Hair Loss Causes – Page 271

December 4, 2006

Hair Loss InformationAlopecia Areata Gene? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr you responded to one of my questions suggesting that I get tested for the alopecia areata gene…i contacted the naaf & the person i spoke with said she is not aware if testing for the gene is possible, can you tell me if you know otherwise and where i can get this testing done?

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Angela Christiano, a researcher at Columbia University, studied alopecia areata and alopecia totalis in populations of families. She found genetic evidence that made people prone to this disease. I found this article in the Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology, Alopecia areata: current state of knowledge, which could be another starting point for your research. Here is an abstract of the article:

Blaumeiser B – J Am Acad Dermatol – 01-APR-2006; 54(4): 627-32, From NIH/NLM MEDLINE, NLM Citation ID: 16546583 (PubMed) Full Source Title: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology Department of Medical Genetics, University Hospital of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. bettina.blaumeiser@ua.ac.be Authors: Blaumeiser B; van der Goot I; Fimmers R; Hanneken S; Ritzmann S; Seymons K; Betz RC; Ruzicka T; Wienker TF; De Weert J; Lambert J; Kruse R; NÃ¶then MM

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Familial aggregation of alopecia areata (AA) has been previously described, but systematic studies with information obtained directly from family members have yet to be undertaken. OBJECTIVE: We sought to study the pattern of familial aggregation of AA by assessing the affection status of patients’ relatives. The study included 206 index patients with a total of 1029 first-degree and 2625 second-degree relatives. METHODS: First-degree relatives were directly interviewed, whereas information on second-degree relatives was obtained by interviewing the index patients and their first-degree relatives. RESULTS: Estimated lifetime risks were 7.1% in siblings, 7.8% in parents, and 5.7% in offspring. The risk in second-degree relatives was slightly higher than the reported population risk. Age at onset in index patients and first-degree relatives was significantly correlated. LIMITATIONS: Using patients drawn from specialized hair clinics may have produced results showing a higher proportion of early onset and severe cases. CONCLUSION: The familial aggregation of AA supports the role of genetic factors in the development of the disease. In addition, our data indicate genetic factors might contribute to the age at onset of AA.

For a Complete Review, you might locate the following article: Alopecia areata: current state of knowledge. Norris D – J Am Acad Dermatol – 01-JUL-2004; 51(1 Suppl): S16-7 From NIH/NLM MEDLINE Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO 80262, USA.

December 4, 2006

Can Toppik Cause Hair Loss if Left In Overnight? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I have read through yours blogs and did get some great insight but im still not understanding one thing. I just bought Toppik to help with my thin hair but i left it in over night and when i washed it out, i found that i had alot of hair loss in the area it was in. Can Toppik cause this? I had a transplant already and it didnt work at all since the are that was treated is the area that the hair is still falling out from. So thts wht i tried the Toppik product but if it causes hair loss or more hair loss i will stop. Please help as i do enjoy the fullness it gives. Thank you.

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I have not heard from anyone that Toppik has caused hair loss. You might want to try DermMatch if you do think Toppik isn’t working for you.

December 4, 2006

African Scalp Pigment Different in Balding Area – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

1) Is there a point of no return that it’s pointless to attempt to regrow hair, like an age or length of baldness?

2) I have accepted my baldness, but NOT the two-tone scalp that comes with it, even with close against the grain shaving, the scalp pigment/melanin makes my hair loss obvious. I’m light-skinned black and would prefer that the side and back lighten to the rest of skintone rather than darken entire body to remedy this. Cost effective solution?

To answer your first question, the skin from under the scalp (the skin that is balding now) was protected from sun exposure (the sun adds color to the skin by increasing pigmentation). The lighter color you are seeing resulted from the protection of the hair cover that is now disappearing. When the hair is disappearing, the skin also changes. It becomes progressively thinner and as the fine hair get finer, the lighter appearing skin shows up more. The skin also loses its support infrastructure made up by many of the blood vessels that were there to support the hair follicles that were growing. At this point, only a hair transplants can bring back the hair. The vascular infrastructure that comes from stem cells and fat located in the transplanted hair, will also return more of the supporting infrastructure that supports a hair transplant.

Obviously the less contrast between the hair and skin the better the less noticeable will be the lighter skin. You can do two things to improve this contrast. You can either increase the darkness of the scalp using topical cosmetics like DermMatch (this requires some hair to be present or it acts like a can of spray paint) or have a tattoo (I do not recommend a tattoo), or you can dye whatever hair you still have left (add bits of white color to it) or even cut it very short (afro style). I can give you a referral to a doctor in Los Angeles who can help if you want pigment cell transplants instead of hair transplants.

