Month: December 2010

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If ACell Could Possibly Give You Unlimited Donor Hair, How Isn’t It a Cure? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have a few questions about ACell…first of I know it’s in early stages and a lot needs to be done but it it works I want to know this…

  1. From my understanding it will involve plucking hairs from the donor hair putting into the top and then wait a few months for new hairs to sprout from the plucked areas to keep transplanting?
  2. If that is the case how is not a cure where you once said somewhere? If plucking out hairs and they keep regrowing won’t you have an unlimited donor supply!?

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Yes, the hair is plucked from a donor area and placed in a bald area. It is not a cure, because you are still genetically bald. You just added hair to look non-bald. If that was the definition of cure, then Propecia and hair transplant surgery could be considered a cure. If you are referring to the “theoretical” unlimited donor hair supply as a cure, then I suppose that would fit. But theory and practicality (of multiple surgeries) does not always work out in the real world.

There are a lot of unanswered questions here. I do not have all the answers, and the proliferation of information on the Internet makes it difficult to keep ahead. In other words, we are BEGINNING our clinical study. We can all speculate what the study will show, but as far as we are concerned, it is all hopes and dreams at this point. We promise we will keep you all up to date.

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Donor Area – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have a question about the donor area scar. It seems like most donor area scars begin over the ear and proceed to the back of the head. Wouldn’t it be better to remove the donor hair from the nape of the neck where the skin is more elastic and the scar would be less noticable? Is this a viable option? Thank you

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Your theory may be valid, but the hair on the nape of the neck is not considered permanent hair. Let’s assume that hypothetically the hair at the nape turns out to be permanent — you’d still run into the problem of scar visibility. A wound scars readily at that location. Many men like to keep their hair short and faded (cut short) at the nape of the neck, so having a scar there would really be a problem for them.

Finally, most donor area scars do not begin over the ear (at least not my patients).

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Overplucking Eyebrows – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello doctor. I was wondering how long eyebrow hair takes to regrow from overplucking? I know that in some cases it may never grow back, but I have read that the time frame in some cases can be from a few months to a couple of years. So, can a follicle possibly still regrow hair years later? Thanks for your insight.

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I would say it takes a few weeks to months for eyebrows to grow back after plucking. If you haven’t seen growth after a year, I would think your chances for regrowth are very low, though anything is possible. Continuous plucking is the most common cause of hair loss from the eyebrow.

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Finasteride, FDA, and Prostate Cancer Prevention – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

One of my favorite BaldingBlog contributors (who shall remain nameless) sent in some great insights about FDA advisory committees. We’ve previously posted his thoughts on the LaserComb, clinical trials, and FDA trials. This post will be used in the future as a point of reference:

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    Dr Rassman,
    Given the many questions related to consideration of FDA expansion of the finasteride label for prevention of prostate cancer, your readers may wish to access the data themselves and better understand the process (which becomes more transparent and less “conspiratorial”).

     
    The recent finasteride and dutasteride opinions noted in the Dec 3 Balding Blog posting are not from the FDA, but are from an independent group termed the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee. The committee is composed of 18 voting members (and several non-voting members) – mainly oncologists, with some statisticians, epidemiologists, and a patient representative, the former mainly from academic institutions.

    The FDA eventually considers the committees opinion in approval or withdrawal of drugs (or “expansion” of a drug label for a new indication). The FDA usually follows the recommendations of advisory committees, as the committees’ recommendations are presumably “data-driven” and the FDA typically comes to similar conclusions. However, as in the case of many decisions that are split or where significant differences in interpretation of risk-benefit exist, the FDA has occasionally approved or rejected a drug against the recommendation of an advisory panel. Examples of split Advisory decisions (where a majority vote did occur) are the opinions this year related to several weight loss drugs.

    The Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 17-0 against expanding the label for finasteride to include prevention of prostate cancer. A unanimous vote by FDA Advisory Committees is rare. I have no special knowledge of the meeting. This decision was based in part on data from the 19,000 patient Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial and the belief that the data did not support the risk benefit profile (i.e. possibility of increased aggressiveness of tumor did not outweigh reduced risk of low-grade tumors). As with all such committee meetings, which are open to the public (including listening via live webcasts), the transcript will be published and available within a few weeks at the FDA’s web site.

    However, interested readers can go to the FDA web site now and access the Briefing Document and presentations given to Committee members from the drug company seeking approval. This information is public and typically posted several days before the meeting. The meeting was held on Dec 1, but the date of posting was Nov 26 (see under Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee). The info can be found at the following links [note – all are PDF files]:

  1. Draft Agenda for the December 1, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
  2. Briefing Information for the December 1, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
  3. Draft Questions for the November 30, 2010 Meeting of the Pediatric Oncology Subcommittee of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
  4. Merck Briefing Information for the December 01, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
  5. FDA Briefing Information for the December 01, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
  6. GlaxoSmithKline Briefing Information for the December 01, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
  7. Draft Questions for the December 1, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
  8. Draft Meeting Roster for the December 1, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee
  9. Webcast Information for the December 1, 2010 Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee

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Reader Tells Others to Calm Down Over ACell Inquiries – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hey Dr Rassman i hope your day is treating you well.

Being a hairloss sufferer myself i can relate to the extraordinary anticipation and hype surrounding the new buzz word in the field of hair restoration ”Acell”. However i also realize that this is far from establishing itself as a practical solution to genetic alopecia(if it even makes it that far). As a hair restoration physician i imagine you grow tired of those ”cure” type perennial questions. In my opinion readers need to recognize that when the hairloss community is equip with innovators like yourself Dr Rassman it provides us with the best chance possible of making the most out of these types (Acell) situations.

