We’re taking a couple days off for the New Year celebration, but will be back on Wednesday, January 2nd with more hair loss questions and answers!
2007 was a very good year for BaldingBlog, as the site saw substantial growth in visitor traffic and number of questions answered. I’m pleased that I was able to help so many this year. I believe we published somewhere around 1700-1800 posts in the past 12 months! It’ll be hard to top 2007, but here’s to a great 2008!
I have a couple questions regarding meds as being direct causes of MBP among other things. Well, I have been on antidepressants for quite some time now, and for a while I stopped taking them, around the time inbetween the ages of 16 and 17. Around the time I was almost 17 and a half I got back on them and when I turned 18 is when I started noticing a change in my hairline.
Currently im 19 and a half and the left side of my hairline has gone up maybe a bit more than half an inch and the right side about an inch. Are antidepressants directly linked to MPB? Do they trigger hair loss? Or when they talk about hair loss as a side effect are they talking about the patchy kind that just falls out and regrows when you stop taking the meds? My family history of hair loss is very inconsistant so its hard for me to tell if I really am experiencing MBP or just a mature hairline. Unfortunately I have a very skinny long face and naturally pronounced hairline so it makes it all the more noticable….. My other question is, this whole gene therapy thing. If we do find a cure for hair loss through this what will happen to your buisiness? Will you continue working for the hair loss industry? Just curious, heh. Thank you for your time sir.
While many medications may cause hair loss, the most common cause men is genes, unrelated to medication use. Genetic hair loss causes male pattern baldness (MPB). It is possible that your medications could have accelerated changes in your hairline or balding, but there is really no way to be 100% certain. Mapping out your scalp hair for miniaturization may give you insights into any gene expression that is active at this time. Male pattern baldness is also known as androgenic alopecia (AGA), because hair loss is from the effects of androgenic hormones, such as dihydrotestosterone (DHT). While we all have androgenic hormones, only the men with the gene for hair loss will lose hair. The change in your hairline, if it follows a specific pattern as MPB, will generally mean you have the gene for hair loss. To be certain though, you should be evaluated by a doctor for a physical exam and a miniaturization study. I really cannot diagnose your hair loss problem with just brief descriptions. BaldingBlog is merely a source of the opinions of our staff physicians and is not a source for diagnosis.
With respect to gene therapy, I sincerely hope it will come to fruition in my lifetime. While it is undoubtedly still many years away, it will definitely impact my field in a positive way. After all, we are the physicians in the field of hair loss. Gene therapy will only empower us to offer more options to our patients.
I have noticed 2-3 grey pubic hair, why is it happening? will all my pubic hair turn grey. My age is 24 and i am a female. will cutting grey pubils hair be safe?
In general, women start developing gray hair at around age 35, though this is dependent on your genes. Melanin produced by each hair follicle is what gives hair its color, and this is affected by genetics. I would not stress too much about this. Gray hair anywhere on your body is a genetic process and there is nothing to do to change the color — other than to dye it, cut it, or pluck it.
From time to time, I like to pass on some important health information (not hair-related) and insights that I come across. In the November 3rd issue of New Scientist magazine, the editorial “What’s for dinner?” was about the issue of linking cancer to obesity. The article suggests that there is a clear connection between obesity and cancer and gives ways to reduce this risk with good exercises, reduced weight, proper diet (not junk food), reduced meat intake and staying away from salt above 5gms per day.
I realize this article is over a month old now, but I was trying to get clearance to publish or link to the full article here. Unfortunately, I can’t link to the full article for legal reasons, but New Scientist does allow you to read it if you pay for a membership to their site. The link to the article preview is here.
Hi Doc
I was thinking of laser hair removal of my chest, neck and parts of my back. I was just wondering, do these repeated laser procedures cause any harm to the skin, short and long term. Also, I understand waxing is painful and may take time, but could it really be permanent.Thanks.