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December 4, 2006

Is Facial Hair Growth Related to DHT? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I always had little facial and body hair until I was about 20. Now my facial hair grows faster and thicker. Coincidently my hairloss is much worse then before and itches a lot more. Is facial hair growth related to DHT fluctuations do you think?

I believe that DHT is one of the hormones that stimulate our male sex characteristics, like voice change, beard and chest hair, and hair loss in the unfortunate men who have the ‘genetic hair loss’ curse. I have seen in very rare cases some patients that have disappearance or decrease of body hair with Propecia use.

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December 1, 2006

Worth Taking Finasteride for Temple Hair Loss? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I’m a 23 year old male and starting to recede at the temples, and I was wondering if it would be worth it to consider taking finasteride. My hair does not appear to be thinning anywhere else.

Also, my hair loss began when I began taking wellbutrin and adderall. Can these drugs jump-start the hair loss process? Or was this merely a coincidence?

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Norwood 3 Drugs like wellbutrin and adderall can jump start the hair loss process. Finasteride can address any form of hair loss in men that have miniaturization. You need to have your scalp mapped out for miniaturization to be sure that there is no genetic patterned hair loss as you are suggesting. Many people will not see their miniaturization with the naked eye, but the high powered microscopic mapping will show it if it is there. When some people talk about their temples, they mean the corner hairline and that can be seen with the Class 3 Norwood patterns. The side temple fringe extending forward from the ear can have a unique form of genetic hair loss called triangular alopecia. I would need to examine you for this condition, but it is unclear what you are referring to. You can you send me pictures here (please reference this blog posting).

December 1, 2006

I Want to Get Unstressed to Stop the Stress Hair Loss! – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi,
Recently (past year) I have noticed that my hair is thinning all over the top of my head, even on the sdies too (less noticable, because of angle to lights). I have been rather stressed recently (working long hours at wierd times), and have also had a knee reconstruction. The hair that remains on the top my head is still fairly dense, and shows no sign of miniturization (colour loss or weakness). Assuming my hair is falling out due to stress, how long do I have to become unstressed before this hair is permanently lost?

If I am going bald, assuming I have 90cm square of bald patch, how many grafts will i need to get to totally cover my scalp when i want my hair about 1-2cms long (dry).?

Also, what would be the theoretical maximum amount of grafts i could put per centimetre of scalp?

If you are a woman and stress is the cause of the hair loss, it may reverse after the hair has gone through a telogen cycle (6-8 months). The surgery you had certainly adds stress. If you are a man, you should not be experiencing hair loss around the back and sides unless you have some disease going on like Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia (DUPA).

With regard to estimating the need for grafts, all I can say is that the ‘art’ is not mathematical. But if you want numbers, the normal hair density is 1250 hairs per square inch. Generally (depending upon your hair color, characteristics and thickness of the hair shaft) you need less than half of that number to get back a normal ‘appearing’ density (625 hairs per square inch or about 300 follicular units per square inch assuming that your density is normal). People with low contrast hair to skin color (blonde on blonde) get away with less hair to ‘look’ normal, but people with high contrast hair to skin color (black hair on white skin) need to get closer to half of the original density. The maximum number of grafts into an area of the scalp in a single session, could run as high as half of the original density and some doctors claim that they do this, but that is rarely practical or needed in most people and all of the grafts packed together like that rarely grow.

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December 1, 2006

18 Year Old Stressing Out About Not Losing Hair Yet – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello,

I am 18 years old. Ever since I was little I’ve had the widows peak shaped forehead. My dad has the same forehead, except I have cowlicks and he doesnt, but he is 49 and isnt going bald. I don’t think my hair has really gone back much ever and my hairline is maybe half an inch from my highest rinkle in the center. Should I be worried about going bald? I’ve been stressing out over it ever since a comment my uncle on my moms side of the family made about how I was going to go bald because he is. But I dont think he developed a widows peak until he was in his late 20’s and then his hairline recided in his 30’s, he also has a different father than my mom. His father and sons are all bald. Thanks for any info/ tips.

Sounds like your uncle is the problem, not your genetics. You could, of course, wind up with your uncle’s hair loss, but then again, you could end up with your father’s full head of hair with the cowlicks. If you are really worried, get your hair mapped out for miniaturization yearly. Any signs of balding in their earliest phase will be picked up easily, well before it becomes a problem. If it is caught early, you’ll want a Master Plan which probably will include finasteride (Propecia).

