MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino neurosurgeon has developed an herbal shampoo that can prevent baldness.
Dr. Rainier Villanueva, a native of Masbate province, has developed “Lauat,” an herbal shampoo that has the unique property of preventing falling hair.
Villanueva has established Rainier’s Research and Development Institute (RRDI), the first Filipino herbal company in the United States.
Lauat has been tried and tested in the US and has also been exported to Germany, Italy and other countries. It has taken over a market normally dominated by preparations from aloe vera, according to biolife news service.
Lauat is derived from “lawat” (Litsea glutinosa), a plant that is indigenous to Masbate, where residents have long been using the sap from the plant’s leaves as shampoo.
Lauat herbal hair loss treatment products are made from natural extracts namely gugo (Entada phaseoloides), virgin coconut oil, and lawat from the Southeast Asian regions, which have been proven to treat hair loss and dandruff problems.
Lauat herbal hair care products also contain essential fatty acids to moisturize, nourish and accelerate growth of hair follicles.
They also help clean the scalp from dirt and other environmental wastes.
Villanueva said he had tested Lauat’s effectiveness as a weapon against baldness.
In 1989, he conducted a clinical study of 136 subjects whose major problem was falling hair.
The subjects were losing at least 30 strands of hair a day and had never used Lauat for shampoo, Villanueva said.
After using the shampoo for four weeks, Villanueva said hair fall significantly decreased among the subjects.
“There is a 48-percent improvement during the first week of the experiment. On the second week, there is a 53-percent improvement, third week 75 percent improvement and then the fourth week, 89 percent improvement,” Villanueva said.
Villanueva likewise developed anti-dandruff creams and leave-on conditioners, all of which have been confirmed to be as safe as commercial synthetic shampoos.
“The product was well received by the public and Palmolive shampoo even came up with a variant made of gugo. The big companies would not copy your product if there is no demand,” he stressed.