Hello Dr. Rassman:
Thank you for your blog; it has answered many of my questions. At this time I appear to have most of my head of hair. I do have thinning in the Crown region. I was told by a very respectable physician in Vancouver that I am not a good transplant candidate because I have diffused minaturization with a Norwood 6 – likely 7 pattern.
Understandably, I was taken aback, given that I’m 32; and this level of balding isn’t all that obvious amongst the men in my family. The hair surgeon recommended that I continue with my proscar (I’ve been on it roughly 2 years with pretty good results – i.e. stability).
My question is 1) given that I am 32; my hair loss appears to have stablized but I have diffuse minaturization, what is my timeline, i.e., will I be a slow progressor to Norwood 7? Does the fact that I have minaturization mean that the propecia will not be able to assist me with those hairs?
Also, with the doctor’s advice, I’m increasing to half or 2.5 mg of proscar.
Finally, what is the status of Acell? Do you think someone like me (Norwood 7) will one day be a good candidate for a hair transplant?
Cheers
First, you need a good Master Plan. You seem pretty lost without one, unsure about what to do or where to go next. I have no idea what kind of timeline you’re looking at, but why would you want to have surgery when your hair loss is stable? It sounds like you’re considering surgery to prevent hair loss, which shouldn’t be the case.
1mg is really all the finasteride you need for treating genetic androgenic alopecia. Taking more will not necessarily help. No matter what you do, if you are going to lose hair, it will happen. Doubling a dose of medication will not guarantee it slows down, but you will increase the risks of a drop in libido. I’m not sure why your doctor is advising you to increase the dosage. I’d follow up with him about that.
The ACell study is still unproven and we will likely not know until the end of 2011 if the study was a success. We’ve received a lot of emails about it, and we’ve only been tight-lipped because there’s nothing to report at this time.
I am told the robot will cost about $250,000. I think that this has to be paid down and the result should be a more expensive hair transplant. At least initially. I am just speculating, though, as we don’t have the robot in our practice. 
Unless your shampoo was made in close proximity to the Fukushima nuclear plant, I think you are overreacting and contributing to the hype of unfounded radiation scare. But if you are scared, there is a simple solution: Don’t use it. Does the bottle have a manufactured date on it? When did you purchase it? That might help set your mind at ease.
Latisse (bimatoprost) is expensive and comes in small quantities (it’s an eyelash growth medication), but people are experimenting with using it for hair growth. It’s a prescription medication, so you’ll need to find a doctor willing to prescribe it… and have the financial means necessary to keep up with the $150/mo cost for a small quantity.