Month: October 2013

Hello dr
i am with you that the research is very early, but why did you say it is not a cure? if they can create hair then we will have unlimited supply, right?

You’re referring to — Dr Christiano’s Research Team Found That Upside Down Cells Produce New Hair

Everything is called a “cure” these days. This is still research. Don’t get me wrong — this is very exciting, but it was done in mice. It needs to be done in humans and proven both safe and effective before anyone should call it a cure. Lots of articles have come out calling this a cure, but article headlines are usually sensationalized.

Dear Doctor Rassman
My question concerns my eyebrows. I shaved them for some reason I cannot even comprehend myself. They never came back. What makes it so much worse is the fact that i am a man. It bothers me more than anything else in my entire life has. It haunts me from when i wake up to when i go to bed. I have two questions i guess.

1. First of all, i don’t know why but i really don’t want to have a eyebrow transplant probably because it is in fact considered plastic surgery and is considered weird by most people i have asked. Also the continual growing could become annoying but i am not ruling it out. If you yourself were in my situation would you in fact have it done? Are most of your patients honestly happy with the results?

2. Second i am 25 years old now and by visiting your site learned of hair cloning. this seems like a much better option obviously but i have yet to understand if it is only for the top of your head or could it be implemented in something like my eyebrows. what i am getting at is if they cloned eyebrow hair would it grow normally (not like head hair)? if it is possible to clone eyebrow hairs then would you wait? probably not from reading your other responses. either way i really want to do something about this.

thank you so much for your time and again what do you think my best option is?

I find it difficult to understand how shaving your eyebrows once would cause them never to grow back. Please see a doctor and get a good diagnosis. Maybe you have other medical issues that may cause the absence of eyebrows (such as alopecia areata).

Eyebrow transplantation is a very reasonable option for many men and women who do not have eyebrows (or have thin brows). Again, please consult with a hair transplant doctor for this. It is not my place to say if you should have surgery or not. This is purely a cosmetic procedure. If you think you will be a happier person for having more eyebrow hairs, then it is your prerogative. If you would like a private consultation, you can call my office (800) NEW-HAIR or (310) 553-9913 to speak to me or Dr. Pak.

At this time, cloning isn’t an option.

Hello, just a question from yet another freaked out 20 year old.

Ok, so neither side of my family has a history of balding. The only stand-out is my brother. He’s going bald, but he had a different father than me. Could his father’s genetics have played a role in his unfortunate fate?

Also, I’ve read that a “mature” hairline is a euphemism for receding hairline. What would you say about this? Thanks for your time.

Hair loss in most men is genetic, and it can come from either the mother’s side or the father’s side (or both).

As for the mature hairline, we have extensively written about what that is ( see here). It is not balding in the traditional sense and it is not a progressive recession of the hairline. Some men see their hairline mature and don’t see any patterned loss beyond that.

When through densitometry you discover diffuse unpatterned miniaturization, even in the donor area in male patients, do you immediately diagnose it as DUPA or do you recommend that they rule out other causes of the miniaturization? If so, which specific tests would you recommend?

I read somewhere that a doctor told someone that low DHEA levels could cause hair miniaturization, is this true? Should someone with these symptoms get their DHEA levels checked?

DUPA (Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia) requires extensive assessment of the donor area, which will be heavily impacted by miniaturization on such an assessment. It’s not a quick diagnosis.

I can not comment on DHEA levels and its association with DUPA, though I have written about DHEA before here.

Are there any hormonal differences in general between men with male pattern baldness and men without MPB?

We know that in men, testosterone gets converted into dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and it is the 5a-reductase enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT. Some men do not have the genetics markers that cause the DHT to induce the (hair) loss, though. In other words one can have a very high DHT level and never have hair loss (because they do not have the genes for genetic hair loss).

DHT can be inhibited/ reduced with drugs like Propecia (finasteride 1mg). Although women also make testosterone (lesser amounts) the impact of Propecia does not stop or reverse genetic female hair loss as it does in most men. This suggest that women’s hair loss is not related to DHT.

With all that said… I don’t know of any specific hormonal differences between balding and hairy men.

Snippet from the article:

With all but one game decided by one run, every move has counted, meaning extreme physical and mental focus has been required from each member of the Red Sox and Tigers.

“This is probably a reason why I don’t have any hair,” Dustin Pedroia told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports after Thursday’s tight 4-3 Red Sox win.

Read the rest (only if you’re a sports fan) — Dustin Pedroia Blames Red Sox’ Postseason Success for Hair Loss

Dustin Pedroia’s quote was likely in jest, as he’d been losing hair for quite some time (genetics being the reasonable assumption). Tonight is the start of the World Series, so any quote is likely enough for the sportswriters in Boston to put it in their headline.