Month: July 2013

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How Can I Increase Scalp Circulation to Slow My Thinning? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Doctors, Im a big fan of the site.

I am afraid of what I read online about Propecia. Is there anything natural without harmful side effects that I can do to increase circulation in my scalp, slow down thinning? Do you recommend anything?

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The problem with hair loss is not circulatory dependent. The body reduces the blood supply to the scalp as the thinner, sickly hair does not need all of that circulation. Scalp circulation is not the cause of genetic hair loss.

Too many people overreact to the rare sexual side effects of Propecia, but before you draw any conclusions, talk to your doctor and make an informed decision. The odds are in your favor that the side effects won’t occur, but if you’re certain you’re going to have side effects, the power of suggestion is something you should be wary of. There are no all-natural supplements that are proven to regrow or stop genetic hair loss.

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Hair Loss InformationNot Hair Loss News – Study Suggests Soy Doesn’t Help Fight Prostate Cancer Recurrence – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Snippet from the article:

Soy supplements don’t prevent a recurrence of prostate cancer after surgical removal of the prostate, a new small study finds. Many men with prostate cancer try soy products, but there is no hard evidence that they thwart a return of the disease, the researchers said.

“If one eats soy every day after surgery for prostate cancer, one does not reduce the risk of recurrence,” said the study’s lead researcher, Dr. Maarten Bosland, a professor of pathology at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

“A lot of men think that soy might be beneficial, but this study shows that it’s not,” he said. On the other hand, soy posed no adverse side effects. “It’s safe to take soy, but you won’t benefit from it for your prostate cancer,” Bosland added. All of the men studied had an increased risk of having cancer recur because the surgery — called a radical prostatectomy — hadn’t removed all the cancerous cells, Bosland noted.

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Read the rest — Soy Won’t Prevent Prostate Cancer’s Return: Study

The study was published in the July 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, and was the first human study that tested soy supplementation’s effect on prostate cancer recurrence.

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Hair Loss InformationIf I Have Little Hair Left at the Hairline, Would SMP Be Easy to Spot? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have heard that scalp micro-pigmentation can look quite artificial if you have none or very little hair remaining on your frontal hairline. To what extent does it look artificial under the conditions I previously mentioned? Is it artificial to the point that anybody walking around with it can easily be spotted or is it more subtle (i.e you would really need to pay attention to the person)?

All of this is of course assuming that the head is either wet shaved or buzzed to a 0. I know it’s not perfect but with little existing hair remaining can micropigmentation still frame your frontal hair line in a somewhat natural and realistic way without catching the attention of every on-looker?

I don’t mind telling those I am close to but I wouldn’t want everybody looking at my head either. I’m 24 now, I still have a hairline but I will probably be totally bald (norwood 7) by the time I’m 30 or 35. I would just like to know and I don’t want to be pressured into doing it or anything like that.

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If I understand your question correctly, you have lost much of the frontal edge of your hairline and want it put back with SMP. You seem to understand that if you have SMP done at the leading edge of the hairline where you lost the hair, that you must shave your entire head and keep it short. That’s the most important thing to know, and we call that the bold look on our website.

One should not be able to tell the SMP from normal hair, even close up, provided that the scalp is completely shaved. If you allow the surrounding hair to grow out too long, it will create an obvious change in depth that would make the areas with SMP look different. But if you keep it shaved, it will blend in just fine.

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Hair Loss InformationI Have an Ugly Head, So Should I Get a Wig? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have a couple questions. Do you recommend a daily multivitamin or anything like b-6 or zinc?

I have an ugly head…if I see nothing works and I decide to go with a semi permanent toupe, would you recommend something like cyberhair, which can be glued on a month at a time? The pics look so good but I couldnt glue it on or make it match. Or do you think this is the worst thing a person can do?

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Multivitamins are always good. No problem with using them, but they aren’t going to make your hair regrow.

People who have abnormal shaped heads love hair transplants, as a good hair transplant with long hair covers most skull abnormalities. Wigs also work, but that choice is clearly yours to make. Obviously, the biggest difference is that the surgical method is permanent and doesn’t require the same maintenance or financial costs that a wig does in order to look real.

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Any LaserCap Trial Update Yet? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Dr Rassman,

Do you have a 3-month update of the LaserCap trial that your team is conducting? Link: NHI LaserCap trial

Myself and I’m sure many of your readers would like to know if there has been any change in any of the patients so far. If you could post pictures of the before/after states for the 10 participants, perhaps it would put us a step closer to deciding on the effectiveness of laser treatments!

