August 2005 – Page 7 – Balding Blog

August 8, 2005

Can Smoking Cause Hair Loss? – Balding Blog

Hi doctor, I wrote you several weeks ago regarding to my frontal hair line which has some reseccion. I am 28 years old and last six months I have started to seeing my front hair line slowly thinning, and slowly receiving. I am between type 1 and type 2 pattern right now and I have seen change in 6 months even in 1 months.I have been seen a doctor for it. My family ,(my uncle , my father ) have all type 3A. And they have very thick hair. I have been using propecia for 3 months. It is not working for now. I was wondering would that be wise to see you to get an better to where I am and where it is going.Or it is too early to tell. All I am try to stop it before it gets worse. It is looking fine now, bad if it goes like this it may not look fine. And also smoking and sun seems to have bad effect on my hair loss .I am not smoker but I smoke once every two months for fun.Is it common that smoking effects hair loss? Thanks for your time.And also what is the chances that propecia can stop hair reseccion in frontal hair line?

If you are a Norwood Class 1-2, this is not balding, but maturation of a hair line. If your family line is 3A, then that is possibly where you may go with time. Propecia works well to retard the progression of these changes so you should consider this drug.

With regard to your question about smoking, I would doubt a direct cause and effect here. Smoking causes constriction of blood vessels and decreased blood flow to the scalp, predominantly due to its nicotine content. The carbon monoxide in smoke decreases the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. These factors may contribute to poor wound healing after a hair transplant and can increase the chance of a wound infection and scarring. Smoking may also contribute to poor hair growth of transplanted hair. While I certainly do not encourage or condone smoking, I do not think that an occasional cigarette every two months will be a deciding factor in your hair loss.

August 5, 2005

Genes and Genetic Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I know male pattern baldness is polygenic with multiple genes that contribute to the disease from both the mother and fathers side but i was just wondering with the news that the androgen receptor gene, is on the X chromsome given from mother to son.

Should we assume that mothers genes means “mother’s father” or generally speaking the whole maternal side of the family, which would include the mother’s brothers, uncles, and grandparents…..

I emailed regarding a similar topic and you mentioned that you could not comment on the whole androgen receptor gene article since its all new and i respect that but my main question has to do with when someone says “mothers genes”, should we assume this is exclusive to the mother’s father and that a male should look at his mother’s father to see what his hair will be similar to in the future or is it likely the other males on the mothers side have much influence also …………

Can an individual have the genetic susceptability and partly have some of the genes for MPB but for one reason or another it does not get experessed.

Thanks for your response

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You have an assumption here that is confusing you. This is not an on/off gene. Gene expression can skip generations and there are variations in the way the gene is actually expressed. This makes your question moot to some degree, particularly if the X Chromosome comes from the mother’s father.

Yes, having the gene and having the gene expressed are different. We really do not understand the issue of expression or the various families that skip generations before the expression shows.

August 5, 2005

Hair Loss InformationSteroids and Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello, i just found out my male cousin aged 26 has colitis of the intestine, thus the doctor wants to put him on steroids namely cortisone. He has some recession but no definitive signs of male baldness yet but he has a strong family history of baldness with his mothers father and father balding early, most of his uncles on his fathers side are bald except one who maintained his hair. So at age 26 my cousin feels pretty lucky to have escaped the MPB gene thus far, which leads to his obsessive compulsive disorder, he is now worried to start taking steroids because its known that if you have a genetic predisposition to MPB, then taking steroids can acerbate the hair losss, if you don’t have the dispensation then you still wont suffer.

Now when they talk about steroids they are usually steroids ( androgens that promotes more testosterone production- anabolic) such that of athletes mainly baseball players take to make them stronger. Also if you ever watch bodybuilders many of them are balding or bald at young ages, so i have doubt there is a correlation.

