Hairloss PI

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FAMOUSLY foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay has reportedly spent $45,000 on a hair transplant.

The Hells Kitchen star spent 12 hours at a clinic in Los Angeles, where he is said to have undergone a new hair replacement treatment.

Later, the 44-year-old was spotted sporting a black surgical-style cap covering his head.

“While his hair may not have been obviously receding, it had become an issue for him,” a source close to Ramsay said.

Beverley Hills hair transplant guru Dr Antonio Armani – the hair restoration clinician who performed the procedure on Ramsay– is believed to have performed a radical new treatment on Ramsay called ‘follicular unit extraction’.

Performed under local anaesthetic, it requires no stitches – and leaves no scars. It is believed Ramsay will be able to show off his new hairstyle in just seven days. It is just the latest cosmetic procedure for the father of four.

“Some will call it vanity – but to TV producers and Gordon it’s a pre-emptive action to stop him suddenly going on TV with obvious thinning.”

In 2009, Ramsay admitted to having succumbed to the lure of Botox at X Factor supremo Simon Cowell’s urging.

"It's Simon's fault. I had lunch with him and he leaned over and started prodding my chin, saying, 'Mate, you've got to do something about this'," he said at the time.

"I've always had a face like Freddy Krueger but more people were commenting on my chin. I was getting a complex."

Deep crevices in his chin were filled in – a look that requires ongoing maintenance with as many as three $1000 ‘top-up’ procedures a year.

Earlier this year it emerged that he’d had a new set of gleaming white teeth fitted.

[pullquote]Gordon Ramsay has reportedly spent $45,000 undergoing a radical new treatment called “follicular unit extraction” to cover up his hair loss.[/pullquote]

It’s been a tough year for the celebrity foodie whose restaurant empire allegedly faces more than $25 million in debts.

Ramsay also been embroiled in a vicious public spat with his father-in-law and former business partner Chris Hutcheson. The three Michelin star chef sacked Hutcheson from the family company earlier this year, who later accused Ramsay of “manic” mood swings.

‘I know where Gordon’s bodies are buried,’ Hutcheson warned ominously, causing Ramsay to brand his father-in-law a ‘dictator’.

A new test can help doctors determine whether a woman experiencing hair loss is likely to benefit from antiandrogen therapies, Business Wire reports.

According to dermatology research and development company DermaGenoma, the HairDX Genetic Test for Female Androgen Sensitivity offers a new genetic screening for women suffering from or at risk of androgenetic alopecia (AGA). The test was unveiled to physicians at the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery’s 18th Annual Scientific Meeting, held in Boston in October.

The test examines genetic and epigenetic variations in a woman’s androgen receptor gene, then assesses her androgen sensitivity to determine if her hair loss has an androgenic origin.

Patients with high androgen sensitivity could benefit from antiandrogen therapies. Understanding the origin of the hair loss will help physicians select the most effective treatment, the company says.

He's not the king of England yet, but Prince William might want to start wearing a crown anyway – to cover up his bald spot.

The handsome royal's ever-expanding bald spot was on display as he saluted sailors recently at a naval base in his naval uniform.

The 28-year-old prince's bald spot was first visible seven years ago when he turned 21, and his hair has continued to thin, the Daily Mail reports.

William takes after his father, Prince Charles, and uncle, Prince Edward, where hair is concerned, rather than mother Princess Diana –  even though it's believed that male patterned baldness is inherited from the mom's side of the family.

"It's genetically inherited, but it can come from both sides of the family," said dermatologist Dr. Doris Day of Lenox Hill Hospital. "Even if no one in the family has thinning hair, it can be in the genes and still just show up."

There is good news and bad news for Prince William, Day said.

The bad news: the younger baldness begins, the more hair you'll lose.  And the good news:  "We have made great advancements in hair transplant technology, which is an option for all men," Day said.  "And medications like Minoxidil and Propecia can also be effective for hair loss."

Hair combs that stimulate hair growth are available, too, and the topical medication, Rogaine, works 50 to 60% of the time, said Dr. Susan Weinkle, president-elect of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery. "But Rogaine has to be used every single day," she adds. "So if the prince is flying a helicopter and forgets for a day, that's a problem."

Some men are unluckier than the prince: they begin losing their hair in their teens. A young man experiencing hair loss may opt to take a medication – for awhile, anyway.

"A young man may not necessarily want to take it for his life, but he could start now when he is not accepting his baldness well," Weinkle said. "Then by the time he needs something else, more new things may have been developed."

Below is another bogus hair loss treatment.  This is snake oil chaps. It has never been tested by a reputable medical authority, and from what little information is available about its ingredients, it is no better for hair regrowth than normal mineral water.

LA Science Serum re-growth formula – already used by celebrities like Calum Best – can give men AND women a fuller scalp in eight to 12 weeks.