Kindest regards

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The 3 month visits are just starting, so we do not have an update yet. Sorry!

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Hair Loss InformationPropecia and Dialysis? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am a dialysis patient and I have genetic hair loss, could I take propecia spite of my medical condition?

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I am not your doctor, so I can not advise you about which prescription drugs you can take with your condition, but I can tell you what the literature says about this, via Drugs.com:

“No dosage adjustment is necessary in patients with renal insufficiency. In patients with chronic renal impairment, with creatinine clearances ranging from 9.0 to 55 mL/min, AUC, maximum plasma concentration, half-life, and protein binding after a single dose of 14C-Finasteride were similar to values obtained in healthy volunteers. Urinary excretion of metabolites was decreased in patients with renal impairment.”

Finasteride is metabolized by the liver and excreted in the feces normally. Nevertheless, your doctor is the best one to ask.

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Hair Loss InformationRemoving SMP with a Laser? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

A while back you mentioned a new SMP pigment that might be reversible with one laser treatment. Sorry if I missed your follow up on that. How did that turn out?

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The pigment we use for Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) is reversible with laser pigment removal; however, it may require more than one treatment. There is also a risk for hair loss with the laser pigment removal.

A while back, we were made aware of an ink that was reportedly able to be removed with one laser treatment, but the company that produced the product apparently was sold and the ink hasn’t been made available.

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Hair Loss InformationIn the News – VH1 Looks at Bald Celebrities – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Snippet from the article:

William, the Duke of Cambridge, is about to be a dad any day now, so maybe some of his family members aren’t treating his 31st birthday as the specialest of days. But don’t worry, we didn’t forget your gift, Will!

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Read the rest — Happy Birthday, Prince William! Here Are 31 Balding Stars For You To Look Up To

How sweet of VH1 to wish Prince William a happy birthday by presenting a slideshow of bald or balding celebrities. I am sure it was at the top of the his favorite birthday gifts. Click the link above to see the slideshow, which includes notables like Patrick Stewart, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Jude Law.

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Hair Loss InformationHair Loss After a Miscarriage – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I had a miscarriage 4 months ago and my doctor prescribed Duphaston. After that I’ve also taken contraceptive pills. After two months, I went for a check up again, and she give me Primolut N. Are these medications causing my hair loss, because I noticed that my hair is thinner now and keeps on falling out. I’ve also been taking Pantogar for four months now. Thank you so much for your time.

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A miscarriage can cause hair loss, either from the drop in estrogen following the end of a pregnancy, or possibly even from the emotional stress that you must’ve endured. Either reason should only result in temporary hair loss, though.

As for the medications and supplements you’re taking — Duphaston (dydrogesterone) isn’t noted to cause hair loss in the literature that I can find, though Primolut N (norethisterone) does list hair loss as a potential side effect. Birth control pills can also cause hair loss in some women, though I’m not sure which contraceptive you’re taking. Pantogar is a vitamin supplement that makes big claims, but I don’t know of any actual peer-reviewed research that backs them up.

If your loss is temporary, the hair will regrow on its own within the next 6-12 months. If your loss is from medications, you should speak to your prescribing doctor. It is more likely that the emotional stress or change in hormones caused a temporary hair loss (telogen effluvium), though.

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In the News – Hair Loss from Earthquakes? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Snippet from the article:

Sarah van Dijk was putting her curly hair up for a night out when she first noticed a bald spot by her left ear. The 32-year-old had just moved to Christchurch and, four weeks earlier, experienced major earthquakes for the first time – the December 2011 magnitude 5.8 and 6.0 aftershocks.

Inspecting the rest of her scalp, she found about half a dozen bald patches developing. “I had no idea what was going on. I was hoping it was something like ringworm because I’m an early childhood teacher.”

However, the next day a doctor told her she had alopecia areata. Van Dijk, now 33, is among a growing number of Cantabrians suffering from the stress-related hair loss condition, which may be attributable to the quakes.

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Read the rest — Hair loss linked to Chch quakes

The earthquakes and aftershocks in New Zealand’s 2nd largest city were obviously quite stressful to the residents. This is an interesting article, but earthquakes themselves do not cause alopecia areata. The stress associated with the earthquakes surely can bring upon alopecia areata in those that carry the genes. For others, stress can bring about a temporary loss called telogen effluvium.