July 2009 – Page 2 – Balding Blog

July 29, 2009

Hair Loss InformationI’m Just Taking Medication Until Cloning is Ready – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have been losing my hair since i was about 17 and a half and i have found it deeply depressing and i am sick of the smell of hairspray! I was just wanting some helpful advice …

I have been taking Propecia for about 4 months and i am yet to notice any results and i am beginning to consider but as i am only 18 i will probably be denied such treatment. I just want something to tide me over until hair cloning is made public. Do you have any idea when this may be?

Any Advice you have i would be very grateful to receive.

Yours sincerely

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I just got back from the annual ISHRS hair doctor convention (this year was in Amersterdam), and that very same question about cloning was asked to the experts who where on a panel that I chaired. The answer is that there is no cloning in the near future. I’ll write more about the ISHRS meeting in a future post this week.

My honest opinion is that cloning is still a decade away from being available to the public. They’re making progress, but even the clinical trials seem not to be working as hoped. If you follow message boards, some believers will tell you to give it another year or two… but that’s a moving timeline. I’ve been reading it’ll be available in “5-10 years” for at least the past decade. If you believe that someone has the answer, please let me know as it might just be good marketing hype.

You won’t see results in just 4 months of Propecia use, but stick with it. The most common question I get from 18 year olds on Propecia is about hair loss in the hairline. I don’t know what your hair loss is like, but keep in mind that full regrowth isn’t a benefit of the medication that you should be expecting. Just stopping the hair loss where it’s at is benefit enough. The peak benefits of Propecia takes 2 years and the gain in the second year slowly appears.

July 29, 2009

Hair Loss InformationSome Food to Decrease My DHT Levels? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

My hair density has decreased since I have started this medicine. Even my front hairline started decreasing. I masturbate 2-3 times a week. Is this loss permanent? What should I eat to decrease my DHT level. Suggest me some food not medicine plz. thank you.

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Not sure why you would include your masturbatory habits with the hair question. Masturbation does not cause hair loss, regardless of how many times you might’ve heard that myth.

There is no specific diet that decreases DHT levels and high or low DHT levels in the blood stream do not reflect a cause for hair loss. Hair loss is caused by genes that you were born with and the DHT that we are talking about (which is blocked by the drugs like finasteride) are active inside the cells of the hair follicle, not in the blood stream. I would suggest you eat a normal, healthy diet and masturbate all you want.

July 29, 2009

Hair Loss InformationDoes Propecia Cause the Hairline to Recede Faster? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello Mr rassman

Why does almost everyone all over the internet claim propecia causes the hairline to recede and bald even faster? is this true. can it be because of the testosterone rise. because we all know testosterone does bind and hair thinning just like dht

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Where are you getting your source of information? Hair loss from genetic male pattern baldness (MPB) cannot be stopped forever, but it is not accelerated by Propecia. In other words, you can be using Propecia, but still have receding hairline. Propecia does work mostly on the top/crown area and not so much on the hairline, so I suspect most people you are referring to are just noticing their recession and blaming it on Propecia.

July 29, 2009

Hair Loss InformationI’m Your Controlled Masturbation and Hair Loss Study! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

lol Dr. Rassman,you say that masturbation has no effect on mpb but then how do you explain that when i stop masturbation for 3 days,my hair feels and looks stronger and thicker and the longer i dont masturbat,the better it gets..but when i do masturbate,my hair looks and feels weaker and thinner..you asked for a controlled study,im your controlled study..my father is bald,my brother balded so im geneticaly set for mpb but using certain methods and limiting masturbation to a minimum,i seem to have some control over my genetic mpb..i think someday you will see that we are right

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I think you should go back and look up the what a controlled study actually is. I am posting your email because some other men may feel as you do, but there is no evidence for your thesis. Everyone is in control of what they do with their body, like when they choose to use non-approved topicals on their hair or the frequency of masturbation. If you think your hair is better now, congratulations.

July 29, 2009

Hair Loss InformationCrackdown on Fake Propecia in UK (in 2007) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Note the importance of buying legit Propecia from a real pharmacy!!

Couple years old but a UK Press Release about fake Propecia rings true today.

Press release: Counterfeit medicines gang convicted

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Thanks for sending this in. Yes, it is from late 2007, but it goes to show that counterfeit Propecia does exist and is a problem. One crackdown (no matter how large it was) in the UK doesn’t eliminate the problem altogether. Buyers need to use common sense when buying prescription drugs off the internet without a prescription.

July 28, 2009

Hair Loss InformationIf a Natural Hair Loss Cure Existed, Would You Even Tell Us? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

If you knew that natural cures to hairloss existed, you wouldn’t be holding back on us just to get a few more bucks, would you?

Also, it’s been one year exactly since I stopped my 58 days on Propecia, and I still have these mental side effects of stumbling over words/lack of fluidity when speaking/lack of wit and smoothness. The only other thing in the world this could be would be the high soy diet I put myself on for hairloss measures a few weeks after I started Propecia, and right before I felt my first side effects. I’ve seen a thyroid doctor (who said everything at Whole Foods was a fraud), a neurologist, and a psychiatrist (the latter just for kicks really), and apparently I’m the foremost expert in soy isoflavones and their effect on the thyroid. Just because someone has a medical degree doesn’t mean they’re knowledgeable in every arena. I still never had any sexual or physical side effects, and my wit is still present when I type or write, so something is only affecting my speech, which lends me to believe it really has to do with the physical properties of the thyroid and perhaps the larynx. Any thoughts?

