WO2015075542A1 - Remedy for halting hair loss - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a remedy for halting hair loss, in the form of a cream to be applied to the scalp. Said remedy provides the use of keratin, silica and an adhesive cream.

Description

REMEDY FOR HALTING HAIR LOSS

DESCRIPTION

The present invention refers to a system of agents, which - by applying them in different steps - are apt to prevent hair loss, even in very serious conditions.

Hair has always been a critical element of one's appearance, since it contributes a lot to define it. Hair colour, the length thereof, the cut thereof, the styling thereof contribute significantly to define a person's characteristic aspect. Changing one's haircut and/or hair style may alter significantly a person's appearance. Some people, especially women, but not limited to them, when they want to mark a new beginning in their life, change hair style, as if to symbolise the birth of a new person.

In this view, hair loss which leads to a thinning thereof, or even to the loss thereof, is an all but negligible problem. Men, more prone to balding due to alopecia (mainly caused by the concentration of testosterone in the blood, much higher in males) , experience this in an at least melancholic way. In women, the value of thick hair for the purpose of pleasant appearance has been felt since the origins of the species and hair loss is often experienced as a trauma and even as a dramatic event. A form of alopecia which often affects also women is so-called alopecia aerata, mainly caused by stress.

The increase of the average duration of human life and other epidemiologic causes have led to a considerable increase of the cases of cancer. The treatment of these cases often occurs by chemotherapy. Chemotherapy consists in taking drugs which kill cells, thereby halting tumour growth and, if possible, fully eliminating it. Unfortunately, such treatments are generally poorly selective, attacking also cells which are strangers to the tumor and which have serious side effects; one of the lesser ones among these is the virtually total loss of hair. Although it has just been written that hair loss is a minor damage, that does not mean that it is something easy to accept, especially by the female population. Whatever the cause of hair loss and of the possible balding, various remedies have been experimented with.

Many agents are employed today for the reduction of hair loss, among which various sugars, nutrients, vegetal stem cells and others. However, none of such agents, taken orally or used locally as lotion or cream, has so far given really effective results .

Among the most effective remedies the drug sold under the trade name Propecia® appears; this is a drug employed for the hormone therapy of prostate cancer, but in a drastically reduced dosage, which, by inhibiting the forming of testosterone and by causing a drop of the concentration thereof in blood, allows the scalp to recover and repair the damage undergone by it and to aid hair regrowth. Although many people attest the effectiveness of drugs of this kind and although the dosages are actually much lower than those commonly used in hormone therapy, the negative effects of these therapies are widely known, among which a significant increase of perspiration and of body mass, in addition to the fact that they favour the onset of breast cancer also in the male population following these treatments. Also other drugs, declared as effective, imply heavy side effects, such as blood pressure increase and the like. It must also be taken into account that drugs of this type do not block nor reduce in any way hair loss during chemotherapy.

Surgical or prosthesical techniques furthermore exist. Wigs have been known since ancient times, which are to be applied to one's head like a sort of bonnet, possibly fastening them with suitable adhesives. However, in most cases, wigs are made of synthetic material, the hairstyle is so tidy as to appear artificial, as is the hair colour; moreover, the fastening of the wig to the head is not optimal. Moreover, they can hardly be used for the entire day. Although, used temporarily during chemotherapy, wigs enable a person not to perceive - at least visually - hair loss, often they do not solve the problem of avoiding a trauma, since one's features are altered even in the presence of the wig. Hair transplant procedures have also been devised. For example, in case of male alopecia, part of the neck hairs are taken with the relative bulb and transplanted into the upper portion of the head. However, such transplant leads to an exceedingly regular arrangement of the hair and to an altered fastening, which makes up the so-called, not exactly optimal "doll effect".

The problem at the basis of the invention is to propose a remedy to hair loss which overcomes the mentioned drawbacks and which allows to maintain one's natural hair, without further thinning out, even in extreme conditions, such as on the occasion of chemotherapy treatments. This object is achieved through a remedy for halting hair loss, in the form of a cream to be applied locally to the scalp, characterised in that it provides the use of keratin, silica and of an adhesive cream.

The present invention provides a cosmetic remedy apt to halt hair loss. Such remedy is in the form of an application to the scalp, in sequence, of keratin, silica and of an adhesive cream. Adhesive cream is defined in the present description as a cream which has adhesive properties and which does not penetrate in the skin.

As adhesive cream any adhesive cream which does not cause allergies to the head skin may be used. Preferably, an adhesive cream of the type used for fastening to one's head standard wigs is employed, but the adhesive paste commonly used for dentures may also be used. As powder silica, any type of silica may be used, such as silica fume, silica gel or other. Granulometry is not particularly critical, even though it is suitable that it is not excessively large, so as to avoid scalp abrasions during application .

Particularly advantageous results have been obtained using as adhesive cream a collagen-based cream. If such cream is previously mixed with a thin powder agent, by drying, instead of forming a wrinkled and not particularly pleasant patina on the scalp, it takes instead a velvety texture and an elasticity fully similar to those of human skin. Among the thin powder agents, talcum and face powder are preferred, talcum being the most preferred.

Preferably, the adhesive cream is previously mixed with powder silica. It is preferred for the cream to be present in larger amounts. Preferably, it is preferred to employ one part in volume of powder silica every two to five parts in volume of adhesive cream. In the most preferred form, one part of silica every four parts of adhesive cream is employed.

Keratin instead is added subsequently, preferably separately. Preferably, keratin is applied once the application of the mixture of adhesive cream and silica has ended.

