Archive for October, 2011
The 10 Most Common Hair Loss Questions
Male pattern baldness is a topic near and dear to many men. Actually, it's a topic that most men -- specifically 85% of all men -- will become familiar with at some point in their lives.
Unfortunately, however, it's a topic that's still shrouded in myth, misconception and misunderstanding. With so much confusion, it's no wonder that many men lack answers to even the most basic questions regarding hair loss.
But that's where we comes in. Here are the top 10 most common hair loss questions -- and of course, their answers.
No.10 What causes male pattern baldness?
Male pattern baldness (or androgenic alopecia) is largely a genetic disorder. It arises in some men because they are genetically predisposed to having higher levels of 5-alpha reductase in their bodies. 5-alpha reductase is an enzyme that converts the male hormone, testosterone, into dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT shrinks hair follicle cells over time resulting in thinner hair. As DHT accumulates, hair gradually thins until it is lost entirely in certain areas.
Dr. Robert Leonard Questions New Study Linking Stress to Hair Loss
Dr. Robert Leonard, chief surgeon and founder of Leonard Hair Transplant Associates, is questioning the results of a new study which found stress can cause hair loss in women. Leonard says the study, which is of only about 200 people, is better described as an observational study rather than a true medical, double-blinded study, and while it is interesting, it is not at all conclusive.
According to the study, extreme stress created by divorce or death of a spouse increased the likelihood that a woman will suffer from hair loss. The study also states that excessive sleeping patterns, having multiple children, smoking and the stresses of getting married also contribute to hair loss. The study goes on to say it found women who protected their head from excessive sunlight by wearing a hat faced a lower overall risk of hair loss.
“In the vast majority of cases, genetics and not stress is responsible for long-term, progressive hair loss,” said Dr. Robert Leonard, New England’s foremost authority on hair restoration. “The myth that stress can cause hair loss has existed for a long time, and while it is often perpetuated by medically-trained doctors, it remains simply untrue.”
Losing hair Ladies? Don’t lose hope
I don't know a single woman who doesn't consider her hair one of her most precious aesthetic accessories.
A great cut and color can change our looks for the better. A bad hair day can send self-esteem and confidence plummeting.
So it's hardly surprising that, especially for women, hair loss can cause serious psychological damage.
Alopecia is the medical term for excessive or abnormal hair loss, and it can be caused by many different factors. An estimated 40 percent of patients suffering hair loss in the U.S. are female. My guess is that the numbers are much greater because many women suffer in silence.
So here's the lowdown on hair loss:
Androgenetic alopecia is usually associated with male baldness, but it also affects females. It is genetically influenced in both sexes.
Potential Future Treatment May Re-activate Hair with your Own Cells
Men who have fallen victim to baldness may hope to regrow new hair with the help of a new anti-hair loss injection, likely to be available in 5 years’ time.
Male pattern baldness treatment has been made easier and less expensive than before thanks to Propecia and Rogaine, two FDA approved medications with some effectiveness in some men in reducing the rate of hair loss. Now another unique hair loss treatment is under development and is likely to be available on the market within 5 years, according to experts from Yale University.
The proposed baldness treatment, which will use fat cell reserves from the waistline, may also help in streamlining patients’ silhouette, suggests the new research. It says that unused fat cells can send across chemical signals to the dormant hair follicles and reactivate them to produce new hair growth.
The details of the new research have been published in Cell, a peer-reviewed medical journal. A series of lab studies using potentially hair-triggering fat cells have so far been conducted on mice and the scientists hope the results will not vary in humans.
Hair transplants a risk for men under 30
If you are losing your hair before you expect, you are advised by one of the leading UK doctors to avoid hair transplant surgery.
Newsbeat, a flagship radio programming service of the BBC, warns against hair transplants for young men who have recently started losing their hair. Male pattern baldness, the most common type of male hair loss, is known to affect about 30% of men by the time they turn 30.
According to Dr. Bessam Farjo, one of the top-rated hair transplant surgeons in the country, young men who are experiencing a thinning of hair at the crown should first consider non-surgical procedures, such as oral hair loss treatment, before giving surgery a thought.
It can be mistake on the part of young men to follow celebrities like Wayne Rooney, who has recently undergone a hair transplant surgery, much to the enthusiasm of the media and the public. Surgery at an early stage of life may still leave a man bald, in which case it becomes difficult to regrow hair, explains Dr. Farjo.
