January 2009 – Page 2

January 29, 2009

Hair Loss InformationInterview with Dr Rassman in Time Magazine – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Snippet from article:

Hair loss affects more than 50 million Americans, 20 million of them women. With numbers like that, it’s not surprising that the people behind the bestselling Dummies Books series have taken note. Their comprehensive new book, Hair Loss & Replacement for Dummies, authored by four medical experts on hair loss, has just been published by Wiley. TIME senior reporter Andrea Sachs spoke with one of the authors, hair-transplant surgeon Dr. William Rassman in Los Angeles.

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Time Hey, that’s me!

Read my new interview with Time Magazine at their website — Time.com. I’m glad I got the chance to get some publicity for my new book, Hair Loss & Replacement for Dummies (which you can buy online or in stores now *cough cough*). The interview was just posted on Time’s site, so feel free to post your thoughts about it here (after you read it, of course).

Read: Time.com Interview

January 29, 2009

Hair Loss InformationCan Hair Reverse Miniaturization During a Life Cycle? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

You often talk of shedding and how in theory if miniaturized hairs are shedding after starting medication like Propecia it might be making way for new thicker hair. Is this the only way that reversing miniaturization can occur or can it happen within the same cycle? A reverse “exclamation point hair” I guess. Thin at the end and thick at the root.

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Considering that most people have a hair cycle of 3 years and we see changes in miniaturization with medications in months, the answer is that changes do occur within cycles. I have the means to measure hair shaft thickness and maybe on a patient with an 8 month reversal of miniaturized hairs, I will measure the two ends of a single hair shaft.

January 29, 2009

Hair Loss InformationSodium Hydroxide is in My Shampoo! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I read that sodium hydroxide is one of the chemicals used for hair straightening, and it can burn the scalp if it comes in contact with it too long. I also noticed that sodium hydroxide is an ingredient in both my shampoo. Is this bad for my hair?

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At the low concentrations, the sodium hydroxide should not hurt you or your hair (such as in shampoos)… but when you are using higher concentrations for straightening it, you must be careful.

January 29, 2009

Do Lasers Grow Hair or Remove Hair?! – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi Dr. Rassman & Staff. Great blog.

Anyway, here’s my question. On my morning drive into downtown Chicago, I invariably hear radio commercials for laser treatment to REMOVE “unwanted” hair. Yet, I also see promo’s for laser treatments to GROW hair. Well which is it … do lasers GROW or REMOVE hair?

Thanks.

Hairy The lasers which claim hair growth are a low level laser energy dosage that do not penetrate the skin… nor do they grow hair, in my opinion.

The lasers for hair removal are high energy lasers which focus the power to a very small area (the hairy area that you’d like de-haired) in bursts to be safe. They will penetrate the skin to get to the root of the hair follicle.

Both lasers work at different light frequencies.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

January 28, 2009

Hair Loss InformationHow Did People Come Up with the Idea that Saw Palmetto Reduced DHT? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Okay, let’s say theoretically that saw palmetto does in fact help to block DHT. My question is, how the hell did they figure out that saw palmetto berries reduce DHT and not other berries out there such as cranberries and/or bilberries?

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Saw palmetto has been around for hundreds of years and has been used successfully for treating prostate enlargement. Native Americans used saw palmetto to relieve urinary symptoms in older men who had difficulty in urinating. It has been shown to reduce prostate size and it is used quite frequently in Europe.

There are many potential side effects of saw palmetto, including abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, erectile dysfunction, breast tenderness and loss of libido. That is the connection that made people think that there is a DHT blockade in process, as so much seems to parallel finasteride’s side effects. Some think that since finasteride works for the prostate and hair, then if saw palmetto works for prostate issues it must also work for treating hair loss. Unfortunately, saw palmetto has never been studied in any well planned clinical endeavor for treating hair loss.

January 28, 2009

Hair Loss InformationMy Wife Has Alopecia – Will Our Children Have this Disease, Too? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dear Sir, My wife is 1 month pregnant . She is alopecia patient & complete bald since at the age of 5 years old. Her 2 other sister are also bald and having the same disease. They all wear wigs.. But her parent is having full grown hair.

