Month: January 2023

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Substantial Non-FDA Testing on Avodart?

I am 24 year old currently on propecia for the last 8 months. While the results have been satisfactory, I am not thrilled. I have had zero side effects from the medication. I am looking into taking avodart .5 mg. I know you are not legally permitted to condone the use of it for MPB, but is it more effective than propecia? I am looking to get a little regrowth that i have not seen with propecia. Is it safe to use for MPB and is there substantial non FDA controlled testing credibility regarding regrowth? Please Advise

There are no FDA studies on Avodart related to hair regrowth, but Avodart has been studied for prostate problems and it is safe in the older population. To my knowledge, there are no good studies on Avodart with a hair loss focus either. If any readers out there are aware of such studies, please feel free to send me links to the address on the Contact page. Please follow past blog entries related to Avodart by using the search.

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Subcapsular Orchiectomy (Removing the Testicles) to Prevent Hair Loss

Hello Doctor,
I am soon to be 25 yrs old. My hair line is beginning to recede at my temples. I am extremely concerned with this. For many years I have considered having a subcapsular orchidectomy procedure to prevent any further hair loss. I have researched the side effects of this procedure and am willing to accept them. Can you recommend a doctor who will perform this outpatient operation? Thank you for your time.

Any urologist should be able to help you, but I doubt they would do so. There is likely more to your story than you are telling me here. Taking out your testicles is an extremely radical way to prevent further hair loss… though it will work.


2008-10-24 13:09:18Subcapsular Orchiectomy (Removing the Testicles) to Prevent Hair Loss

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Styling without shedding

An interesting article that seems to significantly reduce shedding as it will contract the arrector pili muscle of the follicular unit. The authors are very credible

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29193553/

How to buy it See https://www.intacthair.com/


2020-09-11 07:08:24Styling without shedding

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Styling Glue and Hair Loss?

Can styling products like LA spikes or Got 2 B glued cause temporary hair loss in younger people? I ask this because i’ve always had a high hairline, and I used the 99c store stuff to spike it, being that its cheap it doesn’t last that long and isnt as heavy in the things that kinda poison your hair slowly. I recently switched to a product by the name of Got2b Glued, this is literally hair cement. For awhile this product worked wonders, but the more I used it the more I noticed hair in the spiky areas falling out.

My hair is more a thin dirty blonde type, like most of my family and we have absolutely no history of balding.

Thank you for reading, please reply soon.

Gels and glues used for styling purposes do not cause hair loss. Before looking to blame a hair product or medication as a cause for hair loss, you must know that the most common form of hair loss in men is genetic androgenic alopecia (AGA), otherwise known as male pattern baldness (MPB).

While certain hair products may not work as well on some individuals, there is really no way for me to tell you that your hair product is causing your hair loss. You need a miniaturization study and a good examination to confirm what is really going on. What you’re seeing is likely just coincidence.

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Styling After a Hair Transplant

Hello doctor

I see a lot of HT photos, a lot of the patients seem to have their hair up and raised back like they’ve been in the wind. Is that just the way they style it? If I was to have a HT I’d want my hair down towards my eyebrows..

Is every patient different?

Regards

Hair normally grows forward in the front (parallel to the ground when standing upright). As one moves back from the frontal edge, the angle starts to change with hair pointing a few degrees upward until it reaches the front of the crown, where the frontal pointing hairs are about 35 degrees to the ground. So you see, the hair when placed by the surgeon is never placed perpendicular to the horizon. At the crown, the hair changes direction in a circular pattern (swirl) and as you look further back, eventually the hair points down and away from the front.

What you see in our patient photos reflect each patient’s styling (or lack of it), not something we do. I always put the hair back in the direction it would have been had they never lost hair and depending where I am working on the scalp, the rules I discussed above are followed with every hair placed by me. Patients generally like to play games with their hair and although a few comb it forward, most do not. Some comb it to the side with a part on one side, others comb it back with some product that they apply to the hair. Some just let it stray, taking on the character of the hair itself. If the hair is curly, then the natural state will look less groomed than if it is straight or has a nice wave to it. If you want to comb it down to cover your forehead and point to your eyebrows, you can do that also.

Every patient is different and the results we get depend upon texture of the hair, density at the area we are looking at, thickness of the hair shafts, the degree of curliness (or lack of it with very straight hair). But the hair transplant you get will be your hair, and it will bring all of its characteristics that are present in the back of the head where the hair grafts are taken.

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Is It Stupid Wearing a Hair System Because It Is Considered Unattractive Projecting My “Insecurity” About My Hair?

Hair systems are a choice. They work well for some men but not for others. The three limitations of the hair systems are (1) the cost is very, very high when calculated over a 5 year period (more than transplants, (2) they cause traction alopecia which is permanent hair loss from the glue and attachments that are used to secure them and (3) for the young man, they can’t allow a woman to run their fingers through their hair.


2018-11-06 15:47:15Is It Stupid Wearing a Hair System Because It Is Considered Unattractive Projecting My “Insecurity” About My Hair?