My question are the steroids they give to colitis sufferers or anything that’s associated for medicinal purposes differ rent than the steroids athletes to promote strength? OR do they consist of basically the same chemical composition, the only difference is the usage ( how frequently)

Should my cousin be concerned about losing his hair due to the steroid usage, will it exacerbate the MPB? I know the MPB is trivial to what he is suffering and shouldn’t be any concern even if he does loose his hair but understand he’s in his mid 20’s. I tend to think if he was in his mid 50’s when this occurred, he would have absolutely no reservations in taking the steroids even if that means the hair loss because at that point looks are not as important to many people.

Your response would be appreciated, thanks

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If your cousin has genetic male patterned baldness, but has not started to bald yet, the steroids will most likely accelerate the balding process. If he is not genetically ‘impacted’ (does not have the gene for balding) the steroids should have no balding effect.

August 5, 2005

Bad Scars from Old Transplants – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello,
I went through several procedures with a well known medical group back in the early 90’s. I was a 6 at the time.
In 2002 I was called back to military service to head to Iraq. I am an Infantryman and nedless to say our haircut is ‘extreme’. I was ridiculed and questioned constantly as to my ‘scars’. My scar from my MPR is particular noticeable and shows as ‘hole’ in the back of my head that dark hair grows out of. Since this was highlighted by the fact that everyuthing around it was shaved the jokes became of an obscene nature. Also, I was asked all of the time about my ‘smiley face’ scars on teh back of my head. My hair has continued to thin on the crown and tapers in to a long almost 1/2 ” scar that trils down to the ‘hole’. Even with my hair grown out now my ‘friends” refer to the reverse ‘mohawk’.Baghdad was hard enough without a year’s worth of snide remarks. Do you think this is ‘fixable’.I was upset at the amount of money I spent at the time only to end up being MORE self conscious then I was when I was losing my hair.
HELP!
Thanks

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First I would have to see the problem as it presents. The ability to cover a scar with an almost shaved head is basically impractical/undoable. With your hair grown out and some creative work, yes, the entire donor area may be covered reasonably well. It depends upon the remaining supply and the strategy. The scars and ‘holes’ from scalp reductions have surgical solutions other than hair transplants. All the solutions, however, require that the hair remains long.

When you are teased about the scalp scars, I would use humor to deal with the uncomfortable and personal questions – tell them you had brain surgery and that’s why you are so smart! People can be insensitive and this is particularly true for young men. Be sure that you take Propecia, it is highly probable that all of the stress of Iraq is impacting your rate of hair loss. Let me know if you have trouble getting Propecia.

When you come back to the US, a visit with me would be great. Send me some photos too. My email address is on the Contact page.

August 5, 2005

FDA Approved Hair Loss Drugs – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi, Im chinese and 28 years old and started thinning at the age 26. i’m using supplements (zinc,biotin and b5) and herbal topical solution like AO lotion made by bioscor international, and just started hair genesis topical solution and shampoo and oral gel. They claimed FDA approval and have clinical study. My doctor told me the only drugs FDA approved are rogaine and propecia. is that true? thanks hope to hear from your soon

What your doctor told you appears to be true. Only Propecia and Rogaine (Minoxidil) are approved for hair loss. That means that they show benefit and are proven safe.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

August 4, 2005

Hair Loss InformationStress Hair Loss in Men and Women – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I recently had a breast reduction performed under General Anesthesia and stated losing a lot of hair. Could general anesthesia cause hair loss?

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In some women who have female genetic alopecia (and with what I refer to as fragile hair), we see hair loss that results from stress. Assuming that there is no medical condition going on, this type of stress hair loss takes on two forms. The first form is typical, progressive genetic hair loss which comes on in phases and at different ages, then stabilizes for years before going into another progressive phase. The second form is less common, but it results from stress and often reverses within a year or less. We see a common variation of this second type of hair loss with pregnancy and in some women who have the stress variation, they often see a repetitive pattern of hair loss with stress, re-growth, then loss again with the next stressful reaction.

