Category: Drugs

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Minoxidil and Blood Donation – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi Doctor,

I have been donating blood regularly. But I have hair loss and would like to try applying topical minoxidil on my scalp. Would my blood be safe to donate? Look forward to your kind response.

Best regards

Always reveal the medications you take when you donate blood. I doubt that a topical like minoxidil will be a problem for blood donation, as little of it gets absorbed, if any. I would suggest that you stop taking minoxidil for two days prior to the donation so that any of the drug that might be absorbed by your body will be gone before the donation.

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Topical Finasteride Research – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi Dr. Rassman,

As I scour the internet for information about new developments in the treatment for balding, just thought the readers might be interested that it appears some effort is being put into
researching/developing a topical version of finasteride to treat hair loss:

PubMed – Development of liposomal systems of Finasteride for topical applications: design, characterization, and in vitro evaluation.

Take care.

Seems like interesting research. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. The next step, with regard to the hair restoration field, would be to determine if it is equal to or better than oral finasteride in the treatment of hair loss. Clearly more work is being done for the formulation, as that is not finalized yet.

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Hair Loss InformationAfter Taking Propecia for 2 Years, Suddenly I’m Shedding – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi,
Love your site. I am a 37 yr old male and I’ve been on propecia for about 2 yrs (with very little shedding). I’ve recently started shedding quite a bit, almost like the propecia stopped working. Is this normal??? Please help!!!!

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Propecia (finasteride) does not cure hair loss. When your genetics ‘push’, then Propecia becomes less effective. Please note that I said less effective. If you were to stop the drug, then you would be on a wild ride to hair loss. As I am not your doctor, it is difficult for me to tell you what I would do. I might consider Avodart (dutasteride) under certain situations, but if I did, the dose would be high and sexual side effects may become evident. Sterility may be a price, as it has been reported (with reversal not clear). The Master Plan may include a hair transplant, but that would depend on many factors. You need to have a good relationship with your doctor.

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FlutaGel – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

What can you tell us about FlutaGel?

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Flutagel is a gel that contains 1% flutamide as the active ingredient, a drug that is used to treat prostate cancer. It acts by inhibiting the uptake and/or binding of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) to the target cell receptor. To date, no clinical studies have been done to prove its efficacy in MPB. In theory it sounds great, but this does not always translate into the clinical arena. It needs to be studied further to evaluate its safety and effectiveness.

The website for this is at Sinere.com if you want to try to find more info.

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Is Finasteride Evenly Distributed in a Proscar Pill? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I have heard much debate amongst doctors about whether the drug finasteride is evenly distributed in the pill Proscar. Some say that by the very nature of the pharmaceutical manufacturing process it would be almost impossible for it NOT to be evenly distributed, but others say that it is not. Merck (understandably) will not comment since they want their customers paying more for Propecia.

If it’s not, that means on day 1, one might get all 5 mg, and then the next 4 days get 0 mg.

Can you explain the answer to this? Do you know the inherent nature of the pill manufacturing process so as to shed some light on this question?

There is always the chance that the Proscar pill, when divided into four, will have one or more of the pieces contain different amounts of the drug. We have seen patients on finasteride (taken as 1/4 of the Proscar) have results as would be expected from taking the Propecia. Although there is no way to verify the exact drug dose in each section of the pill by weight, from a results point of view, it seems to indicate that the drug is pretty much evenly distributed in the Proscar pill.

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When Will the Avodart Clinical Trials Be Finished? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

When do you think the Avodart hair loss trial currently carried out in China will be ready for release?

I do not know. The FDA studies on Avodart (dutasteride) for treating hair loss are being done in Korea, not China. See Is Avodart Going to Be FDA Approved for Treating Hair Loss? and ClinicalTrials.gov for more.

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After Miniaturization Mapping, How Accurate is the Norwood Class Diagnosis? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have ceased to be amazed by the vast amount of information this site provides to all of us hair-obsessed patrons-Kudos to you balding blog!

My question is pretty simple (i think):

How soon is one able to tell what Norwood class he will develop into? Put another way, if you’ve been mapped for miniaturization, how accurate an assesment is this of your final balding
pattern?

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I think I understand your question. You want to know if the mapping of your scalp for miniaturization will indicate your eventual hair loss pattern? The mapping of miniaturization will show you more about your balding pattern than you can see with your naked eye. Most likely, you would progress to a higher Norwood classification if there is miniaturization in the areas which appear hairy and the more miniaturization present, the more likely your balding will extend to those areas. You may not completely bald in the areas where miniaturization is present and if you took drugs, that may be more likely then if you let nature take it course. If you did nothing to arrest the process of MPB, the likelihood that you will see a more advanced pattern is high. But if you use medications like Propecia, you will be slowing down the process. If you’re looking for a numerical value to show the accuracy of a hair loss pattern, I unfortunately don’t have one for you.

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Can Minoxidil Be Taken Internally? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dear Dr. Rassman and Medical Staff

I had used minoxidil 5% for 2 years without good result So I switched to Provillus a month ago. Can minoxidil be taken internally? Most of them are sold as topical product. Would Scalpmed work for me? Thank you

Minoxidil was originally an oral preparation for the treatment of high blood pressure. It was unreliable for its intended use, but the observation that some women grew facial hair while taking this caught the attention of the drug company. Good drugs are often discovered this way and through serendipity, the observations are made and new applications evolve. The oral form of the drug is not available nor is it approved by the FDA today.

Provillus and ScalpMed apparently use minoxidil as their active ingredient, and both products have been discussed on this site before.

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Will There Be A Better Medication for Regrowth by 2010? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi Dr. Rassman i recently wrote you about the 19 year old who thought he was a good canidate for a hair transplant. It’s not that I am going to plunge into it i was just wanting more advice. Furthermore i know you have probably had to answer this a million times and your sick of it but like do you think by 2010 that there will be atleast a better medication for regrowth? I honestly can’t go through my life being bald its affecting me so much man. all my confidence is gone. if you could , could you just respond to me in email ? im honestly so bummed out about this ordeal ive went from being so happy to depressed.

I don’t know what advice I can give. I don’t see the average 19 year old as a hair transplant candidate. If the hair loss has advanced to a place where it is stable and further loss isn’t likely to occur, a hair transplant may be a viable option, but without an exam I couldn’t begin to make that determination. Please note that very few 19 year olds would fall into this category.

There is a medication that is in FDA trials for treating hair loss, dutasteride (Avodart), and it has been shown to work better than Propecia (finasteride) in some cases at high doses, but with that comes much greater risk of sexual side effects and possible permanent sterility. It is still in the testing phase, however. You can learn more about dutasteride here — Update on Dutasteride. Note that there is no cure for hair loss.

I understand your confidence issues, and suggest that you may want to seek some help for any depression you may be experiencing.

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I Quit Smoking Pot and Now I See Rapid Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Just recently I have noticed a rapid increase of thinning on the front of my scalp. I have recently quit using marijuana on a regular basis, could this be the reason for my sudden intense loss?

I am 20 year old, I have been noticing a receding hair line since my late teens. Thank you.

Hair loss is complex. I wish I could just say that this is or is not the cause, but it isn’t that simple. Genetic hair loss has its own cycles and stress can precipitate it. If you found great stress from going off the pot, perhaps the stress induced genetic hair loss. I suggest that you get yourself examined by a competent doctor who can do miniaturization mapping on your scalp. From that, you should have an idea why you have hair loss.