Category: Other

could my prescribed diet pills be the cause of my head fungus and breakouts on my face? the prescription’s name is phentermine. i took the pills for 1 yr and a year later my head fungus developed. could another possibility for my head fungus be my nerves and stress? should i get therapy?

Just so I’m clear, here’s the summary of what you’ve told me is going on…

1. Diet pills
2. Head fungus
3. Breakouts on the face
4. Nerves and stress

Perhaps you are on the right track of considering therapy.

Phentermine is a potentially dangerous diet medication and you should be under close medical supervision. I do not believe phentermine would potentiate head fungus. It may be multifactorial — including your stress level causing a depression in your natural body’s defense system.

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Hello,

I wanted to send this e-mail to thank you for running such a great site, specifically in regards to your information on “mature hairlines”. I’m turning 31 this year and have noticed over the past 4 to 5 years that my hair has thinned slightly above the temples. I would say I’m between stage I and II. The rest of my hair is thick (for a redhead that is) and my crown hasn’t changed much over the last 10 years.

My father is somewhat bald but the men on my mother’s side have decent hair for their age. When my thinning started, I, like probably every other male out there, started scouring the internet for information. It wasn’t until today that I actually found more than cursory information about normal, mature hairlines. Funny how all those other sites selling “miracle cures” don’t mention that. What you described in your blog entry explains what I’ve been seeing with my hairline over the past few years.

I generally try not to worry about hair loss and I’m truly thankful for what I have; it’s nice to read useful and reassuring information though for those moments of doubt. If I do start losing my hair, at least I know where to look for more information!

Thank you again.

You’re very welcome!
For those interested, I’d recommend reading Maturation of a Hairline — Moving From Juvenile to Mature.

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(female) My scalp is alway itching and it feels like things are crawling in my scalp. I’ve been to a doctor and I think I need help from some other source. I have hair loss in several spots. I have used a lot of products and nothing is helping. Please help tell me what I need to use

Many people want me to guess at what is wrong with them without at least some pictures. Seeing you would be ideal. You could have Ringworm, alopecia areata… and on and on. Get a good doctor and if you don’t get the answer from one, go to another. I am in California and would be happy to see you, but perhaps a local dermatologist would be much more convenient for you.

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This isn’t hair-related, but I can stray from hair stuff just for a moment or two. From the article:

The “little blue pill” given to treat impotence might also help people overcome jet lag faster, a new study in rodents suggests.

Hamsters that received small doses of sildenafil, sold under the name Viagra, adjusted more quickly to laboratory simulations of a six-hour time-zone change than animals in the control group.

and also…

But in the jet lag experiment, the tiny doses given to the hamsters were too small to trigger erection.

Read the rest here — NewScientist.com – Viagra reduces hamster ‘jet lag’

Maybe someday soon you’ll take a smaller dosage of Viagra to avoid jet lag and not have to make excuses. Interesting stuff.

I am 22 yrs. and I have very little hair around my nipples but no hair on my chest. Is there any way I can grow chest hair?

No. There is no practical way to grow chest hair. I guess you could try minoxidil, which is known to grow hair, but it might get you a big dose of the medication if you apply it all over your chest. At your age, I would advise you to wait it out. If you have any Native American lineage, you may not grow chest hair at all. And some men just don’t have much chest hair.

From the BBC — Gene find triggers baldness hope

Hair loss in humans might not be irreversible, suggest scientists who have helped create new hair cells on the skin of mice.

We have all hoped that we could make new hair from stem cells or gene manipulation. It looks like we have moved one step closer to that goal.

More articles about this here —

• Nature.com – Skin’s own cells could beat baldness
• Guardian.co.uk – Gene therapy holds out hope for baldness cure
• ABC.net.au – Genetic trickery may make hair grow back
• FOXNews.com – Coaxing New Hair Follicles to Grow
• Philly.com – At Penn, the research is hair-raising, positively

Sir, as a friend and ally of your fellow countrymen, I fully understand and respect the term “freedom of speech”. However, what I do find moronic at times, are the extreme ways in which people abuse this right, by asking the most stupid questions via professional, well informed internet sites and blogs etc.

For instance,and I quote “whilst sleeping, my leg hair fell out, please help me Dr Rassman as I’m desperately seeking answers – what would you recommend I do in the mean time?”

How the hell do you find time to answer up to a stupid question like that?

How about wax them and then you won’t have to worry!!

I understand the desperate plight of hair loss sufferers in search of need of reassurance and hope, but for God’s sake, some people just take the biscuit!!

Thanks anyway for your site – I do enjoy reading it.

Sometimes the other writers for this site (Dr. Pak or Dr. Mohebi) will make a somewhat sharp reply with a humorous intent. Since I edit all of the responses before they are published, some of their barbs are quite pointed and we all get a good laugh out of these creative comments. My job, when the other editors write the answers, is to keep a general respectful spirit on the site. At times the questions can be…. not very intelligent… and at times some of the writers of these questions must be challenging my patience. As an expert in this industry though, I find that many people are hair obsessed and do not apply rational thinking about the subjects that they toss at me. With my obvious answers to obvious questions, these people may learn to think this through rather than believe all of the hype that is generated by vendors who just produce lots of marketing material that confuses issues and make any clarity more and more difficult to consumers (by design).

I recall a very bright professor of engineering who was convinced that all of the hair that grew out after a hair transplant 4 1/2 months earlier just appeared one night while he was sleeping. On first blush, one would not expect an intelligent person to think that he grew an inch long hair overnight, but that was what he was convinced had happened. I believe that when we are emotionally caught up in something like our health, we lose perspective and rational thinking at times. I just call it like I see it, as directly and as gently as I can. I try to think the best of the person asking the questions, but you are right, it does frustrate me a bit.

As for how I find the time — well, I make time. I generally spend a few hours each day (including many weekends) answering emails and writing responses for posts that make it to the blog. Somewhere in there, I find the time to run a business, invent new technologies, perform surgeries, eat food, and even sleep. If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t do it. Judging from the amount of email I get, this site helps many, many thousands of people from all over the world, so that makes it worthwhile for me. I can’t be the doctor for everyone, but I can provide general insight and opinions that hopefully will help many people. As always though, this is just a blog and not intended to be a replacement for your doctor.