Category: Other

Hi Dr. Rassman,

While this study is from 2003, I never saw it on your blog, and thought the readers (and you, if you have not seen it already) might be interested:

Chemical in Broccoli Blocks Growth of Prostate Cancer Cells, New Study Shows

Apparently, Broccoli contains a substance which this UC Berkeley study showed “acts as a powerful anti-androgen” and “inhibits the actions of dihydrotestosterone (DHT).” Based on your reading of the study, do you think consuming Broccoli may help prevent/slow hair loss?

Thanks for the great blog!

Just another benefit from eating broccoli. Not only does it have high amounts of vitamin A, C, and K, according to this review, it may also help in preventing prostate cancer. You may be able to reason that since it blocks the effects of DHT on the prostate, then it can also prevent/slow hair loss.

However, based on the article, and without rigorous research, the conclusion that broccoli can prevent or slow hair loss is yet to be determined.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

I had a Hair trasplant procedure 5 months ago and i recieved a email from the clinic which read;

By now you should be starting to see some of the results from your procedure with us. Please forward pictures for your file, and any questions you might have. What type of hair products are you currently using? Don’t forget our referral program, we will pay you £500 for every patient you refer that has a procedure with us.

My question is, is it normal for a clinic to pay a client money if they refer a patient to there clinic for a procdure.

This may be different depending upon the country, but to my knowledge it is illegal in all of the United States. Despite this, the practice is unfortunately common not only for patient referrals, but for hair dresser and other stylist referrals, though if a doctor is caught, he/she could lose their license to practice medicine.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

Just wondering if you could speak about the HairDX test and whether it is useful to use for men who want to know how severe their future hairloss will be.

My knowledge of HairDX is limited to what I can find on the Internet (not much outside of their official website and official press releases). Assuming HairDX works and does give you an accurate genetic testing profile, why would you want to spend $149 when you can get a free consultation with a doctor? I guess some people just don’t want to meet with a doctor at any cost. Furthermore, I personally base my medical and surgical recommendations on a physical examination, history, and a miniaturization study. I would have a hard time recommending surgery or medication (Propecia) for men who show no signs of balding, but do have a positive genetic test.

It is nevertheless an interesting test from a marketing and consumer perspective and as more genes are identified that contribute to the hair loss process (MPB), then this approach may help us find better treatments and possible cures for genetic hair loss.

Just published last week, there is a great article on another piece of insight into the stem cell research, perhaps eventually leading to cures for a variety of diseases. Hair stem cells have formed the backbone of this research. Although hair loss is not a disease, it still may have a role in dealing with the balding phenomenon.

From the University of Southern California summary article:

“Our research shows that the formation of new tissues or organs from stem cells—such as the formation of new hairs—can be more robust if it occurs in a permissive macro-environment,” said Maksim Plikus, a post-doctoral fellow and the first author of the study. “I hope that our research will draw more attention to the hair follicle as the model for physiological regeneration in mammals, and as an abundant source of adult stem cells for the purposes of stem cell therapy.”

For the summary and complete articles, please see:

• Summary at USC — USC study in Nature sheds light on stem cell signaling
• Complete article at Nature science journal — Cyclic dermal BMP signalling regulates stem cell activation during hair regeneration

I have a question regarding the Norwood scale. The Norwood 2 scale shows the temporal hairline just slightly past the front edge of the side burn. With no frontal loss of hair on the crown or widows peak. The Norwood 3 shows the temporal area receeded far past the front edge of the side burn and almost to the ears.

My question is that if the widows, or crows peak area has not receeded or thinned along the front edge, and if the temporal area is not further back or just slightly past the front edge of the sideburn, would this always indicate a 2?

Because my hair shows the above listed signs of a Norwood 2, but when I part my hair you can see the curve of my head, and it seems like it’s worse then a 2, but the front edge hasn’t receeded or thinned like the Norwood 3. Am I just one of those guys with a Norwood 2 that the crows peak just looks lanoger then in the scale? My hairline is very much like that of the actor, Jude Law.

