title: A Marine Protein-based Dietary Supplement for Subclinical Hair Thinning/Loss: Results of a Multisite, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Clinical Trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Since skin and hair quality are potent vitality signals, and hair growth deficiency can cause significant psychological morbidity. In addition to clearly-defined hair loss disorders, milder forms of hair thinning or hair loss appear to be increasingly common, with a suggestion that sub-optimal diets and stressful lifestyles may be involved.
  
  
  METHODS
  Here we assess the value of a dietary marine-extract based dietary supplement in premenopausal women with subclinical hair thinning or hair loss conditions. This multi-site, randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted with impact on hair shedding rate and hair fiber diameter (assessed by phototrichogram) as primary end points upon consumption of the oral supplement compared to a placebo. A total of 96 eligible female subjects were enrolled aged 21-55 years of age from Asian, Caucasian, and Hispanic ethnic backgrounds.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This study showed that hair shedding was significantly reduced in the first 3-6 months of daily consumption of the oral supplement. Moreover, phototrichogram image analysis revealed a statistically significant increase in the mean vellus-like hair diameter after 6 months of supplement consumption, when compared to the mean vellus-like hair diameters measured at baseline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results support the view that a nutritional supplement approach may be useful for women in this age group to deal with subclinical hair thinning or hair loss conditions, and those components of this marine extract-based oral supplement may be a useful adjunct.
authors.affiliation: Thomas J Stephens and Associates Inc., Colorado Research Center, Colorado Springs, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Ronald L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Rizer
authors.affiliation: Thomas J Stephens and Associates Inc., Texas Research Center, Richardson, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Stephens
authors.affiliation: Thomas J Stephens and Associates Inc., Texas Research Center, Richardson, TX, USA.
authors.forename: James H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Herndon
authors.affiliation: Thomas J Stephens and Associates Inc., Colorado Research Center, Colorado Springs, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Brian R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Sperber
authors.affiliation: Lifes2Good, Galway, Ireland.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Glynis R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Ablon
keywords: Hair shedding; hair treatment; phototrichogram; statistics; vellus hair growth