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November 30, 2006

Hair Loss InformationI Am Pulling My Hair Out and Need Advice – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am just 15 and i am male. About 3 years ago i got nits and bought some conditioner for it. My scalp reacted with it and i got dandruff. My peers teased me about my dandruff and i started frantically rubbing my hair to get rid of it. When i was 14 it turned into pulling hair from the very centre of my scalp. i didnt want to pull my hair and get bald but i had an urge and got satisfaction out of pulling. i have now got a small circle of baldness on my scalp and have managed to stop pulling from there but now im pulling from the back of my neck and behind my ears and it is thinning out there. I require help and advice and want to know:if i leave it will it grow back to normal?

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This condition is called trichotillomania, which is an impulse disorder characterized by the urge of pulling out hair from scalp, eyelashes, eyebrows, beard, nose, pubic area, or any other area in the body. It is most often related to obsessive-compulsive disorders. Surgical treatments for hair restoration are usually not indicated, and the best treatment would be through psychotherapy and behavioral treatment. You should be seen and treated by a psychiatrist. If you can stop pulling hair, it will usually grow back in a few months with no further treatments, but if you have stopped pulling out your hair and the hair does not return, then transplants are a relatively fool proof way of handing it provided that you do not go back to pucking out the hair again and again.

Dr. Richard Shiell wrote the following about this disease: “By far the most common of patients with this disease are children of both sexes and as trichotillomania is an OCD, where stress seems to play a role, most of the kids just “grow out of it” with no lasting problems. Success rate very high (probably over 90 %)

Some do not grow out of it however and a small percentage of the females go on to be chronic pluckers. They associate the plucking with episodes of stress but I do not know if this has been verified scientifically. Most of the cases I see fall into this category and have plucked each hair so many times that the follicles in the patch cease to grow somewhere along the line. In other cases, not so long standing, the hair is short , vellus-like and snowy white in the plucked area. It is this group of women who acknowledge the plucking (past or present) and who are seeking help that you will have some success after transplantation. I cannot give you a figure for success as I have lost contact with all of these patients over the years. Psychologists tell me that medication will assist those members of this group who find it difficult to refrain from plucking.”

November 30, 2006

Hair Loss InformationIron Deficiency, Birth Control, Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Is it true that iron deficiency in women can cause hair loss that may appear to be AGA? If so, does supplementation actually help?

Also, do you know if oral birth control pills (Ortho-tricycline lo) can cause progressive hair loss while on them. I am not refering to hair loss after discontinuing but progressive loss over time.

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Iron deficiency with or without anemia has been reported as a cause of hair loss. Hair loss seen in iron deficient patients is typically more diffuse. In patients who are prone to male pattern baldness, iron deficiency can speed up the hair loss process.

Birth control pills or medications that manipulate the estrogen balance can cause hair loss as well. Although any medication containing estrogen may cause hair loss, the opposite also occurs and in some situations estrogen may be protective. Excessive hair loss (telogen effluvium) could be often seen in withdrawal from estrogen, or in postpartum phase and can last about a year after the baby is born.

November 30, 2006

Eyebrow Conditioner Caused My Eyebrows to Fall Out – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi, I’m 22/M and have had thinning eyebrows for the past 6 months. I used a product called Brow Boost “conditioner” from Billiondollarbrows.com that was suppose to thicken eyebrows and promote new growth. After using the product for a week I was seeing new hairs growing in and old hairs getting thicker. Then on day 8 my eyebrows started to fall out. I discontinued use of the product 3 days ago and I’m still loosing eyebrow hair and eyelashes as well. The manufacturer gave me no help they could only say that “its extremely rare to loose your eyebrows using our product”. Can you please give me some advice, short term and long term? How long am I going to keep loosing my eyebrows for?

Conditioners usually have one or some of the following ingredients: moisturizers, reconstructors, acidifiers, thermal protectors, glossers and/or oils. Some of these will add small molecules to the hair shafts. I don’t know what the contents of the conditioner you used on your eyebrows are, but they shouldn’t cause any permanent damage to hair. It is difficult to say whether you are losing hair due to this new conditioner or this is only prolongation of your baseline loss. If any doubt, stop the product and hopefully your eyebrows will grow back in a few months. A series of autoimmune and genetic causes may be responsible for loss of eyebrows. If your eyebrow doesn’t grow back in 8-12 months, you can consult a hair transplant surgeon. Hair transplantation works nicely on eyebrows, but it has the disadvantage of growing longer than the normal eyebrow hair (since it is moved from the back of the scalp) and the hair must be cut every few days.

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