Category: Other

Hello sir,
I have maybe a little weird problem related to my chest hair. Since age of 16 I have chest hair, but it never grew into a full profile. According to the type of growth, I should have my entire chest hairy , but left side is more hairy than right side. Hairs on left side are darker, longer and thicker as opposed to the right where they are rarer, shorter and lighter! I tried to shave chest, I used Kirkland’s Minoxidil (5%) for 3 month regularly and before I also tried Niveas formula for hair grow, some herbal teas and similar for hair grow stimulation.

After almost 6 years I’m getting out of ideas. I read forums and tried more vitamin E in diet, aloe vera and similar. But nothing seems to be helping in a concrete way. As a nurse myself I understand the genetic role in this and that’s why I said that I should be generally hairy by type, but one side is more developed than other.

One thing I did not try, but honestly after all this years I started to, is thinking about trying medicines like steroids and similar that should trigger phase of puberty in smaller measure, and just maybe restart grow. I am starting to feel a little uncomfortable at sea, or similar situations, and every summer I shave with an excuse for others. As much as that might sound crazy to you, it is really becoming a problem for me. As said, I’m missing any ideas with in limit of sense. I tried plenty of lotions, teas and similar stuff for hair stimulation and grow but with no success. Is the ”doping” really the only idea left? As one in medicine I know it is not the most smartest thing to do, risky. That’s why if I decide to, It would be smaller dosage through longer period, and that is why I’m contacting you … If you have any advice or suggestion I would appreciate it beyond measures…

Thank you in advance for you time and any advice you might have…

Our genetics control what is happening with respect to chest hair. I do not endorse illegal drugs and anabolic steroids, which have far greater side effects and health risks. Do not jeopardize your health to grow chest hair.

As a hair transplant surgeon, I have performed chest hair implants — but this is the extreme case. The smartest thing for you to do is perhaps see a medical doctor and not do anything illegal.

Snippet from the article:

Why do children resemble their parents? It’s a question that has intrigued people for millennia, and surprisingly, in spite of our cutting-edge biotechnology, scientists still don’t have an answer. But when they find one, it will have big implications for how we use genetics to personalize medicine and understand human behavior.

Today, we take it as given that children have inherited genes from their parents, but the idea that parents pass on genetic material was a late development in science. Until the 19th century, those who considered the issue generally figured that parents made their children by a process analogous to fermentation. In essence, family resemblance was the consequence of the unique brewing conditions created by each set of parents. René Descartes compared semen to the “scum formed on beer” that can be used to make the next batch. Families differed because some couples make ales, while others make lagers.

Read the rest — We still don’t know why we look like our parents

The article continues that, “Rather than simply knowing that there is a genetic basis for male-pattern baldness or cancer, we want to know the identities of the actual genes involved so that we can study their biological role and come up with ways to prevent, treat, and even cure what ails us.”

Snippet:

Q. My beautician told me to add 8 ounces of vodka to a whole can of cayenne pepper, let it sit overnight, strain and apply it to the top of my scalp with a cotton swab to counteract hair loss. Does this work, or will it cause more hair loss?

A. Our first impulse was to discredit such a remedy. We feared that the ingredient in hot peppers, capsaicin, might be too irritating.

To our surprise, however, we discovered an article in Current Medicinal Chemistry (No. 29, December 2008) reporting that capsaicin can stimulate growth factors in the hair follicles of mice and in human volunteers with hair loss.

Read the rest — Can cayenne pepper help reduce hair loss?

This was from a Q&A section that is syndicated to a bunch of different newspapers, but it’s not like they finally revealed the secrets we have held back from the public. The article they reference has no information about the human volunteers, nor does their response even mention the vodka that was part of the original question.

Cayenne and vodka will not regrow your hair, alone or combined.

Snippet from the article:

Six years from now, when my daughter turns 11, she will get a three-part human papillomavirus vaccine that will reduce her chances of getting cervical cancer by around 70 percent. Currently a little over half of American girls get the HPV vaccine, a public health intervention that will prevent tens of thousands of cancers. It’s one of modern medicine’s few success stories in finding a means of preventing cancer.

Maybe the reason we have so few cancer vaccines is that they’re harder to develop than treatments for patients who already have cancer, which are more common. But in an as yet unpublished study, economists Eric Budish and Heidi Williams teamed up with patent lawyer Ben Roin to argue that the scarcity of preventive measures and relative abundance of late stage cancer treatments can also be blamed on the distorting effects that the U.S. patent system has on medical research.

Read the rest — Why Aren’t There More Cancer Vaccines?