As regards keratin, stick keratin is preferably employed. It is preferably applied to the hair with a hot procedure. The keratin proportion with respect to the cream consisting of adhesive cream and silica is not critical and the application of keratin can be made based on the experience of the person applying it, since there are no special side-effects to any overdoses .

Preferably, the remedy according to the present invention is used as follows.

In the case of a patient who is to undergo a chemotherapy cycle, it is suitable for him/her to find a hairstyle they like, before using the preparation, since, most likely, it will have to be maintained for a long time. Subsequently, before beginning therapy, they can apply the preparation according to the present invention.

Firstly, the adhesive cream is mixed, as seen previously, with the silica powder, obtaining, after mixing, a smooth cream. This cream must be applied to the scalp, preferably with a thorough massage, until the cream is all distributed, with the maximum possible evenness, on the scalp. It is then left to dry and, preferably, it is proceeded to one or more further application cycles, so as to certainly cover the entire scalp. Preferably, the application is repeated three times. It is then proceeded to keratin application onto the hair. As already seen, a keratin stick is preferably employed, applying it by a hot process, at a preferential distance of 0.5 cm from the skin, in order to avoid direct contact of the head with the hot applicator. The forming of a clear, highly resistant film is thereby obtained, which resists for a long time on the skin. Generally, the treatment is repeated, at least in the form of touch-up, after five months from the application. Advantageously, at the end of each treatment, talcum is furthermore added, removing the excess thereof with a hairdryer.

Should one, for any reason, wish to remove the film, it can be proceeded as in a make-up removal session, using as "solvent" karite butter. This operation may be performed also at the end of chemotherapy, when the hair resumes growing naturally.

When the film is present on the hair, it can undergo the standard treatments, such as combing, washing, drying with a hairdryer and the like, without that implying any reduction in the effectiveness of the remedy according to the invention.

When chemotherapy has ended, hair resumes regrowing. At this point, the "exchange" between before-treatment hair and new hair can be aided with the application of some hair extensions, so as never to give an impression of excessive thinning out or, even worse, of the presence of gaps.

As seen, the present invention allows to reduce or even to completely halt hair loss, even in extreme cases, such as severe alopecia (even areated) and chemotherapy treatment, with beneficial psychological effects on the patient who, in the case of chemotherapy, certainly concur in a successful outcome of the treatment .

However, it is understood that the invention must not be considered limited to the special arrangement illustrated above, which makes up only an exemplifying embodiment thereof, but that different variants are possible, all within the reach of a person skilled in the field, without departing from the scope of protection of the invention, as defined by the following claims.

In particular, it is conceivable the manufacturing of kits comprising a tube of cream, containing the adhesive cream (2 to 5 parts in volume) and the silica powder (1 part in volume) already mixed, as well as a keratin stick; preferably, the kit contains also a hot-process applicator, which uses the stick as its own filler.

As has certainly been understood from the preceding text, the present invention also relates to a cosmetic method for halting hair loss of the type which provides local applications and which comprises the following steps: a) an adhesive cream is mixed with silica powder; b) with a thorough massage the cream resulting from the previous step a) is applied to the scalp; c) keratin is applied to hair. Preferably, in step a) one part in volume of silica every two to five parts in volume of adhesive cream is used. Preferably, in step a) one part in volume of silica every four parts in volume of adhesive cream is used. Finally, preferably, said keratin in the step c) is applied by a hot process, at a distance of 0.5 cm from the skin.

That it is a cosmetic method and not a therapeutic method is evident, due to the fact that it does not act in the least on the mechanisms which determine hair loss treating it, but it limits itself to fixing to the head existing hair, so as to treat only the appearance of the person who undergoes such treatment, creating a film of the same softness, texture and elasticity as human skin.

Claims

1) Remedy for halting hair loss, in the form of a cream to be applied locally to the scalp, characterised in that it provides the use of keratin, silica and of an adhesive cream.

2) Remedy as in 1) , characterised in that said adhesive cream is an adhesive cream of the type used for fixing to one's head standard wigs or for fixing dentures to the gum.

3) Remedy as in 1 characterised in that said adhesive cream is a collagen-based cream.

4) Remedy as in 3) , characterised in that to said collagen- based cream an agent in form of thin powder has previously been added .

5) Remedy as in 4), characterised in that said thin powder agent is chosen between talcum and face powder.

6) Remedy as in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that one part in volume of silica powder is mixed with two to five parts in volume of adhesive cream.

7) Remedy as in 6) , characterised in that one part of silica every four parts of adhesive cream is employed.

8) Remedy as in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that keratin is a stick keratin.

9) Cosmetic treatment for halting hair loss, of the type which provides local applications, characterised in that it comprises the following steps: a) an adhesive cream is mixed with silica powder; b) with a thorough massage, the cream resulting from step a) is applied to the scalp; c) keratin is applied to the hair.

10) Treatment as claimed in 9) , characterised in that it furthermore comprises the addition of talcum at the end.

11) Treatment as claimed in 9) or in 10) , treatment as claimed in step a) one part in volume of silicon every two to five parts in volume of adhesive cream.

12) Treatment as claimed in 11) , characterised in that in step a) one part in volume of silica every four parts in volume of adhesive cream is used.

13) Treatment as claimed in any one of claims 9) to 12), characterised in that said keratin in step c) is applied by hot process, at a distance of 0.5 cm from the skin.

14) Treatment as claimed in any one of claims 9) to 13) characterised in that step b) is repeated multiple times spacing it out with the drying of the cream.