Female Hair Loss After a Stroke – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

(female)
I recently started taking alot of new medications after i had a stroke. Can drugs such as plavix and lisinopril cause hair loss? My hair is coming out by the handfuls every time I brush or wash it. I am a severe diabetic and also take medicine for that.

Female hair loss is different from male hair loss. Women rarely develop the typical balding pattern as men do. Moreover, female hair loss can be attributed to many different factors, including stress, hormone imbalance (menopause, thyroid disorders), anemia, autoimmune causes (lupus), etc. While men can certainly have the same issues, the cause of hair loss in men is mostly from genetic male pattern baldness (MPB).

You seem to have many medical issues, including diabetes, stroke, and high blood pressure. They can all contribute to your hair loss and unfortunately there is no specific cure for it. Even if you stop taking the medication you will still lose hair and these very medications can be the cause of the hair loss. The best option to date for women is topical Rogaine (minoxidil), which you can try — and it is available over the counter. Even Rogaine will not solve your problem completely, though. I would discuss your issues with your physician and see if there are other issues (like low thyroid) that can be contributing to your thinning hair.

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March 10, 2009

Finasteride, Toppik, DermMatch, and Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi Doctor,
I’m on finasteride 5mg (cut into 4 pieces) from past 7-8 months. I have been taking it regularly but have missed it once/twice in a week some times(from a month back). I had no hair loss from past 6 months may be coz i was regular with finasteride and also coz i had head shave. Now im experiencing more hair loss, im counting hair follicles each time i comb my hair. Its around 30 – 40 follicles. Now im totally scared, could you please tell me what can i do to prevent further hair loss.

Also im using toppik and dermmatch for better look. I use once in 3 days. I was using dermmatch when i had short hair and since my hairs have grown im using both for better look. Do you think these concealers can cause hair loss if used regularly ??

Also if i need to send a picture of my hair how can i do it ? Please help me out here, and thanks in advance.

Toppik Having your head shaved won’t prevent hair loss. Taking your finasteride each day will help halt the hair loss in most men. You should discuss the increase in hair loss you’re seeing with your prescribing doctor, who should hopefully be able to compare your results with photos taken before you started the medication. You might also consider minoxidil, which is available over the counter.

Toppik and DermMatch do not cause hair loss. You can send photos to photos@baldingblog.com, but reference this post when sending so I know you’ve written before.

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March 10, 2009

I Have Thinning Hair In One Area on the Top of My Head – Balding Blog

Dr. Rassman.

Thank you for your extremely informative and educational blog. I refer to it on a regular basis and I am extremely grateful for having this source as a reference.

I am a 36 year old male experiencing thinning in the frontal hairline primarily in the temporal area and a noticably visible thinning spot isolated to the right middle top of my head approximately one inch in diameter. I maintain very short hair (typically use a number 2 guard on the back and sides of my head, and a number 3 guard on top) with an electric trimmer. The thinning has slowly progressed over the past 5 years and appears to be more prevelant over the past year. I would attribute the frontal hair loss in the temporal area to a maturing hairline and I still have a low widows peak, albeit thinner.

My questions are:
1. What would cause the unsymmetrical thinning on the top of my head?
2. Would I likely receive any benefit from propecia in regrowing the hair in the top of my head or should I consider a localized hair transplant in that area?

Any insight you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Best Regards

Genetic balding is often not symmetrical and it does not always follow the rules on balding patterns. Yes, hair loss does break the rules. That is why I recommend mapping the scalp for miniaturization so that you will have an idea over what is actually going on beyond what your unmagnified eye can see. You can map it yourself with the right tools (see here). Clearly, you need to know if what you see is genetic balding and the mapping will give you that information, which you can post on BaldingForum if you need help on the interpretation.

Alternatively, and a better solution, is to get to a good doctor who will tell you from proper measurements and a good thorough examination what is happening to you. If you have genetic hair loss, Propecia/finasteride is the way to go. I’d look into medication before considering surgery.

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March 10, 2009

Why Isn’t Nitric Oxide Viewed as a Hair Loss Treatment? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Minoxidil is a vasodilator and is topical. Nitric oxide (Arginine-alpha ketaglutarate) is a vasodilator and oral.

I am having a hard time understanding why Minoxidil can grow hair (although I don’t know if it’s the same kind of hair and not just small hairs) while nitric oxide and massage typically aren’t viewed as hair loss treatments right now? You said before that Minoxidil probably works in that it prolongs one of the hair phases, but if they’re both nitric oxide based, what makes Minoxidil so different?

Nitric oxide Minoxidil has hair growth as a side effect of the drug and I believe that it has nothing to do with its vasodilating properties. Minoxidil’s reason for growing hair is still not entirely clear.

