growth factor 5

> I was looking thru a magazine today and I came across> an ad> that claims to make your hair grow. It says that GF 5> gets right to the root to give your hair the> nourishment it needs to grow. Two special types of> derma-oxidants increase the circulation of blood to> the scalp to encourage new hair to grow. It goes on to> say that it increases hair growth by 200%. Has anyone> ever tried this product? Anyone have any thoughts> about this stuff?What exactly is this and is the information available online?

I'm not sure what this is, but if you read the boards about Viviscal it looks very promising. Good luck.

> What exactly is this and is the information available> online?Anita- I found the ad in the May issue of McCall's- Christie Brinkley & family are on the cover. It doesn't say exactly what it is, but it says that you apply it to your hair a few minutes before you shampoo then you rinse it away and that you can see a difference form day one. Your suppose to have longer, thicker , healthier hair in 30 days. A month supply is $19.95. Here's the # 1-800-827-4661. It's put out by SMC International.I've seen another company claiming the same thing, I think it was called Capilong. It sounds too good to be true, but you never know what's going to work. K

I would tend to be skeptical of Growth Factor 5 for three reasons. The first two show a definite bias; the third doesn't.1. The ad I have here on my desk claims that it will start working in a month. That's a very, very short reaction time for the scalp. I can see if it said that your hair MIGHT start seeing improvements...but their "Growth Rate Chart" very clearly shows growth speed doubling in a month. The philosophy here is that the scalp is generally a slow reactor...slow enough, at least, that many people would NOT see a growth reaction to ANYTHING in 30 days.2. It's topical. They make the claim that five minutes of application to the scalp will make a huge difference in the aforementioned 30 days. Again, the philosophy here is that topical application is not necessarily the best way to affect hair growth speed, because that's a part of your body's internal workings. There are some obvious exceptions--like Rogaine--but even Rogaine takes 3 months, minimum.3. As far as I am concerned, this is the most important area. I am NOT a trained biologist and dermatologist. But, while I am not a lawyer, I am pretty familiar with this aspect of the law, because we spend a LOT of our time making sure we are compliant with it:To my knowledge, there's just plain no way that these people could possibly have the F.D.A.'s approval to say ANY of this. These claims are gargantuan, and the studies and legal proceedings necessary to make these claims would take years and cost literally millions. If these people had been doing that, we would have heard of them.This would, then, mean that the entire ad is illegal. It is making product claims which it is not capable of substantiating. Which means that absolutely nothing they say is verifiable, except by experience.So, does anyone know anybody who's tried it?(BTW, forgive me for not identifying the source of the ad directly: my mother actually clipped it for me, believe it or not; it -looks- like the "Parade" section of the New York Times; can anyone verify? It begins with the title "Spectacular Discovery Increases The Growth Rate Of Your Hair By 200%+")Jeff Mach is an employee of The AuroraGroup, the U.S. distributors of Viviscal.While he is not speaking for thecompany, he admits his bias.Related Link:The Aurora Group--Viviscal