Stress, hormonal issues, bad diet and even hair extensions lead to some 40 million men and 20 million women suffering partial hair loss or thinning, baldness and alopecia.

LA Science Serum’s unique ‘Nano-encapsulated system’ with Copper Tri-peptides and Biomimetic Peptides, promises to re-stimulate dormant hair follicles, strengthen the hair shaft and normalise the hair growth cycle.

The company, which has advanced UK orders of more than 10,000, have hailed the Serum ”inspired” and ”a massive leap in preventing hair loss”.

Respected independent trichologist Tony Maleedy said: ”It uses pioneering technology to combat baldness for men and women.

”There are many reasons why men and women specifically lose hair. Stress is a common cause of hair loss, as is dieting or a poor diet.

”Being ill or just rundown can also sometimes cause the hair to become thin.”

The serum was designed to combat the common signs of ageing for millions of men and women by strengthening and nourishing hair providing re-growth.

It should be used alongside LA Science Shampoo which increases and delays the cycle of hair loss.

The company recommend customers use the shampoo daily and the serum twice a day on bald patches or areas of concern.

It also claims the treatment can benefit women going through the menopause and those suffering hair loss due to Alopecia.

“Highly stimulating effect on the scalp and hair follicles”

Independent Trichologist Tony Maleedy added: ”A major factor for a woman in her fifties is the menopause and the effect on the hair that it can have.

”At menopause the level of the female hormone oestrogen falls and in some women with a genetic predisposition this can result in the hair becoming thinner.

”Some hair treatments can be very helpful such as the LA Science Anti Hair Loss Serum which has a highly stimulating effect on the scalp and hair follicles, this reduces hair loss and encourages better hair growth.

”I recommend the regime to my clients who have celebrated success with the unique formulation.”

A spokesman for LA Science said: ”Around 40 million men and 20 million women are said to suffer from baldness.

”We provide a safe treatment in which to promote hair re-growth in a society adding pressure on the importance of hair in length, health and thickness.”

The LA Science Serum costs #29.99 for two month’s supply and is available from Boots today (Weds). The Follicle Stimulating Shampoo is already on sale for #14.99.

Botox maker Allergan is about to launch clinical trials of a hair-growth treatment similar to its drug Latisse, which stimulates the growth of eyelashes.

The Phase 1 trial, scheduled to start this month, will focus on the safety of two formulations of bimatoprost, the active ingredient in Latisse.

This phase of the trials will include a total of about 28 patients – men with moderate male-pattern baldness and women with moderate female-pattern hair loss.

The FDA approved Latisse as a treatment for eyelashes, with a warning that it can cause hair growth on other parts of the body that come in contact with the drug. Some doctors have already tried using Latisse as an “off-label” treatment for hair loss.

Hair-restoration expert Dr. Alan Bauman of Boca Raton, Fla., reported “modest hair growth” among patients who have been applying Latisse daily to their scalp.

Irvine-based Allergan might want more impressive results than that in order to make its hoped-for baldness remedy more commercially successful.

Bauman predicted that “Allergan will likely test a stronger concentration for the use on the scalp than the 0.03% bimatoprost found in Latisse.”

“If Phase One (safety) trials are successful and Phase Two and Three trials (efficacy) are eventually completed, bimatoprost could become the third FDA-approved drug for the treatment of baldness in men and only the second FDA-approved drug for women with hereditary hair thinning or female pattern baldness,” Bauman said. Those conditions affect an estimated 60-100 million Americans, he said.

The clinical trial will be run out of Tempe, Ariz.

Recruitment of volunteers has not yet begun, according to the description of the study that Allergan provided for the government’s Clinical Trials website. That information includes a description of what’s required of volunteers and an email address for more information.

QUESTION: I read your column a while ago about a 77-year-old woman who was experiencing hair loss. At the age of 75,  I  too was losing my hair. My doctor checked my vitamin B-12 level, and it was very low. I was started on the tablets that dissolve under my tongue.

It has been just a few months since I began the B-12 and I now have a thick, healthy head of hair again. Perhaps this suggestion will help your readers.

ANSWER: There is evidence that hair loss may be connected with a deficiency of certain vitamins and minerals, specifically B- 12, zinc and biotin. We sometimes fail to realize that the body is a system designed to function as a complete unit. As part of that unit, hair requires proper nutrition. A function of B-12 is the formation of healthy red blood cells, which are necessary to transport oxygen throughout the body.

You are correct in that some people complaining of hair loss tend to have low B-12 levels. Oddly, the body stores B-12 supplies for longer than a year. Therefore, a deficiency is not something that occurs rapidly but is long-standing.

Some sources of the vitamin include milk, eggs, poultry, fish, shellfish and fortified cereals. Some people may also require injections of the vitamin in order to achieve better absorption.