John Travolta Quickly Tires of the Bald Look
Following a brief tenure of public appearances with a shaved head, actor John Travolta seems to have decided to switch to his old hair piece.
According to the UK tabloid, Travolta did not conceal his balding accessory in recent times and opted for a natural look. But his head of artificial hair was on show as he attended a promotional event in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Now aged 57, the internationally acclaimed actor seemed to be at his charismatic best in the press conference. Incidentally, he was seen without the weave at a tennis match he witnessed a day before, notes the Daily Mail. Even then he never seemed out of place with the looks he has been sporting lately, despite losing much of his hair to male pattern baldness.
Quite unsurprisingly, not many men consider male pattern hair loss, the most common type of male hair loss, to be a change for the better. Caused mostly by hormonal and genetic factors, the condition is also linked to prostate cancer. Hair weaving, along with various comb-over techniques are traditional makeshift solutions to this problem.
RepliCel announces development of technology that clones patient hair cells
RepliCel Life Sciences Inc. (REPCF) has developed RepliCel(TM), a natural hair cell replication technology that the company believes has the potential to become the first minimally invasive solution for androgenetic alopecia (pattern baldness) and general hair loss in men and women. RepliCel(TM) is based on autologous cell implantation technology that replicates a patient's hair cells from his or her own healthy hair follicles. The company's technology is designed to initiate natural hair regeneration when the hair cells are reintroduced into areas of hair loss. Patents have been issued by the European Union and Australia and are pending in other major international jurisdictions.
In December 2010, RepliCel completed the acquisition of two subsidiaries, TrichoScience Innovations Inc. and 583885 B.C. Ltd., pursuant to share exchange agreements. As a result of these acquisitions, the company's business became the development of hair cell replication technology.
Ziering Medical Offers Revolutionary Hair Restoration Procedure
The Latest in Hair Restoration Technology Set to Arrive in Beverly Hills Practice This Month
Ziering Medical Worldwide, a private practice dedicated exclusively to the specialty of hair restoration, today announced that they will be the first to bring the ground-breaking ARTAS(TM) System to Los Angeles. The ARTAS System is the first and only FDA cleared, physician controlled, interactive, computer assisted technology that allows safe and effective follicular unit extraction (FUE).
The ARTAS System was developed in close collaboration with several leading hair restoration physicians to enable minimally invasive harvesting of hair follicles.
"My entire practice is committed to helping patients with various degrees of hair loss and providing them with state-of-the-art options that are very safe and effective," commented Craig L. Ziering, D.O., FAOCD, Founder and Medical Director for Ziering Medical Worldwide. "The ARTAS System is an excellent solution to hair loss that is less invasive, offers a quicker recovery time and natural permanent results."
Follicular Unit Extraction Explained
When coping with hair loss plus the bounty of possible restoration selections, it truly is encouraged that folks ask questions and do as considerably investigation as achievable. Numerous answers can come from a certified hair restoration physician, articles in medical journals, and credible Online sources. The following is often a series of frequent questions and answers concerning follicular unit extraction:
What exactly is follicular unit extraction?
Follicular unit extraction, or FUE, is really a micro-surgical hair transplantation approach wherein the surgeon harvests hairs from the donor region 1 follicular unit (natural groups of among 1 and 4 hairs) at a time. The donor location is frequently anyplace amongst the back and sides of the head, to incorporate finer hairs from the nape of the neck or behind the ears. This harvested hair is then implanted into the balding recipient location.
Hair Extensions Gone Wrong – the Ugly Reality
If they say "beauty is pain," then the beauty of achieving long, luscious locks is becoming more and more painful for many women.
Hair extensions have become the must-have accessory of celebrities and starlets on the red carpet and in magazines.
Now more and more women are following suit and using the extensions at home and work. Some as young as 19 are experiencing the dangerous side effects that come with trying to transform one's natural hair with hair pieces that make their hair longer and fuller.
"We have patients who are in their early 20s come in after wearing hair extensions for six months or one year, and they actually have bald spots,"Dr. Eric Schweiger, a New York City dermatologist, told "Good Morning America."
Doctors say people particularly at risk for damage from hair extensions are those with already thin or weak hair, or with a pre-existing medical condition, like anemia.
