Saw palmetto (or Serenoa repens in Latin) has been used for many hundreds of years for its medicinal properties. These days saw palmetto is used forn the treatment of benign prostatic hypertrophy that affects men in older age. Saw palmetto is also used to cure male genital and urinary problems as well as erectile dysfunction and low sperm counts.

However it is is being increasingly used to cure age related balding (androgenic alopecia), which is found in men and women in their late forties normally, but earlier in some cases. Men usually start to lose hair at the front of the scalp in what is known as male pattern balding and women usually get thinning hair all over the head uniformly. Saw palmetto may be the answer to helping those with age related balding.

A recent clinical study using 48 males and females had 50% of them getting a lotion with saw palmetto and the other half getting a placebo lotion with no saw palmetto. The participants were told to use the lotion on their heads twice a day for a year. The hair density was monitored at the beginning as well as the end of the yearly period.

The results showed that the lotion with the palmetto showed a nearly 30% on average betterment in hair density compared to the start. The placebo group showed a 13% rise in hair density. The scientists said that the results clearly showed the benefits that saw palmetto can have on the treatment for age related hair loss.