Being a daily reader of this blog i have nothing but good things to say about it. There is not a doubt in my mind that Dr Rassman and the other physicians that contribute to the blog will be efficient at posting occasional updates. So for a lack of a better term just ”chill out” time will tell…..

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ChillThank you for your support! I don’t mind the large amount of emails I’ve received with ACell questions, as I kind of expected that… but I don’t want to give anyone the wrong idea about what it can do (we’re still trying to figure it all out).

We will most definitely update the readers of this site on our progress as we can.

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I Have More Body Hair Now Since Taking Propecia – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr. Rassman, this is in regard to body hair and propecia.
I have been taking propecia for about 1 year now, and I definitely have more body hair. I even get a little hair growing around my ears which I did not have before and I have to trim my nasal hair frequently. The Hair on my arms, legs and chest is definitely longer. I am okay with it though (even though it is rather unusual for black people).

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Propecia (finasteride 1mg) is taken for the treatment of male pattern baldness on the scalp. There aren’t official statements or side effect reports that indicate that Propecia affects body hair. I do hear on occasion that Propecia decreases body hair, and some of our readers have commented that they actually lost body hair from Propecia use. Your case would be the opposite.

If I had to make a guess, I would tend to think Propecia decreases body hair since it decreases DHT (dihydrotestosterone) levels. DHT is responsible for genetic hair loss in men with the genes that predispose them for balding, but DHT is also responsible for some of secondary male sex characteristics like the growth of body hair, nose hair, ear hair, etc. Thus, it makes sense that decreasing DHT will decrease body hair… but this seems to be an uncommon effect.

In a private communication with a doctor that will remain nameless, he told me he saw a set of identical twins, one on finasteride and the other not on the drug. The twin on finasteride had distinctly less body hair than the twin who wasn’t taking it. Not that this conclusively proves anything, since obviously your situation is the opposite and you’re seeing increased body hair growth, but it is food for thought.

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What Can a Woman Do To Help Her Hair Transplant Grow? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have had a HT 10 days ago and wondered as a female what else i can do to help the hair i have grow apart from minoxdil. What foods can i eat and will hairmax and biotin work? Is aloe vera good to put on the scalp as it helped with the transplant pain.

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There is really nothing you can do to make your hair transplant grow (this goes for both men and women). If the hair transplant was a success, then only time will tell. Women’s hair transplant surgery is a bit different then men’s for a number of reasons, with a main one being that the donor hair for women may not be permanent like it usually is for men.

I’ve written about Hairmax many times before (I assume you mean the LaserComb) and here’s a post about biotin that you may find interesting. I don’t know what kind of surgical techniques were used during your procedure, so you should be asking your surgeon what he/she recommends you do going forward.

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What Age Will I Know If I’m Balding? – Balding Blog

Hi doctor, i will like to know how long will it take to know if you are balding or just have a mature hair line. is like if my hairline have stay the same for 2 years does that mean that im not balding now? or i have to wait more time like 4 – 5 years

There’s no way to tell when you’ll go bald just based on an email. You need to be examined for miniaturization and then re-examined again in 6-12 months to compare the results. Then an educated guess can be made as to what type of loss you’re going to be seeing down the line. It’s not as simple as just applying a deadline to your hair loss based on an age range.

Balding (in men) can start in the late teens or in the 60s, but usually most people who bald will have signs of it in their 20s. The most sensitive test for balding is when the hair bulk is measured on the front, top, and crown and compared to the fringe area on the sides and back of the head.




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Balding Forum - Hair Loss Discussion

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Hair Loss InformationHair Transplant at Temples Resulted in Hairline Thinning? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Is it common to experience hair thinning as a result of shock loss? I ask because I recieved a transplant at my temples a few months ago and suddenly now my hair in the front is thinning as well as my hair at the crown.

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Temple vs CornerIn general, thinning hair in the front and crown sounds like male pattern baldness. I am confused by your description of the temples and wonder if the area you’re referencing is actually the corners of the frontal hairline, which is commonly confused terminology. See the photo at right for clarification.

Regardless, shock loss would be mostly limited to the near the recipient area, which in your case may include the hairline… but I wouldn’t expect the crown to be associated with shock loss if your surgery was just in the frontal area (corners or temples). In other words, it sounds like a coincidence to the surgery and is more likely just the progression of your hair loss.

Not all hair transplants are the same. I don’t know anything about your hair loss history, age, or any knowledge of the surgery you have had done. Please follow up with your doctor to address these concerns.

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Can I Inherit MPB from the Female Side of My Family? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

For several years I have had thinning whilst stressed; but it has always grown in. However, this year my hair thinned out due to stress, unlike times before I also had spot areas of hair loss. That has grown in however my hairline has started fall out in a ” V” shaped peak. It’s not dramatic or noticable; with this said I have no male blood relatives suffering hair loss; only female. Is it possible to inherit hair loss through females if you are male.

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A common myth is that male pattern baldness comes from the mother’s side of the family, but in reality, the genetics can be passed to you from either side of the family (paternal or maternal). It can skip generations, too.

Without seeing the loss you’re referring to, I’m having a difficult time figuring out how pronounced the “V” shaped hairline you’re seeing actually is. It could be that you’re just experiencing a maturing hairline, or it could be that you’re seeing genetic hair loss that is starting at the hairline. I don’t know enough about you (age or history) to make any kind of real guess online.