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Brain starts to eat itself after chronic sleep loss

An article that appeared in the New Scientist of May 27, 2017 suggests the brain goes into overdrive in mice who are sleep deprived. We know that people with chronic sleep loss have an increased risk of dementia. Cells in the brain called Astrocytes start to break down more of the brain connections as debris builds up in chronic sleep deprivation. Also, critical brain connections are eaten up by these Astrocytes after they are broken down. The article says this process is a one-way street. The article points out, as many other article do, that we need sleep and can’t have a healthy brain without it. Some other studies I read suggest that a human needs at least seven good hours of REM sleep each night to maintain good brain health. If you are studying for an exam or dealing with the challenges of life, you need to be able to think clearly.


2017-06-12 20:19:43Brain starts to eat itself after chronic sleep loss

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Study Says Alcohol in Teens Damages the Brain, But Marijuana Use Doesn’t

Snippet from the non-hair-loss article:

The researchers, from the University of California, San Diego and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, performed the study on 92 16- to 20-year-olds. The scientists scanned their brains both before and after an 18-month period. Over the course of the 18 months, half of the teens, who already had an extensive track record with alcohol and marijuana, continued their vices as they had before. The other half continued to abstain or drink a minimal amount, like they too had done before the study.

In addition to the brain scans, the study also required a detailed toxicology report and substance use assessment. The teens also were interviewed every six months. Researchers did not check the teens’ cognitive ability, but simply took brain scans.

The researchers found that, after the year and a half was over, kids who had drank five or more alcoholic beverages twice a week had lost white brain matter. That means that they could have impaired memory, attention, and decision-making into adulthood. The teens that smoked marijuana on a regular basis had no such reduction.

Read the rest — No, Teen Marijuana Use Doesn’t Cause Brain Damage, But Alcohol Does

I’m not advocating marijuana or alcohol, but I thought it was interesting research in light of the pot legalization in Washington state and Colorado. The study will be published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.


2013-01-07 19:19:38Study Says Alcohol in Teens Damages the Brain, But Marijuana Use Doesn’t

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Study on topical finasteride with minimal sexual side effects reported

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26636418

2016 Jan;54(1):19-27. doi: 10.5414/CP202467.

Effects of a novel finasteride 0.25% topical solution on scalp and serum dihydrotestosterone in healthy men with androgenetic alopecia.

Caserini M, Radicioni M, Leuratti C, Terragni E, Iorizzo M, Palmieri R.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

The effects on scalp and serum dihydrotestosterone (DHT) of different doses of a novel topical solution of 0.25% finasteride (P-3074), a type 2 5?-reductase, were investigated in men with androgenetic alopecia.

METHODS:

Two randomized, parallel-group studies were conducted. Study I: 18 men received 1 mL (2.275 mg) P-3074, applied to the scalp once a day (o.d.) or twice a day (b.i.d), or 1 mg oral tablet o.d. for 1 week. Study II: 32 men received P-3074 at the dose of 100 (0.2275 mg), 200 (0.455 mg), 300 (0.6285 mg), or 400 (0.91 mg) ?L or the vehicle o.d. for 1 week. Scalp and serum DHT and serum testosterone were evaluated at baseline and treatment end.

RESULTS:

Change from baseline in scalp DHT was -70% for P-3074 o.d. and approx. -50% for P-3074 b.i.d. and the tablet. Serum DHT decreased by 60 – 70%. The doses of 100 and 200 ?L P-3074 resulted in a -47/-52% scalp DHT reduction, similar to the 300 and 400 ?L doses (i.e., -37/-54%). A -5.6% inhibition was observed for the vehicle. Serum DHT was reduced by only -24/-26% with 100 and 200 ?L P-3074 and by -44/-48% with 300 and 400 ?L P-3074. No relevant changes occurred for serum testosterone.

CONCLUSIONS:

The novel finasteride 0.25% solution applied o.d. at the doses of 100 and 200 ?L results in an appropriate inhibition of scalp DHT potentially minimizing the untoward sexual side-effects linked to a systemic DHT reduction.


2019-10-01 10:13:12Study on topical finasteride with minimal sexual side effects reported

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Study – Isolated Crown Balding and the Risk of Prostate Cancer

Snippet from the abstract:

Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a genetically determined skin condition strongly age dependent and androgens are assumed to play an important role in its development. A link between AGA and prostate cancer has been hypothesized because of their similar risk factors.

We sought to systematically review the evidence available on the association between AGA and risk of prostate cancer.

We searched the electronic databases MEDLINE and Cochrane for studies examining the association between AGA and risk of prostate cancer. We estimated pooled odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals. We also analyzed the OR for individual hair loss patterns, as defined by the Hamilton scale.

Read the rest — Androgenetic alopecia and risk of prostate cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Although many authors have investigated a possible association between androgenetic alopecia (AGA) and prostate cancer, there is not yet a definitive answer. Patients with any pattern genetic balding did not have an increased risk of prostate cancer, but patients with just vertex pattern AGA (crown balding without balding in other areas) had a significantly increased risk of prostate cancer versus control subjects. Vertex pattern AGA may be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer.

In another publication, there was a higher risk of heart disease in patients with pure crown balding.