Category: Other

Snippet from the article:

A lock of hair cut from Napoleon Bonaparte’s head after he died has sold for US$13,000 at an auction in New Zealand.

Extra phone lines were installed for the sale to cope with an expected rush of international buyers seeking to snip up the hair cut from the head of former French Emperor a day after his death in 1821 while he was in exile on the island of St. Helena.

The circle of hair was part of a collection brought to New Zealand in 1864 by Denzil Ibbetson, a British commissary officer and artist.

Read the full article at Reuters — Lock of Napoleon’s hair sells for $13,000

I don’t remember a lock of hair being sold for so much before, but I guess this proves that there’s a market for everything.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

Hi doctor, I was involved in a car accident four years ago where amongst much more serious injuries I lost a section of hair at the back of my head approximately one inch long and half an inch wide. Because of this I had to visit a hair loss specialist local to me who is an expert in trichology, she thinks it is alopecia but this hasn’t got any worse over the four years post accident.

Any way my actual reason for messaging you is that I asked her if I was suffering from any kind of male pattern baldness and after being examined she said that I am not balding nor displaying any type of MPB at present but it in all probability it is extremely likely that I will later in life which concerns me. I am 25 years old, my father has a full head of hair at 55, his father died at 89 with a full head of hair and my father has 6 brothers with full heads of hair. My mothers father died at 40 with a full head of hair. My mothers brother is 55 with a full head of hair. The only bald male in my family tree to my knowledge is my mothers uncle.

If I have a full head of hair now at 25 with minimal balding family history how could she say that in all probability I will go bald later in life? I have always had very fine hair and quite a high hairline but this has been the case since I was a very young child. Please reply!

Regards

Maybe your trichologist has a side job of being a fortune teller. Ask her to pick the winning lottery numbers for you!

If you have hair loss from a serious injury following a car accident, this is obviously not genetic pattern baldness, particularly in the area you describe. Simply looking at family balding history isn’t a way to guarantee whether you’ll keep or lose your hair (it can skip generations)… but even if it was, it would look favorably to you since hair loss isn’t common in your lineage.

I have no idea how your trichologist came to that conclusion, but I’d probably meet with an actual doctor if you’re worried about this. Most trichologists are not physicians.

In non-hair-loss news:

Dr Annelieke M Roest (Tilburg University, the Netherlands) and colleagues performed the first-ever meta-analysis on the association of anxiety with the incidence of CHD in initially healthy people, using data from the US, Europe, and Asia. Even after multivariate adjustment, anxious people had around a 25% greater risk of CHD and an almost 50% higher risk of cardiac death over a mean follow-up period of 11.2 years.

In the second study, almost 50 000 Swedish men who were medically examined for military service and followed for an average of 37 years were assessed by Dr Imre Janszky (Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden) and coworkers. Depression was not a predictor for subsequent coronary disease, but those with anxiety disorders—as diagnosed by a psychiatrist—were twice as likely to suffer CHD or acute MI, even after adjustment for baseline confounders.

Read the full article — Anxiety predicts heart disease years later

The meta-analysis combined the results of 20 different studies with nearly a quarter of a million people (it mentions that in the article, but I wanted to highlight it here). It remains to be seen if treating anxiety will also treat heart disease, but I’m sure studies about that will be taking place soon enough.

Hi, the mechanism of medications such as Finasteride in stopping hair loss is well known; that of inhibition of the 5-alpha reductase enzyme; which in turn means that far less free testoserone is converted into DHT.

I was therefore wondering, if a complete change in diet to foods that lower DHT would theoretically have a similar effect? The end result would after all be the same; less DHT in the body to bind with the hair follicles. What food should be included into such a diet; just ones that have a direct effect on DHT? What about foods that relate to lowering or raising testosterone levels? How do testosterone levels relate to free testosterone levels? What about foods that increase production of Estrogen? Would that mean that there would be less free testosterone for the body to convert to DHT?

I do not know of a diet that would lower DHT. I’ve read many theories and ideas about stopping hair loss just by changing your diet, but I’ve yet to see or read about anything that truly works. If it was as simple as eating more broccoli or root vegetables (as some theories suggest), there would be far less balding people in the world.

I like your creative reasoning, but keep in mind that ultimately it is your genes that cause hair loss… not DHT, testosterone, estrogen, etc. Lowering DHT will slow things down, but it does not completely stop hair loss.

Snippet from the article:

The rule imposed by the southern Chinese city of Xiamen barred bald people from applying for one-year multiple-entry permits, the type usually used by frequent business travellers.

Chinese authorities imposed the ban over fears that “it was easier for bald people to disguise themselves”, according to a report in the Taipei-based Liberty Times, which cited unnamed travel agents.

But earlier this year, the city cancelled the ban.

Full story at Telegraph UK — China cancels visa restriction on bald Taiwanese visitors

Hilariously ridiculous, discriminatory, and controversial!

Dear Doctor,
If they do infact find a cure for baldness, would’nt you and your fellow comrades be out of work?

thanks

That same logic could apply to anyone that specializes in something. Like, what would a cancer treatment specialist do once cancer is cured? What will tire companies do once the flying cars are developed? I mean, there’s just so many possible outcomes that it’s not worth getting into in an in-depth way… but if there was a cure for hair loss developed, who do you think would be prescribing/administering it?

Are you assuming a cure for hair loss would have to mean regrowth of all hair and not just cessation of future loss? Suppose the “cure” just makes it so future generations don’t lose hair, but those with hair loss still need options. To answer your question, the good doctors will likely be able to adapt their businesses, but we’re still a long way off from the elusive hair loss cure.

We’re off today to pay respect to the men and women who gave their lives for their country… also known as the unofficial start of summer, Memorial Day. We’ll be back tomorrow!