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Snippet from the article:

Most everyone plays mindlessly with their hair from time to time. But for some people it becomes such an uncontrollable compulsion that they end up with bald patches or eyebrows plucked bare (called Trichotillomania).

If it’s any comfort, animals too suffer from “grooming compulsions.”

Though the behavior is documented in the Bible and ancient medical texts, treatment for hair-pulling has not been studied much. But now a University of Minnesota researcher might have found an answer in a common, over-the-counter nutritional supplement that costs about $15 for 100 pills.

Read the rest — Pill could end urge to pull your hair out

If this is true, it would be a great, inexpensive way to treat this obsessive behavior. I’ll wait for the larger study to be complete, but the small 50 person study is promising.

I have performed a HAIRCHECK test on this now 24 year old male with a receding hairline last year and then again today. His hair has shown stability and very little loss as the drug finasteride seems to be helping him hold onto his hair. I told him to return in a year for another HAIRCHECK test and to see if his corner frontal recession bothers him. A hair transplant is a viable option.

We have known for some time that smoking reduces skin circulation, particularly in the scalp. These articles do connect the dots between smoking and acceleration of hair loss in those individuals who are genetically prone to it. Of interest, there is a clear suggestion in these reference articles to the original research, which show that Asian men have a lesser incidence of balding.

• Reuters – Smoking accelerates men’s hair loss: study
• ScienceDaily – Asian Men Who Smoke May Have Increased Risk For Hair Loss

At your age, you might find that you could lose some of your existing native hair following the transplant. From the pictures, I see a low crown balding area which suggests that you might develop an advanced balding pattern in the long term. The use of the drug finasteride reduces this risk, but balding in men is progressive. Ask your doctor where your balding pattern might end up. Find out what your donor density is, so that some calculations of your reserve donor hair can be made now, before you start your transplants. Keep the hair transplants to the frontal area only, because if it goes into the crown, then you will be caught in a conundrum with patches of hair transplants in the front and in the crown will leaving you not normal looking. These steps will be the best approach to minimizing the risk of getting into multiple hair transplant surgeries as you lose more hair, which you should expect to happen. Your goal should be that just a single surgery will stand on its own and that is why I am suggesting that you only transplant the frontal area at this time.

Is it worth getting a HT? from tressless

Two articles just published in Nature Genetics may explain why some men lose their hair, while others do not. One of the articles shows the complexity of the gene, where the baldness gene not only has more than one site, but it also is on more than one chromosome. There is a link between balding, heart disease, and other metabolic abnormalities as well.

The published journal articles themselves are not online yet (not sure if they will be freely available by the publisher), but there are a few summaries in the news that I found, linked below. Read the news items:

• Balding Men May Get Help From Stem Cell, Gene Discoveries
• Researchers discover baldness gene: 1 in 7 men at risk
• Hair today, gone tomorrow — and this is why

These results for three months looks goo. I would expect much more value over the next 9 months if you to stick to the treatment

Again, some of the young men posting photos show fantastic results from a combination of finasteride and minoxidil

You will not know if the hair will grow back until the hair cycle time has passed, which is usually between 4-7 months from the onset of the infection. If it does not grow back, then another hair transplant into this area should grow.

You can see (arrows show it) the growth coming out. These hairs will grow longer and longer at a rate of 1/2 inch per month. Good job.