My role on this blog is to explain what is known in research and clinical medicine, but the use of nitric oxide is not known as a hair loss treatment and to my knowledge has not been scientifically studied. You can sponsor it if you wish, but the drug companies that do this work are apparently not paying for the research.

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March 9, 2009

Hair Loss InformationTaking 1mg Finasteride Every 3 Days? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Do you think it is suitable for a person suffering MPB to combat their hair loss by taking (1mg)Finasteride every 3 days?

Could there be any disadvantages to this?

Block Quote

I mean no disrespect, but I am always amazed when people invent their own medications, doses, and rules. Sometimes it is based upon fears that are not reasonable, and perhaps sometimes it is to cut costs. The recommended dosage is 1mg finasteride each day to treat hair loss. Taking it every 3 days will mean you have 2 days of no protection from the medication… so your hair loss will likely continue. The drug is out of your system in a day, which is why it’s a daily pill.

March 9, 2009

Can I Just Do a Trial Surgery of 100 Grafts to See the Results? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Thanks for lots of info. I have lost most of my top hairs, considering the expensive cost am thinking to try first 100 graft hairs and see the results and then may go for 400 more. Is it reasonable? I had consultation with a doctor in Canada but he recommended to have few sessions of total 1000 at least. your comments please.

Thanks

The number of grafts should reflect a plan for you and your doctor, which is long term. I do not know anything about you so it is impossible for me to tell you what you may want to hear. If I felt that it did you no harm and it met your needs (or some of them), I would consider doing what is in your best interest. Generally, I like my patients to undergo as few surgeries as possible and to KNOW that it will look like before they do it. We accomplish this by giving our prospective patients access to those who have had transplants in the past.

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March 9, 2009

China’s Last Eunuch Was Bald? – WRassman,M.D. BaldingBlog

China’s Last Eunuch Was Bald?

Mar 9, 2009/by William Rassman, M.D./2 /Hair Loss Causes

I read this news story about the last eunuch in China, named Sun Yaoting. At only 8 years old he was castrated… and looking at photos of him before his death in 1996 shows he was clearly bald. I thought castration was the “cure” for hair loss, not that anyone should ever go that far of course. So what’s the deal?

Here’s the news story: LA Times
Here’s the photo of him from the cover of a book: Book cover

Assuming that the castration was complete, there at least two explanations that come to mind:

He had testosterone production from non-testicular sources. We known that women have testosterone and when they lose their estrogen support at menopause, they developing balding.
This may show the phenomenon called apoptosis (a cell that has reached the end of its lifetime) and that the hair in the “patterned” areas had reached the end of their life.

I haven’t read the book and don’t know if there are photos throughout, but I would love to know what he looked like at age 40, 50, 60. Was he that bald at 40, 50, and 60 years old? We only have scant facts here, and I tried finding other photos online but just came up with that same one used on the book cover.

March 9, 2009

Hair Loss Information » Do Women Want Men with Full Heads of Hair? – Balding Blog

In an article in New Scientist Magazine published in late November, 2008, called “Getting It On”, author Mairi McLeod discusses and analyzes proclivities of male and female roles in the sexual game that goes on in real life. Sex drive is a focus of the article and the turn-on elements of each sex is a focus of the article.

Snippets from the article:

“A woman’s status affects her choice of sexual partner….. women who a high level of control over their own finances end to place higher importance on physical attractiveness in a man than on his financial prospects….. if increasing female economic power leads to greater demands for good-looking sexual partners, it may pay men to invest more in their appearance. Given the explosion in the male grooming industry, it seems that men are already onto that one”.

That might explain the increased incidence of hair transplantation in men, to make them feel sexier in attracting more women.

A similar article by the same author is at The Scotsman.

March 9, 2009

Is Hair Loss from Mold Permanent? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I know you said in another post that mold can possibly lead to hair loss; however I am wondering whether such an issue may be reversed. If you do experience hair loss as a side effect from over exposure to mold, will the hair return once the mold is removed? Or is the loss permanent? Thank you for your time.

Diseases like ringworm (a mold) can be treated successfully unless the presence of disease is a complication of a compromised immune system (like from HIV). In most cases, the hair grows back once the mold/fungus is successfully treated.

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March 9, 2009

Why Does Propecia Only Block 80% of DHT? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Is the reason Propecia only blocks about 80% of DHT because the remaining 20% is Type I DHT and not Type II DHT?

No, it is because the way this particular drug (finasteride) works is through competitive inhibition with DHT. To understand this, look up competitive inhibition of drugs, or look at this page. Without getting too technical, this process makes it almost impossible to get 100% block from drugs like finasteride, because the drug and DHT are constantly competing for the binding site on the enzyme 5 alpha-reductase.

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