PMT has been used to treat hair conditions for thousands of years in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The study sheds light on the efficacy of polygoni multiflori radix (PMT), also known as the “tuber fleeceflower,” a dried root tuber that has been used to treat hair loss and early graying for thousands of years.

The promotion of hair growth is just one of its many purported benefits, which also include antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential, brain and heart health benefits and even “anti-cancer effects,” according to the study’s authors.

They combed through medical diaries dating back to the year 813, during the Tang Dynasty, to understand how PMT has been administered throughout the ages, and to better inform a modern approach to harnessing the healing properties of the herb.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) relies on the balancing principles of yin-yang and qi, and attributes different ailments to specific imbalances in the body.

Hair health, according to TCM, is “closely linked to the liver and kidneys, with common etiological patterns for hair loss including blood heat with wind-dryness, damp-heat in the spleen and stomach, and liver-kidney yin deficiency,” the authors wrote.

PMT is thought to “tonify” the liver and kidneys, “nourish” blood and “dispel” wind, which explain its long history of being prescribed to fortify the roots of hair, stop premature graying and halt hair loss.

“These applications align most closely with the TCM pattern of ‘liver-kidney deficiency,’ which shares phenotypic similarities with AGA,” they wrote. “Moreover, by improving blood circulation and scalp condition, PMT may also benefit cases associated with blood heat and wind-dryness.”

The most common type of hair loss worldwide, AGA today is most frequently treated with one or both of two pharmaceuticals: Finasteride (also known as Propecia) and minoxidil.

Finasteride pills block a specific enzyme that converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone, the hormone that causes hair follicles to shrink and stop producing hair.

Finasteride pills block a specific enzyme that converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone, the hormone that causes hair follicles to shrink and stop producing hair.