We
can grow hair. That's the startling news hair "restoration"
firms trumpet regularly in newspaper and magazine advertisements.
The claim prompts hoots of derision from many who doubt its
veracity but also triggers a shiver of excitement in men.
Scientific interest in hair is rising , due mainly to the
discovery that the hypertension drug minoxidil can stimulate
hair growth on some people. Upjohn Co. wants to sell minoxidil
as a treatment for but studies suggesting that it has potential
side effects may prevent that from happening.
Amid
the flurry of sophisticated and sophisticated approaches to
hair growth comes an old fashioned Chinese herbal liniment
that many Asians believe is a miracle cure for baldness. According
to individual claims, the lotion can grow practically a whole
new head of hair in six months (imagine the fun Western advertising
copywriters could have with that benefit!) Thousands of Asian
men reportedly have used the product and 90 percent are said
to have found it effective-so mush so, in fact, that many
call it a "magic liquid" for hair.
There
are reasons to doubt the benefits of the product, which is
called 101 Hair Regeneration Liniment. Chief among them is
that scientists apparently have never scrutinized its contents
or effects. But there is no questioning its popularity with
the 3 million bald men in Japan. Indeed, demand for 101 is
so intense in that country that travel agencies are organizing
trips to Beijing so men can purchase the product. The first
group left Japan two weeks ago. 101 was developed by Zhao
Zhangguang, a former Chinese farmer and traditional "barefoot
doctor" from Zhejiang Province.
According
to a report in The New York Times, Zhao begin experimenting
with various traditional medicines in the early 1970s. Mixing
traditional oils and herbs, he developed scores of potions
over several years. None worked. Finally, he gave a new formula-
containing ginseng, root of milk vetch, walnut meat and safflower,
among other ingredients - to a patient with a skin rash. The
patient complained that his rash wasn't cured but he was sensing
success, Zhao established a small production factory in Beijing
last February and began selling 101. Since then he has made
a profit of $100,000, and last year the product took top prize
at the Brussels Eureka World Fair for invention.
Though
Tokyo has not authorized the importation of 101, Japanese
men are buying it from a Hong Kong dealer for $93 a bottle.
Supply is scarce, however, a spokesman for a company that
acts as a liaison with the Hong Kong dealer says:" We
receive more than 200 phone calls a day Some of the callers
are desperate and begin sobbing on the phone." Japanese
novelist Shusaku Endo is trying 101 and reporting the results
in a weekly magazine. Massahi Sada, a popular Japanese singer,
said recently on the radio that the product worked wonders
on his head. In China, where 101 is also in short supply,
customers pay $12 a bottle regularly and $115 on the black
market.
Some
who use the liniment say it smells like Chinese wine; others
say merely that it stinks. But everyone, it seems, thinks
101 works. Businesses from 16 countries have signed sales
and licensing contracts with Zhao. The inventor says he wants
to build an international center by 1990, adding :"I
want to introduce 101 to every corner of the world".
