Category: Uncategorized

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In the News – ABC Looks at the Future of Hair Loss Treatments

Snippet from the article:

By the age of 35, two-thirds of American men experience some degree of measurable hair loss, and by the age of 50, approximately 85 percent have significantly thinning hair, according to the American Hair Loss Association.

Given those numbers, finding a cure for baldness has become the holy grail among scientists everywhere.

Read the rest — Hats Off to These 4 Potential Baldness Cures

ABC News goes over 4 potential balding treatments, once again throwing the word “cure” around. The methods they explain (in slideshow form!) are still in the research phase.

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I Am 2 Weeks After 2500 FUE Grafts, What Is This Growing out of My Head? (Photo)

These are the remnants of the scabs (crusts) that you did not wash off. They are now filling up with water and are elevated. They should easily wash off with a good shampoo and gentle rubbing with your fingertips. I never see this problem in our patients because we wash off the crusts the day of and the day after the surgery so that they never form.


2019-02-20 08:33:33I Am 2 Weeks After 2500 FUE Grafts, What Is This Growing out of My Head? (Photo)

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In the News – Bimatoprost Scalp Failed to Provide Sufficient Efficacy

Snippet from the article:

A mid-stage trial of Allergan’s hair loss treatment Bimatoprost Scalp also failed to provide sufficient efficacy to proceed to a late-stage study, and the company said it will be extending the mid-stage development program.

Link: Allergan delays eye drug, shares fall

I found the above tidbit buried within an article about Allergan’s delay of their eye drug to treat age-related macular degeneration. Many folks were hoping bimatoprost (the eyelash treatment also known as Latisse) used on the scalp would be the next FDA approved hair loss treatment, but it seems that will be delayed for some time.

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20 y/o with hair loss (photos)

What do I do, How do I start?

You need a good doctor and anything short of an experienced doctor to help you manage your hair loss is a mistake you will take with you every year you get older. Regrets are when you don’t do the right thing and lose your hairy look when maybe you don’t have to. At your age, your’e in trouble as anyone can see. With this much hair loss at your age, you may be heading to a very bald man. Have you thought about it?

 


2021-01-12 12:17:3620 y/o with hair loss (photos)

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In the News – Do Balding Men Have Sleeping Hair?

Snippet from the article:

It sounds more like an explanation that would be used by nursery children than respected scientists, but researchers have found that rather than losing their hair altogether, people who are going bald are suffering from “sleeping” hair follicles.

Trichologists have discovered that hair follicles on the scalp can become trapped in a resting state where they do not grow new hair, leading to thinning.

They now claim to have identified a way of waking the follicles up again to help restore a fuller head of hair to people who are going bald.

Read the rest — Balding men offered hope of waking their ‘sleeping’ hair

We have long believed that the stem cells that eventually grow into hair are probably still present in many people. Are they really dead in the balding man or can they be restarted by finding some defect in the pathway to the creation of an anagen hair? We really do not know this, so is it reasonable to call this sleeping hair?

L’Oreal in Paris carried out the research, and they’re reportedly working on a shampoo or cream to be a used as a new hair loss treatment. No time frame has been announced so far on this treatment, though.

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I am 20 years old, can I now have a hair transplant?

The answer is no, you cannot have a hair transplant. I also always perform bulk measurements with an instrument called HAIR CHECK which is a good way to determine just how much thinning you have that you cannot see. Once this test is done and you have gone a year, I often repeat the test as it gives an excellent measurement on what happened to your hair over the year. If it got better and some of the thinning reversed, maybe you won’t need a transplant and that is the goal that you should look to do. Of course, a good doctor is critical to this course.

20 year old want HT

 


2017-10-10 19:29:25I am 20 years old, can I now have a hair transplant?

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In the News – Frozen Hair Leads to Sequencing Mammoth DNA

Snippet from the article:

MammothTufts of frozen woolly mammoth hair have yielded a rough draft of its genome. It’s the most successful attempt to sequence the DNA of an extinct ancient animal to date, and although we won’t see resurrected mammoths grazing the tundra anytime soon, it could give us a peek into the reasons for their extinction.

Sequencing extinct organisms is tricky since DNA strands quickly degrade after death into short fragments that are difficult to piece back together. In porous tissue like bone, these fragments can also become flooded by DNA from bacteria and fungi growing on the decomposing body, making it hard to pick out the genetic material of interest.