The most widely used classification scale for hair loss is a generalization based on what Dr. O’Tar Norwood observed in men. It was originally created by Dr. James Hamilton in the 1950s and then revised and published by Dr. Norwood in 1975. There are many variables to the Norwood classifications and other variants of the male hair loss pattern. You may not fit in to the Norwood 2 or 3… and that is perfectly normal. The Norwood scale can be found below:

Hello Doctor.
I notice that a lot of questions here start with “hey Doc,” or “Wassup Doc,” or something similar.

Does this bother you at all? I’m sure if I had spent years in education and training to get my M.D. and everyone kept referring to me as “Doc” rather than “Doctor”, i’d be slightly annoyed but maybe that’s because my ego is larger than yours. It seems only polite to refer to a professional such as yourself by your proper title, or at least, Mr. Rassman.

I also notice your hairline seems quite healthy. If you don’t mind me asking, are you on medications yourself or are you simply one of the lucky healthy-haired males?

I really don’t have a doctor complex and many people get familiar with me and I don’t mind. As long as they aren’t calling me something vulgar…

My frontal hairline is natural, but the crown of my head is transplanted.

This sounds like an urban legend. Thoughts?

“Scientists at the University of Sydney have discovered that giraffe shit will decrease hair loss and at the same time increase existing hair on balding men. The study was carried out over a two year period with 50 balding men. Group A, the control group consisting of 25 men, were given falafel to apply on their head and group B…”

Ha! If you want to rub animal droppings on your scalp, that is entirely up to you, but if you’re trying to stop your hair loss with these droppings, you’re going to wind up pretty disappointed (and smelly).

There is nothing published from the University of Sydney, and the only reference I can find about this oh-so-scientific study is the source article. I can say with certainty that it’s just a joke. If you prefer, you can even call it a hoax, a satire, or even a fake. Plus, if you stop and consider that the source is a website called Turd On A Stick and the article was written by “Bill O’Turdly”…

The full article can be found at TurdOnAStick.com

I have a very nice beard, But my cliff lip scar has very fine hair that is not long or same color as the rest of my beard. can I see if Rogane is alright to use there? Can I Get some help?

I would think that it is alright to use Rogaine on your facial hair, however, I do not think it would do much to change the color. There are many products to change the hair color with a brush. Go to your local pharmacy and ask for them.

Hi there Baldingblog team! First and foremost Id Like to thank you for your outstanding site. Losing your hair causes such panic and as the internet is where most of us look for help,Sifting through all the rubbish takes time,and is frustrating, type “hair loss” in google and reams of pages trying to take your money will come up, claiming cures, 98% success etc. People in this world really do pray on the weak! I have found this site an amazing source, and think i’ve now educated myself pretty well! I have been coming here for almost a year and this is one of my first posts.

The reason why i’m writing is because I noticed a lot of negativity and criticism coming from obviously frustrated balders,this is also because I dont think many people with propecia success stories/great hair transplants come here to post. only paranoid,frustrated, critical people who are looking for someone to just tell them it will all be fine…. the fact is guys, there isn’t a cure…yet. But there are things you can do,educate yourself…and just have the guts to try the treatments available. there is no harm in that.they wont be instant at working, and they might not even work at all for some, but dont be that much of a skeptic that you wont even try. just be patient.

I personally was losing my mind over my stupid hair… got propecia a few months ago (3) and my hairloss has stopped, and I can even see a few little baby hairs, getting a bit more coverage! Alas I havent covered my bald spot completely in a week as many of us would like! but thats just not where todays science is at. Id also just like to encourage readers with success stories to post, because the scale at the moment is just too unbalanced. anyway take care!

I agree. It certainly seems like I post a lot of emails from people with negative responses from Propecia (or those that believe they’re having negative responses), but that is not a good sample of people, statistically speaking. I also post messages from those that are seeing results, but it may seem that the bad far outweighs the good. As I’ve pointed out before, I think more people are just ready to make their complaints known than those that just silently enjoy the benefits of the medication. So to all readers of this blog — if you have a success story you’d like to share about your hair loss treatment, please send it in!