Stress induced hair loss is also common in men with genetic balding and is often seen as the precipitating cause that starts the process. Most common amongst the social precipitating factors for men include divorce, death or sickness of a family member or close friend, and stress in school or work.

August 4, 2005

South Africa Doctor Recommendation? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

im from south africa. im 22 years old and losing hair from the front to the back.im busy using minoxidil.its working a little bit but not to much.do you know of any good hair doctors in south africa as good as you for hair implants? i would really appreciate your help. thank you and best regards

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Rogaine / minoxidil does not work well for the frontal area, while Propecia does work nicely at preventing hair loss in a person of your age. The effects of Propecia will probably impact the entire head if you catch it early enough.

I do not know of any doctors in South Africa that I could recommend. I always go to the ISHRS (International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery) website for physician searches, but after such a search there, it did not turn up a doctor recommendation. That does not mean that there are no good doctors in South Africa. If you do find local hair doctors, please remember to conduct interviews with each physician before making any decisions about having surgery. You might also consider coming to the US, but frankly at 22 years old, I would expect that your response to Propecia is worth exploring BEFORE you consider a hair transplant.

August 4, 2005

Hair Loss InformationAny Hair Cloning Update Yet? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I’m curious how many years away you are from being able to implant cloned follicles?

I’m a 28 year-old with significant thinning in the temple region and mild thinning elsewhere. I have been taking Propecia for about 3 years trying to delay the need for a transplant. So far, it’s working somewhat. My hope (fingers crossed) is that if I can stave off the inevitable for a couple more years, you’ll have the technology to clone my follicles. I’m nervous about donor area scars and the ability to create density. I assume that when you’re able to clone follicles, you will have solved my biggest worries.

Thanks for you help.

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The topic of hair cloning comes up quite often, but there really isn’t anything new to report. Similar questions I’ve previously answered in this blog can be found in the hair cloning section.

I do not expect that hair cloning will be available for commercial use in the next 10 years. The political problems alone might take that long even if we had the solution in our hands today. As it presently exists, the science may be 10 years away and that could be an optimistic view. For you to wait until cloning becomes available will mean that you will have to live with your progressive balding for as long as it takes. Most men want hair when they are younger, so going bald may not be a good answer for you.

Today, I met with a man who had a single hair transplant in 1998. He was fairly bald (Class 6 pattern) and had amazing results (unusually good hair). He told me that the hair transplant was the best investment he has ever made. Had he waited for cloning, he would not have been able to enjoy the hair these past 7 years.

August 4, 2005

Nizoral and Fungus – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello,
I was wondering about a couple of things: first about Nizorol? I believe I have a fungal problem and have flakes that sometimes become hardened and also bloody. Sometimes I can pull out a little hard bloody or red piece of I guess dandruff or skin?? I am not sure what that is. I guess my scalp is not in a good condition. Can Nizorol help this?

I guess this would be my first concern, If you can answer about this that would be great.

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It sounds like you have a dermatological condition of your scalp skin. I do not like blindly treating something that I have not examined, but a good dermatologist can make a diagnosis and then recommend the appropriate treatment. If, for example, you have psoriasis, then your solution of using Nizoral will probably not be effective. It becomes a hit or miss game to try and treat on your own, not a scientific one where the skills and years of experience of an appropriate doctor are brought to bear in making the diagnosis.

August 3, 2005

Transplant Hairline, Drugs for Crown? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

sorry to bother you again just one more question. the front of my hair is going quite fast so i was thinking if it was possible to put hair transplants just for the front because that would look so much better. and then i would just use the minoxidil for the back?
best regards

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You need medical treatment first, before surgical treatment. Propecia should be tested for a period of 8 months. It may regrow your crown hair. Hold off on the transplant option, as you will have a lot of time to consider having surgery. A try with Avodart may be appropriate if Propecia does not control the balding within 8 months.