I am not completely familiar with laser hair removal or even hair removal in general, as my practice involves adding hair, not removing them. From what I know, laser hair removal can irritate the skin and it is a relatively painful procedure usually requiring more than one treatment to get complete hair removal, because hair that is in telogen will not be killed from a laser treatment. When this hair finally gets out of telogen, it then has to be lasered. About 40-70% of body hair (depending upon where in your body we are talking about) is in telogen at any single time, so multiple treatments to kill off this hair is totally logical. You should ask these questions to the doctor who will be performing your laser hair removal, as I am not an expert in this process by any means.
I live in Toronto ON I am 23 years old and am starting to notice my hair is getting a little thin. I went to see a couple of doctors to get an opinion and I felt that they all were trying to sell me something. Do you know of any doctors/specialists in the Toronto area that will give me an honest opinion and not try to sell me their products. Is it also possible I am not loosing my hair and that my hairline (which has receded somewhat although I have always had a high hairline) and that I am just maturing. I was considering taking propecia and asked my GP about it but he just wrote the prescription and sent me on my way. I do not wan’t to start taking prescription drugs until I am well informed on the subject as all the stuff I see on the internet is so confusing. I think I am a norwood 2/3 somewhere in between. PLEASE help!!! Much appreciated!
You need a good evaluation, which is something I really can’t do via the Internet. I do not focus upon physicians in your area, so I really can not comment on other doctors, but if they are just trying to sell you on a procedure, you might consider taking a trip to New York and see Dr. Robert Bernstein. He will not sell you a hair transplant, but will give you an honest evaluation of your situation. Alternatively, you can visit me in Los Angeles, but I suspect New York will be an easier journey. Otherwise, you can check for doctors in your area using the physician search at ISHRS.org. Unfortunately, I don’t have a personal recommendation in your area.
Great site, my question is in no way a personal criticism of the important work I think your doing here, but…
I’d estimate in at least 50% of responses you guys say there is little or no research to say whether the treatment in question really works. My question is, does lack of research suggest lack of efficacy?
Like everything research is either funded publicly or privately. There’s much motivation for private industry research because there’s much money to be made, but this leads to an obvious conflict of interest. I get the feeling drug companies are running projects without appropriate methodologies because their researchers don’t think they would get significant results otherwise. It is also possible negative results are not being published because they are they obligated to register studies before running them as other fields have to?
It also appears to me there is modest government/public funded research based on the lack of large scale studies that are without funding conflicts. I imagine this could either be because baldness is not seen as something worthy of much money to gov’t, or because the researchers themselves don’t think this stuff works and don’t want to spend years running huge studies to prove something they might see as pretty obvious.
I recognize my comments might not be accurate when it comes to finasteride or minoxidil, but for most other options, and my particular interests of the shampoo and laser treatments, do you think I’m correct?
You raise a valid point. Research can be biased, and you must consider who funded it and the methods used. A good example of this is the research conducted by the laser hair industry, as we scrutinized the methods and its results (see Analyzing the Results of the HairMax Laser Comb).
Your comments echo my repeated motto — it is a buyer beware market. We live in a capitalistic society, which means that we need to have financial reasons to do research, because there may be a pot of gold under the rainbow.
Good Day:
I’ve recently grown a beard and I LOVE IT! I have a full beard except for two bald spots which are located (i would say) right where my dimples would be. Are they any over the counter products I can purchase to help fill these in? I apologize if this question was already addressed. I looked to see if it was, but I did not see anything. Thank you!
Congratulations on your new beard! Unless these areas of no-beard-hair are unnaturally large, what you describe is relatively common and reflects genetic differences in the beard hair. I do not know of products that can conceal them successfully without looking “fake”. The definitive treatment is a small hair transplant to the area, which we have done with great success.
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I have read in medical magazines that certain foods and supplements help stop prostate enlargement and cancer. If propecia and dutasteride are used to treat prostate enlargement which in turn helps stop hair loss, would anything from foods to supplements which help stop prostate enlargement in a sense help stop hair loss.
The association between certain food and disease is being made more frequently as medical science probes the connections. Unfortunately, we are ignorant of the one-to-one connection between health, disease, and foods. Much of what we do know is highly subjective and tied to undocumented opinions. The good news is that medical science is probing the adage that we are (probably) what we eat and until we know which foods support which organ systems or what foods suppress what disease, I really can not focus upon the reciprocity you are asking about.
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