Read the full text at NewScientist — Frozen hair gives up first mammoth genome

This is very, very cool stuff. We can learn much about the genetics of an animal from the DNA of hair. Scientists now know that elephants and mammoths are closely related (more so than previously thought), and this is the best example of a near complete genome of an extinct animal, since they used an elephant as the blueprint.

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2011 ISHRS Meeting Review, Part 5 – Finasteride

ISHRS 2011

Note: The annual meeting of hair surgeons was in held in Alaska this past week. The following review is very selective and is biased by the things that were interesting to me and what I (Dr. Rassman) thought could be interesting to the readers.

This is part 5. More to come…

***

 
Does finasteride (Propecia) impact the body’s inflammation response in hair loss?

    Dr. Marty Sawaya produced evidence that there is a connection between genetic hair loss and inflammation of the hair follicle. She believes that DHT may have a direct impact on the inflammatory process. With this insight, other potential treatments for genetic hair loss and other hair and skin disease may evolve.

 
Are finasteride’s sexual side effects overstated?

    Despite internet complaints to the contrary, there are no case reports of sexual dysfunction that remained after finasteride was stopped in those patients who reported sexual side effects. The medical literature shows that sexual dysfunction is present in 40+ percent of men over age 50, so it was difficult to assess the 2% occurrence of sexual side effects in a comparable population. Despite this, changes in warning labels have been mandated in the United Kingdom, Sweden and most recently the US.

    One joke on the floor I overheard was that based upon the internet reports, the average 50 year old had a better than 40% risk of sexual side effects, but that reduced to only 2% for those reporting side effects from Propecia, making Propecia less risky for those side effects.

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In the News – Hair Loss Myths (Slideshow)

Hey doctors,

I found this slideshow of popular hair loss myths that Dr. Bernstein wrote that I thought you’d like.

Link: CBS News – Hey, Baldy: 10 Things You Need to Know about Hair Loss

We’ve covered practically every hair loss myth I can think of (most of which I’ve never heard before I started this site), but the slideshow mentions a few of my favorites — Genes for hair loss come from mom, hats make you go bald, and clogged pores cause hair loss.

There’s not much substance beyond 1 liners and stock photos, but CBS has the myths on their site at the link above.

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21 Year Old Male with Hair Medication Questions

Dear Doctor,
I just recently stumbled across your site while doing research. I’m glad that I can actually speak with a doctor, as opposed to self-proclaimed hair loss zealots on forums and other sites. Here is my current situation.

I’m 21 and about four months, and I do believe that my hairloss started when I was just turning 19, maybe even as early as 18. All my hairloss practically is from the crown area. It started with a quarter sized essential bald spot, and its spreading to either side of my crown. My hair was always thick, and it has thinned somewhat, but still remains pretty thick. I have little to no signs of a receeding hairline. I tried finasteride (finpecia, www.unitedpharmacies.com) for six months, and tried generic mixodil 5% for a little over a month. Currently I am taking nothing, and it seems to be getting somewhat worse. I am a college student, so once I get enough money I intend to take finasteride again.

I have the following questions…

  1. Is the generic finasteride I found on unitedpharmacies.com legitimate?
  2. Should I definitely use Minoxidil in conjuction with finasteride?
  3. Are there any shampoos/conditioners, that will help my situation?
  4. I’ve heard that in Canada hair transplants are much cheaper than in America
  5. Is Hair cloning going to be legal in any time in the near future?
  6. Maintaining hair is one thing, but I would really like to regrow. Is there anything besides the above mentioned treatments that may help my cause?
  1. Please be aware that finasteride is covered by a series of U.S. Patents held by Merck (drug company), one of which I believe is about to expire shortly. I am not in the drug manufacturing business so I can not state with any certainty that someone will be able to manufacture and sell a ‘generic’ Propecia in the United States anytime soon. Any generic finasteride you purchase, may or may not actually be finasteride — there is no way for you to easily be sure.
  2. You do not need to use Minoxidil while being on Finasteride, especially considering that you are college student without much money, but crown hair loss (your pattern) is most impacted to finasteride, so that would be my drug of choice here. If you want to be sure and knock down the price, then some people will purchase Merck’s Proscar (5 mgs of finasteride) and cut it into quarters — though it is available by doctor’s prescription only. I can not advise that you do this, but I know that it is done. I believe in Propecia/Proscar/finasteride use in all genetically balding young men.
  3. I don’t believe one brand of shampoo/conditioner is better than the other in saving your hair.
  4. See my blog entry titled The Truth About Cheap Hair Transplants and draw your own conclusions. Buyer beware.
  5. See the Hair Cloning category, but don’t hold your breath.
  6. Not that I can endorse.