Category: Other

Hi Doc!

Don’t you think male-pattern-baldness will be extinguished over time, without proper medication? I mean, the society we live in tend to get more shallow each year, and for that reason the percentage of women choosing balding men over non-balding men seems to decrease significantly. Since genes are playing a big part in determining one’s final balding pattern, I guess “bad genes” will be replaced with “good genes” over time if women are giving birth to children conceived mostly by non-balding men.

Assuming that you are right (women choose non-balding men), it would take many, many generations to wipe out the balding gene. I really don’t believe that women will choose only non-bald men anyway. We are, as a society, not so shallow!

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We’re doing an upgrade of the blogging software this morning, so there might be some intermittent problems. Things should be back to normal ASAP (if they leave the “normal” state at all)…

In the meantime, feel free to email us with any ideas for the site that you may have. This site would be nothing without the support of our readers, so I’d love your feedback. I’ve had a few readers ask for a full message board, for example. Do you want a full message board, where you can create your own topics and discuss them amongst yourselves? Let us know!

Update: Software upgrade complete. No major hiccups.

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Hi Dr. Rassman,
What is your take on using capsaicin for hairloss? It’s my belief that Zhang Guang 101, a Chinese “herbal” product that is popular overseas, contains only capsaicin as its active ingredient. Having used a few bottles myself, I’m fairly certain that this simple molecule found in chili peppers is responsible for any hair growth effects that the product claims. I’ve only been using it for a couple weeks, so I can’t give a definitive testimonial. There has been research done on the effect of capsaicin on hair growth. It supposedly promotes the release of IGF-1, which is crucial for hair growth. It also stimulates pain receptors and releases substance P. Can you take a look and tell me what you think? Thanks.

Administration of capsaicin and isoflavone promotes hair growth by increasing insulin-like growth factor-I production in mice and in humans with alopecia

From the article:
“These observations strongly suggested that combined administration of capsaicin and isoflavone might increase IGF-I production in hair follicles in the skin, thereby promoting hair growth.”

Capsaicin is found in chili peppers and even in pepper spray. I don’t have any experience with this, though I read the article and will wait to see if it may become a treatment modality. I’m not opposed to new treatments by any means, but I will need to see actual proof before I throw my support behind it. At any rate, I’d think it would cause incredible tingling in your scalp, just as eating a very spicy pepper can numb your lips.

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I was at the hair salon yesterday and overheard another customer telling his stylist to keep the top a little longer because he was starting to bald. The stylist told him “my father was losing his hair until he started eating rice every day and my mom massaged his scalp. Then his hair grew back and although he’s 72, he looks like he’s in his 50s”. Now I know enough to realize that this sounds like just a cheap way to get your wife to massage your scalp on a daily basis, but is there ANYTHING to the rice thing? In Asian countries, there is still hair loss and rice is a dietary staple, so I am guessing that right there dissolves the theory. I wanted your insight though. Thanks, doc!

Well, Asians do have less hair loss than Caucasians, but I don’t believe that anyone has connected it to rice. The dietary differences may play a role, but how? I don’t have the answer to that.

I used to massage the scalps of my children when they were younger. It was a bonding experience of sorts and I joked that my magical fingers surely kept them healthy! Maybe I should’ve added a bowl of rice at the same time as the massage so that my oldest son wouldn’t have lost his crown hair! While a scalp massage might feel nice, it won’t regrow lost hair.

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Hi Dr.

I am a male 37 years old and from middle eastern background. I have been suffering from pimples with white pus, mainly they appear on the back of my head or on the side, they come two to three in count in one time, then they go away and after 2 to 3 days other ones develop. I have been suffering from this for the past 1 year and 5 months. They are painfull when I squeeze them and let the puss out.

In my early years from 12 to 18 years old I suffered from acne especially in my face, it left some gentle scars but was a problem in my life back then.

I hope that you can help to diagnose my problem before going to a doctor for check up.

Thank you.

You should see a dermatologist. Unfortunately, I can not help you without examining your scalp. This could be recurrent folliculitis, but if it recurs and moves around, this is something you need a doctor for, because antibiotics may be needed.

Hey Doc, I’m an 18 year old who has always obsessed over my hairline because it’s been around a NW2 since i was born, one side worse than the other. I’m wondering about what treatments, or even the possibility of a “cure” (Let’s face it, it’s not polio), you predict will be practical and available in the next 10-20 years.

I can be optimistic at times, but I do not believe there will be a “CURE” for genetic hair loss in the next 10 to 20 years. There may be better drugs or discoveries to slow or partially reverse the balding process, however. There are some exciting things happening with hair cloning / multiplication, but their viability still remains to be seen. Time will tell.

And for the record, polio isn’t cured. There is a vaccine to prevent polio, and most countries have eradicated it completely. Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan still have a polio epidemic. I’m not about to write PolioBlog now, so I’ll leave the rest up to Wikipedia for all of your polio information.