My worries is that will it affect our future children ? Will my future child inherit this disease from her mother. how can i be assure for that. What test can be done to confirm it. Please advice.

Regards

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Alopecia totalis sounds like the diagnosis and in one form of inheritance, the problem starts appearing in the very young at between 3-4 years old. Once the process starts, all of the hair falls out within months. Angela Christiano, Ph.D., of Columbia University in New York researched this in a town in Pakistan where the population was inbred. She found that many of the children in that town lost their hair at ages 3-4 and it fell out in a distinct pattern. She took samples of their genes, and tested them at the university, finding a connection between their disease and some of the genetic patterns in our more common form of alopecia areata, a disease which she has. Your child may very well inherit the condition. See our previous post on this subject here.

January 28, 2009

Hair Loss InformationNanominox FMS – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dear Doctor ,

i am thinking of buying nanominox fms , a product which combines minoxidil sulfate , finasteride and Ketoconazole. Do you think it is safe to use this topical solution on a daily basis? I would appreciate, if you could help me on that issue.

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I have no experience with the combination of medications in Nanominox FMS. I am skeptical with it, because finasteride has not been shown to work through the skin. I suspect the FDA would, have a problem with any claims of a hair loss treatment from the manufacturer in the use of finasteride as a topical. Minoxidil is well known as a FDA approved topical treatment, and ketoconazole is a good antifungal medication that seems to make hair appear thicker. More info at their site. With regard to safety, your guess is as good as mine.

January 28, 2009

Hair Loss InformationThe 5mg Finasteride In Bangladesh is Too Small to Be Cut – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr. i wanted your suggestion about taking finasteride 5mg. i wanted your advice for not having finasteride 1 mg in our country bangladesh. the available finasteride is 5mg named “Prosfin”. you have researched the producing company name is “BEXIMCO”. you have found that they are producing finasteride 1mg named “Recur”. but 1thing u don’t know that “Beximco” has recently stopped production of recur. the Prosfin can’t be cut into 4 pieces, and at present i am taking Prosfin (Finasteride 5mg), 1 tablet/3 days. Now the concern is that taking finasteride 5mg 1/3days,can it cause any potential affect if i want to take a child, or want to have sexual intercourse while she is pregnant? can it affect the child? all things i am talking about taking finasteride 5 mg 1 table/3 days. i would not ask you these things if i could get finasteride 1 mg, or could break the 5 mg tablet. your blog is very informative.

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This is an interesting problem. I’ve written to the drug company to find out more about their 1mg finasteride possibly being discontinued. For now, I suppose you might consider grinding the pill into a powder and taking 1/5th of that per day, assuming that the pill is the 5mg finasteride tablet. Make sure you keep it dry or it will pick up moisture.

Remember, the pill is not meant to be cut and the drug companies have designed it that way — so it’s not going to be an easy task.

January 28, 2009

Hair Loss InformationI’ve Been Off Rogaine for Weeks While My Shipment Arrives – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

hi, i ordered 1 can of mens rogaine foam about 2 weeks ago, and still haven’t recieved it. well i have been using rogaine for about 5 months with great results, but havent been able to take any for about 2 weeks, will this effect the process? thank you for your time and help

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The longer you wait, the worse the withdrawal impact will be. You want to keep those great results you’ve seen, right? Buy some locally to bridge the time gap until your online order arrives. Even if it’s not the foam, just get some minoxidil from your local pharmacy. Then, I’d contact the place you ordered from and find out why it’s taking them weeks to send your order.

January 28, 2009

Hair Loss InformationEstradiol and Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I can find no information about hair recovery after stopping use of divigel(esrodiol) Have you found any information on time frames or how to facilitate recovery? Thank you.

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The use of minoxidil may help. I do not have much information on it from personal experience, but you can read the following links to hopefully gain a better insight into the problems with estradiol use.