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Would I hold back the cure for balding if I had it? The answer to that is… absolutely NO. I obviously spend all of this time answering questions on this site just so I can squeeze money out of you, telling you there’s no cure when secretly I’ve been hiding it in my wall safe. Did you catch the sarcasm there? If you truly think a natural cure for hair loss is out there, by all means keep rubbing onions on your head and coffee in your eyes… or whatever the “cure of the day” might be.

I can not tie the speech/voice problems you have with the drug Propecia. What you said about soy is interesting and noted. There have been some patient reports that finasteride may have caused some impact on brain function but, I suspect, that would be extremely rare and not proven in the medical literature.

July 28, 2009

Hair Loss InformationAfter Stopping Propecia Does Hair Loss Get More Severe? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dear Dr. Rassman,

I have a question regarding Propecia side affects on the hair (!) if you stop taking it. If one stops using it after a long period (months or years), are there any chances the hair loss would increase? Meaning, if one took it for, lets say, one year and his body got used to the drug, can the hairloss get worst when he stops using it? I know of course that when one stops using propecia the shedding returns, but could it be more severe than if he had not taken the drug for the same period of time before he stopped?

Thank You

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If you stop using Propecia, you may experience “catch up” hair loss. You will in effect lose all the hairs that grew from Propecia and lose all the hairs that would have been lost if you never took the medication in the first place. I have personally seen such cases and they can be pretty dramatic. The hairs that are lost will not likely come back if you re-start Propecia. I don’t know of any evidence showing that upon stopping Propecia, your hair loss even more severe than it would’ve been.

July 28, 2009

Young Girl Is Losing Hair – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dear Dr. Rassman,

I have a question.. I have a nine year old sister who has been losing a lot of hair for about four months now. She loses a lot when combing her hair, putting up in a pony tail, and when showering. She loses the most hair when she showers. She doesn’t have any bald spots, but my mom and I are getting really worried. What do you think the reason might be? Should we consult this with her doctor? I would really appreciate your help. Thank you.

Yes, I’d definitely would have her doctor take a look. There could be many causes for hair loss in women including an iron deficiency (if she is presently menstruating). The showering isn’t causing the hair loss, as you probably suspect, but constantly combing the hair can cause it to come out.

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July 28, 2009

Why Not 0.75mg Finasteride? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

In the past, you have reccomended .5mg of propecia for those experiencing side effects. Why not .75mg?

As long as you have a good way to split a 1mg oval/circular pill into the correct geometry to make it 0.75mg, I don’t see a problem. Then you can take the 0.75 and save the 0.25 remaining for the next three days when you can combine three 0.25 to take the 0.75 dose. Or I guess you can just throw away the 0.25. Get the point? It makes practical sense to split a 1mg pill in half to make 0.5mg.

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July 28, 2009

Correlation Between Degree of Hair Loss, Time, and Propecia’s Effectiveness? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

thanks so much for your work with this blog. i am 25, with what i would describe as a hairline that has receded about 1.25 inches at the corners and generally thinned in the front. i have been putting some thought into propecia’s timeframe lately, and would love to hear your thoughts on this.

merck of course has their (FDA approved!) literature, about what to expect after 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, etc…there are of course many variables that go into the whole equation, but what are your thoughts on the ratio of time an individual has taken propecia/total time the individual has experienced some degree of hairloss? i have been taking for just under 4 months now, and not really noticed anything. some people lose hair quickly, what has happened with mine has happened over 3+ years.

would you hypothesize there is a correlation between not only degree of hairloss and propecia’s effectiveness, but also between the amount of time that hairloss occured versus how long a person has been taking propecia? thanks!

There is a genetic test called HairDX Test for Finasteride Response that can check your overall sensitivity to DHT blockers like finasteride, as we are all different genetically. It scores a CAG repeat test, and when the patient scores low (less than 22, for example) they will have a better response from finasteride than when the score is high (above 22). In this way, it is possible to find out your overall sensitivity to these drugs (hence, effectiveness). Add this into the other variables you mentioned above, and you can get a more clear picture of what my happen to you over time, but the reality may not be as simple as just getting a genetic test.

The medical profession is at the doorstep of understanding genetic tests like this and fitting them into the course of patient’s balding patterns and the rate of the balding process. At 4 months, there is just not enough time to know how you will respond to the drug, but at a year or so out you may know more. Finasteride does not work as well in the frontal hair at reversing the process as it does in the crown. You can get yourself tested with this genetic test to anticipate your personal response to finasteride, but what you do with the information is not easy to ascertain. You will have to sit down with your doctor to explore the process further.

In all people, the effectiveness of Propecia over time will change because the balding process will change (it is progressive) and the degree of change varies with the individual. There are no rules other than what I discussed above, but I believe that as long as the balding person is taking Propecia, the drug is effective. To prove this, stop taking it and see that the hair loss just gets worse in a matter of months. Actually, I don’t advise you to try to prove it, because the cost in hair loss would be too great.

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