Taking the day off for Labor Day, so no new posts today (except this one).

Be back tomorrow!

Snippet from the article:

There’s trouble brewing over stem cells in Texas, and it raises a big question for the future of medicine. How should we regulate treatments that use cells taken from a patient’s own body?

If the cells are grown in culture, then the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) views them as “drugs”, which must undergo a lengthy approval process. That has enraged clients of a company in Houston called Celltex, who argue that the government has no business telling them what they can and can’t do with their own body parts.

Read the rest — Whose stem cells are they anyway?

It seems like nearly every day I am asked, “When will we have stem cells to grow our hair?” The author of the above editorial published in New Scientist earlier this month wonders about regulating our own cells. Unfortunately, the FDA says that if cells are grown in cultures, they will be treated as drugs which must undergo a lengthy approval process, possibly costing us far more in time and money than we can afford. This impacts cancer treatments as much as the search for the “hair holly grail” from which we can extract stem cells.

There are arguments raised that simple transplants are the practice of medicine and therefore not under FDA control. There seems to be some direction to this controversy. “Strict drug-style regulations” seem appropriate for extensively manipulated cells. What that means is still unclear, but the questions are the start of agreements on differentiating the practice of medicine from FDA safeguards for drugs.

So this is what I tell my patients — Any solution for hair regeneration will most likely go through some regulatory process which will slow down the availability of any “cure” coming out of stem cell research. Don’t hold your breath!

Is there any possibility for laser removal of a shoulder tattoo to have an impact on hair follicles? I had a transplant done and continued laser removal one month after it. I wanted to know if the laser might bounce somehow from the shoulder skin to the transplanted area or if there are some other ways that the laser might do harm to the transplanted follicles.

I’ve asked this question to four different tattoo removal experts and they all say no way in a million years could it have any impact. So i guess it only has effect on the skin where the tattoo is and don’t really go anywhere from that. When you have put over $15,000 into two surgeries you become pretty stressed about the outcome.

I am by no means an expert in laser tattoo removal, but I don’t see how a targeted laser to remove pigment on your shoulder could cause any impact to your scalp hair (transplanted or otherwise). I wouldn’t be concerned.

Snippet from the list:

10. If you find you’re losing some hair, here’s a quick and easy fix: Make some sage tea. Now mix it with an equal part whisky. Now take a sip, then add “a dash of quinine” to the cup and spray, paint or rinse over the scalp as often as needed, at least twice a day.

11. A slightly stronger anti-hairloss method (and one that’s “guaranteed” to produce results) is to rub a blend of almond oil, rosemary extract, wine, distilled water, and mercury bichloride into the scalp every morning until your hair grows back or unexplained death, whichever comes first.

Read the rest at Mental Floss — 19 Wildly Dangerous Home Remedies From 100 Years Ago

Death stops hair loss!

Check out the rest of the list for some crazy ways people treated ringworm (with gunpowder) and lice infestation (with mercury). Yikes!

Snippet from the article:

Meet Asha Mandela – whose amazing 55ft locks are longer than a bus. The 47-year-old already has a world record but wants to go even bigger – despite doctors warning it could paralyse her.

“My hair has become part of me. It is my life. I will never cut it,” said the mother-of-one, from Atlanta, Georgia. “Cutting it would be equivalent to suicide. It would be like being a zombie.”

Asha, who calls her dreadlocks “her baby”, credits them with helping her overcome cancer, two strokes and two heart-attacks. Her incredible hair has also brought her fans across the world and she has launched her own secret hair formula on the back of her success.

Read the rest — Incredible photos and video of world’s longest dreadlocks that are longer than a BUS

Her dreadlocks weigh in at around 39 lbs, causing a curvature to her spine. She began growing her hair long around 25 years ago. I wrote extensively about this super long Rapunzel-like hair before and it is worthy to review the subject of this article.

Snippet from the article:

A former Southern California cosmetic surgeon has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after allegedly giving a deadly cocktail of drugs during a liposuction procedure, authorities said.

Ehab Aly Mohamed, 46, was also charged with elder abuse in a separate incident involving a different patient. Mohamed is already jailed on previous burglary and forgery convictions, according to a Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office statement.

Mohamed pleaded not guilty Wednesday to all charges and denied any and all special circumstances, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 6.

Mohamed’s involuntary manslaughter stems from the Aug. 21, 2010 death of Sharon Carpenter. Carpenter, 61, died in Mohamed’s Encino office after a 10-hour liposuction procedure..

Read the rest — Former Encino Cosmetic Surgeon Charged in Patient’s Death

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