Category: Other

I’ve read in a hairloss forum that Nikola Tesla castrated himself so he doesn’t get distracted from his research. Maybe that’s the reason he didn’t go bald. I’m amazed from what you can read today in the internet.

If one is castrated, they will stop their balding process where it was at the time of castration. Taking testosterone can reverse that, producing balding in men with the genetic traits for hair loss (even without testicles).

If Nikola Tesla was castrated (I am not sure about that), then he will not be balding… as shown in these photos at Neatorama. The man was a genius, but he looked like hell with considerable weight loss as he aged (as seen here). He did seem to maintain his hair pattern, even with the weight loss.

After hairs go into the telogen phase and sheds 3 months later,does new hair start growing straight away or is there a delay between it falling out and a new hair taking it’s place?

It varies with each individual and possibly with each follicular unit. It may also be seasonal (something that we are now observing, contrary to what I previous stated -my apologies).

We really know very little about this area, and some of the comments by doctors that have been in the hair restoration business for years show that they are convinced there is a seasonal component found in hair cycling, like most hairy animals.

What’s going on with Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal’s hair?

It looked like a normal mature hairline all the way in to his late 30s. He is now 40 years old and while he doesn’t appear to frontal or vortex hair loss, the part on the right side of his head is getting pretty wide.

Photo

Maybe he was having a bad hair day. It could be that he is has a Norwood 3 hair loss pattern with a persistent forelock going on. There is nothing wrong or right about it.

Hey Doc,

Hope you’ve had a good new year! After my last question to you, I was pretty convinced I had nothing to worry about with my hair… however, there’s this part that concerns me.

I’ve been told that this is a natural parting, so I would just like confirmation that it is?
Link: Photo 1

This is my hair wet, which doesn’t show this ‘parting’ or whatever.
Link: Photo 2

When my hair is dry you can see a slight parting towards the top of my hair, in front of my crown.
Link: Photo 3

Does that look like a parting to you? Feel free to post any pictures again, if this question does get published.

Thanks.

I appreciate you allowing us to publish the photos.

If you are worried about hair loss (possibly seen in the first picture with your hair standing up), then you should come and see a doctor who can measure your hair bulk to determine if you are losing your hair. I can’t confirm if it’s just the way your hair parts, but I do notice a well combed hairstyle that does much to cover the suggestion of thinning in at least one of the pictures.

Snippet from the article:

Trust your doctor? A survey finds that some doctors aren’t always completely honest with their patients.

More than half admitted describing someone’s prognosis in a way they knew was too rosy. Nearly 20 percent said they hadn’t fully disclosed a medical mistake for fear of being sued. And 1 in 10 of those surveyed said they’d told a patient something that wasn’t true in the past year.

The survey, by Massachusetts researchers and published in this month’s Health Affairs, doesn’t explain why, or what wasn’t true.

Read the rest — Study finds MDs not always honest with patients

The results are based on a survey of over 1800 doctors across the US from 2009, “to see if they agree with and follow certain standards medical professionalism issued in 2002″. In another study, doctors suggested that they color the truth with presenting issues on the seriousness of illnesses more positive than it is.

In a recent symposium I (Rassman) attended, the doctors in the audience were asked how many of them would not discuss dying with their patients. More than half raised their hands. When probed why, the doctors cited issues like (a) the time it takes to manage a dying patient is significantly more than they can allot, and (b) they are uncomfortable in dealing with death and dying.

Dr Pak/ Dr Rassman,

I asked you about your baldness calculator over a year ago in this post. That post referenced the original post from 2007.

Any further progress on that baldness calculator? Sorry if I am persistent but you Doctors seem to be the only ones out there challenging the status quo and giving us new options for hair loss. One can’t help but be a little curious.

By the way, have a great New Year!

The US Patent was just awarded (but not published by the USPTO yet) a couple of months ago. Now Dr. Pak and I have the challenge to think through the design and engineering issues, which is not an easy process.

Don’t hold your breath for us to complete this process quickly, as it isn’t a high priority right now. But I do appreciate your continued interest!

Snippet from the article:

Men with erectile dysfunction (ED) have a nearly 3-fold greater risk for also having open-angle glaucoma (OAG) than men with normal erectile function, report researchers from Taiwan in an article published in the January issue of Ophthalmology.

A case–control study matching 4605 men with ED with 5 control patients each showed that after controlling for potential confounding factors, men with ED had an odds ratio (OR) for a prior diagnosis of OAG of 2.85 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.10 – 4.07), write Shiu-Dong Chung, MD, from the Division of Urology at the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, and colleagues.

“Our findings suggest that prospective studies should be undertaken to develop the appropriate clinical guidelines for evaluating concurrent or subsequent ED in OAG patients,” they write.

Read the rest at Medscape — Do Glaucoma, Erectile Dysfunction Have a Common Cause?

This isn’t hair loss related, but I’m sure there is a percentage of this site’s readers that are interested in ED-related studies.

I received a thank you card from a patient that I wanted to share. This is what was written on it:

“You truly deserve a bigger thank you than this card for what you did. I will forever remember what you did. Thanks for my new hair. May this new year of 2012, bring good health and love to you and your family.”

On the same card his sister wrote: “Thank you so much for my brothers new hair! It’s truly awesome.”

Each time I receive such cards, emails, or letters, I get emotional because I know each patient personally. The relationship I develop with every patient is what makes this profession great.

All of my patients have my home and cell phone numbers and are told to call me anytime of the day or night if they are worried. The other night, a patient called me at 10pm with some bleeding that he said would not stop, so he and I met at 11pm at my office. I put him in the hair wash room and washed off all traces of blood and then took him to the operating room (I did not call my staff in) where I examined the patient. All signs of bleeding had stopped. He apologized for bothering me and I told him that this was my job and no apology was necessary, so instead of working on his ‘bleeder’ which had gone away without any help from me, we just talked and joked over many things that we had in common. We both enjoyed our time together and left the office around midnight.

Is it possible to permanently damage the Sebaceous gland to where it is not secreting any sebum? Two yrs ago i used a re moist intensive hair treatment and left it in my hair for several hours and every since then my hair has been brittle and dry.

I know that sounds crazy but my hair just hasn’t been the same. While i might be wrong about the product that i left in my hair causing my brittle, dry hair, one thing i do know is that (all of)the hair on my head is very unhealthy. Im debating to see a doctor about it but im afraid to waste my money to just be told to use a deep conditioner, which i have been.

Is there any thing that a doctor could do about very brittle, dry hair? Or is there any way to get the body to produce more sebum?

Maybe it is probable, but I do not really know. Some people just have dry and brittle hair, and it can change during one’s life. I do not know of any way to increase sebum production aside from perhaps washing it regularly.

Hello dr Rassman,

I think you are 68-69 years old.Does that mean that you are going to retire soon?If yes what will become of baldingblog?I hope you are going to be with us for another 5-10 years.

My grandparents lived well past their 90’s and longevity runs in the family… and since I love what I do, I suspect I will be doing this for a very long time. In fact, I am very involved with Dr. Pak in the engineering process of new hair transplant instruments and we will be testing a new FUE extractor and implanter in the next month!

Besides, even if I do eventually retire, I only need a computer and Internet for BaldingBlog, right? With respect to what you read on this site, Dr. Pak and I equally share contributing to the posts without the reader knowing who answered what. So even if I am gone for a long vacation, BaldingBlog will continue on. But in general, before any content is posted, both Dr Pak and I cross check and edit each other’s answers.

But just to make it clear, I am not planning on retiring yet.