A common dietary supplement appears effective at treating compulsive hair-pulling, a little-known disorder that afflicts as many as 2 percent of Americans, according to a University of Minnesota study.
The results, released Monday, offer hope to people whose disorders aren't life-threatening but do consume their lives and cause anxiety, said Dr. Jon Grant, the U psychiatrist who led the study. Compulsive hair pulling often starts in adolescence and continues for years as people don't recognize the problem or feel too much shame to seek help.
"If you're a kid pulling hair and you end up having bald patches," Grant said, "your self-esteem tanks."
The supplement is an amino acid, called N-Acetylcysteine, which can be found at nutrition and health food stores. Recent studies of mice revealed the supplement affects a brain chemical that has been linked to compulsive behaviors.
While Grant said it's possible the supplement could ease a variety of compulsive disorders, he chose to test it on 50 adults who pull their hair. The university-funded study is the first of its kind, though Grant said researchers at Yale University are now testing the compound on children with the same disorder.
After 12 weeks, more than half of the patients taking the supplement reported significant improvement. Few stopped the habit altogether, but they reduced the amount of time from an hour or two every day to just a few minutes a week. Only 16 percent of patients in a comparison
group, who took a non-medicating placebo pill, reported similar improvement.
Grant's results were published in the latest issues of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
The prevalence of compulsive hair-pulling is hard to determine because so many people don't seek help and only engage in their behaviors at home or when nobody is watching.
Known as trichotillomania, the disorder is referenced in the medical writings of Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician.
Antidepressants have been largely unsuccessful in treating the disorder, Grant said. Counseling has been somewhat effective. The disorder appears more common in women and often is linked to anxiety disorders and social phobias.
"The question there becomes the chicken and the egg," Grant said. "Quite frankly, the hair pulling usually comes first and then people get socially isolated."
Unlike research involving experimental drugs, the U study points people to a treatment that is widely available and can be purchased over the counter. A month's supply costs $20 to $25.
Grant cautioned against overuse of the supplement, which appeared effective in the study at 2,400 milligrams per day. It remains unclear whether short-term consumption would result in permanent improvements or whether people would need to take the supplement indefinitely. Taking the supplement in combination with therapy would probably work best, Grant said.
The study adds to the evidence that glutamate, a chemical transmitter in the brain, has some influence over compulsive behaviors. Most drug treatments target serotonin, a chemical transmitter that regulates mood levels, but the supplement specifically affects glutamate.
Jeremy Olson can be reached at 651-228-5583. To see more of the Pioneer Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.twincities.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2009, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.