 16,3 % A moderate increase - 65,1 % A
clear increase - 18,6 %
Product 3 The Hair Addition (41 persons) No increase
- 58,6 % A slight increase - 26,8% A moderate increase - 12,2 %
A clear increase - 2,4 %
Table 2: The increased amount of hair of the women
Product 2 The Hair Addition (5 persons) No increase
- 0 % A slight increase -40 % A clear increase - 40 % A very clear
increase - 20 %
Product 3 The Hair Addition (8 persons) No increase
- 37,5 % A slight increase - 50 % A clear increase - 12,5 % A very
clear increase - 0 %
No increase: The values -1 and 0 of the photo comparison
A slight increase: The value 0,5 of the photo comparison
A moderate increase: The values 1 and 1,5 of the photo
comparison
A clear increase: The values 2 and 2,5 of the photo
comparison
If we count together the columns "a moderate increase"
and "a clear increase" (product 2) it seems that men had got more
commonly a remarkable amount of additional hair. Meanwhile the women
had got more commonly new hair by using product 3 than men. A conclusion
may be that women take a better care of their hair, physical condition
and diet than men, when they commit to a test with new products.
Usually people become more interested in taking care
of their hair and scalp if some professional person gives them instructions
how to do it. Therefore there had appeared a little more growth
of hair also with the persons who had used product 3. (Appendices
2-4).
2. The age of test persons does not seem to influence
much on how efficiently the Arcon products regrow new hair to people
who have had the male type hair loss. In the table below it is compared
the addition of hair amount of different age groups.
Table 3: The effect of the age, age group 20 - 35
years
Product 2 The Hair Addition (18 persons) No increase
- 0 % A slight increase - 11,9 % A moderate increase - 70,7 % A
clear increase - 17,6 %
Product 3 The Hair Addition (14 persons) No increase
- 54,5 % A slight increase - 21,5 % A moderate increase - 7,1 %
A clear increase - 7,1 %
Table 4: The effect of the age, age group 36 - 50
years
Product 2 The Hair Addition (15 persons) No increase
- 0 % A slight increase - 13,5 % A moderate increase - 66,7 % A
clear increase - 20 %
Product 3 The Hair Addition (22 persons) No increase
- 43,5 % A slight increase - 39,1 % A moderate increase - 17,4 %
A clear increase - 0%
Table 5: The effect of the age, age group 51 - 70
years
Product 2 The Hair Addition (16 persons) No increase
- 0 % A slight increase - 26,7 % A moderate increase - 53,3 % A
clear increase - 20 %
Product 3 The Hair Addition (12 persons) No increase
- 58,3 % A slight increase - 33,4 % A moderate increase - 8,3 %
A clear increase - 0%
No increase: The values -1 and 0 of the photo comparison
A slight increase: The value 0,5 of the photo comparison
A moderate increase: The values 1 and 1,5 of the photo
comparison
A clear increase: The values 2 and 2,5 of the photo
comparison
If we count together a moderate and a clear increased
hair growth of the age group 20 - 30 years (product 2) we can see
that 88,3 % of them had got remarkably more hair. 86,7 % of the
age group 36 - 50 and 73,3 % of the age group 51 - 70 had a moderate
or a clear increase in the amount of hair.
There were also some good results of hair growth among
the oldest age group.(Appendices 5-7).
3. The duration of hair loss does not influence greatly
on how efficiently the Arcon products regrow new hair on people
who have had the male type hair loss. In the table below it is compared
the addition of hair amount of tests persons whom hair lost have
lasted different time period.
Table 6: The effect of the duration of hair loss,
2 - 6 years
Product 2 The Hair Addition (14 persons) No increase
- 0 % A slight increase - 15,4 % A moderate increase - 61,6 % A
clear increase - 23,1%
Product 3 The Hair Addition (12 persons) No increase
- 33,3% A slight increase - 33,3 % A moderate increase - 58,3 %
A clear increase - 8,3 %
Table 7: The effect of the duration of hair loss,
7 - 15 years
Product 2 The Hair Addition (18 persons) No increase
- 0 % A slight increase - 16,7 % A moderate increase - 72,2 % A
clear increase - 11,1 %
Product 3 The Hair Addition (22 persons) No increase
- 63,6 % A slight increase - 22,7 % A moderate increase - 13,6 %
A clear increase - 0%
Table 8: The effect of the duration of hair loss,
16-40 years
Product 2 The Hair Addition (10 persons) No increase
- 0 % A slight increase - 20 % A moderate increase - 60 % A clear
increase - 20 %
Product 3 The Hair Addition (9 persons) No increase
- 66,7 % A slight increase - 22,7 % A moderate increase - 22,2 %
A clear increase - 0%
No increase: The values -1 and 0 of the photo comparison
A slight increase: The value 0,5 of the photo comparison
A moderate increase: The values 1 and 1,5 of the photo
comparison
A clear increase: The values 2 and 2,5 of the photo
comparison
If we count together the columns (product 2) "A moderate"
and "A clear increase" of hair amount we can see that there are
in the group of the duration of hair loss 2 - 6 years 84,7 % remarkable
more hair, the duration of hair loss 7 - 15 years 83,3 % and the
duration of hair loss 16 - 40 years 80 %. These numbers point out
that it is not essentially depending on of the duration the hair
loss how much the product 2 can reproduce new hair.(Appendices 8-10).
4. People can not easily notice visually the change
of the hair amount if there is no objective evidence like photographs
which are pointed out with diagrams on appendices 11-12.
5. The Arcon products do not cause remarkable side effects.
Only very few people during the test had any side effects. If we
present them in percentage it caused positive side effects to 2
% of the test persons using product 2 and negative effects to 6,3
% the test persons using product 2. The product 3 caused negative
side effects to 4 % and positive ones to 2 % of the test persons.
(Appendix 14).
In Helsinki 15. November 2000
Annikki Hagros-Koski
The Researcher
In Helsinki 15. November 2000
Pirkko Hatara, Teacher of Hairdressing, The Writer of
the Research
The letter form Arcon UK Ltd. included information which
products were authentic received and opened 8th of November 2000
in Hair Academy. (Appendix 15).
The authentic products were marked number 2.
The placebos were marked number 3.
I want to thank following assisting persons for the
great help selecting test persons
Christina Godenhjelm, Hair Analyst, Hair Academy
Kaisa Hämälainen, Hairdressing Student of
Helsinki Polytechnique
Annikki Hagros-Koski
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