You were fortunate your physician ran lab work and discovered the deficiency. He or she assisted you and, in turn, you may be helping many others who read this column. Thank you for the tip.

Hair raising experiences are not always about the perils of bowling to Sehwag, the huge task of getting the Master Blaster out and getting that much desired nick from Laxman’s blade to slips. It’s also about understanding the new me”, shared a smiling Doug Bollinger, the latest Australian Speedster and icon amongst the youngsters of the country. From being a complete bald guy selling T Shirts on the streets to becoming Cricket Australia’s latest pace sensation, Doug Bollinger’s experiences of life have been hairy and exciting. Thanks to procedures in Non Surgical Skin Grafts by Advanced Hair Studios, Doug today sports an all new head of hair and a renewed confidence that’s evident as he takes on the Indian challenge.

Losing hair problems would now no longer be a major concern anymore as Advanced Hair Studio, the World’s largest hair replacement, hair re-growth and hair extension Company will shortly enter Bangalore. Headquartered in Australia, Advanced Hair Studios made its foray into India by successfully launching the first studio in Mumbai 2008 and the second one in New Delhi recently.

“My life has completely changed after I got this new head of hair. I have discovered a new me and my confidence to bowl faster has really increased. The Cricket Australia contract was a dream come true and to be a part of this baggy green squad is absolutely fantastic and this all happened while I got married to Tegan. Earlier I was broke and bald and now with my new found hair, I am winning matches at the IPL, am part of a dream team and of course, there’s Tegan,“ shared Doug with a twinkle in his eye.

“With more and more people afflicted with hair loss,” says Sanket Shah, CEO of Advanced Hair Studio Pvt. Ltd., Indian Subcontinent, “the problem has reached pandemic proportions. Hair loss also results in loss of confidence apart from changing the aesthetics of a face and the problem is known to cause a lot of distress to the person concerned. We at Advanced Hair Studio offer permanent solutions to all hair loss problems as a one stop shop and even have 3 patented procedures on board. Our products and techniques are tried and tested and the company has proved its credibility across the world. We have a proven track record and we invest heavily in creating revolutionary, state of the art techniques to offer permanent solutions in hair restoration.”

“Over 300,000 people around the world have benefited from the advice and patented procedures of Advanced Hair Studio. Our unique combination of breakthrough technology and outstanding customer service has seen us grow into one of the world’s largest hair restoration companies, with approximately 75 studios worldwide. India is a very strategic and key market for our brand and after having received tremendous response from our customers in Mumbai and New Delhi, we are all set replicate the experience in Bangalore.” added Sanket Shah.

Headquartered in Australia & with its worldwide presence in countries like USA, UK, HongKong, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden & China, Advanced Hair Studio is now launched successfully in Mumbai and Delhi. With legendary Australian Cricketer Shane Warne as the brand ambassador & a top clientele including more than 10,000 Hollywood celebrities, pop stars, sports legends, leading politicians, and businessmen across the globe Advanced Hair Studio is now ready to offer various solutions for both men and women namely Hair re-growth, Hair Replacement, Hair Extension & much more in the form of the safest & the most advanced patented procedures India has ever seen or heard before.

The truth behind a dangerous substance which is purported to cure baldness – but can actually harm your health – has been revealed by two journalists.

The Magic Mineral Solution, created by supposed bishop John Humble, is said by its maker to cure everything from baldness to Malaria, cancer, HIV, arthritis and Parkinson’s disease. But analysis from the Food Standards Agency revealed that the solution consists of 28% sodium chlorite, equivalent to industrial strength bleach. The FSA has warned the solution could cause sever nausea, diarrhoea and if it is diluted less than instructed, cause damage to the gut and red blood cells, potentially resulting in respiratory failure.

A 15 year old boy from Wales has been credited with first ringing alarm bells about the treatment. The boy, Rhys Morgan, has Chron’s disease and was trying to research a cure online. The switched on teenager said he thought the Magic Mineral Solution was “pseudo-scientific nonsense” and lamented on his blog: “I feel that no-one wants to take responsibility to prevent injury to vulnerable people, desperately seeking a cure for their disease.”

Morgan’s worries were taken up by two investigative journalists from The Daily Mirror who have been pressuring John Humble for answers. They have revealed that Humble was once a gold prospector from Las Vegas. The FSA has began to take action against some websites selling MMS.

Hunt for a baldness cure

Despite a high demand for a baldness cure, no such remedy has yet been invented. Baldness is a natural process and is difficult to prevent. There is one treatment though, that has helped men to pause the onset of hair loss. Propecia is approved by medical authorities in Europe and America to help people treat hair loss. It works by reducing levels of DHT – a hormone that causes hair loss – in the body. At the current time Propecia may be the nearest thing that we have to a baldness cure.

Before meeting with Anne Wojcicki, co-founder of a consumer gene-testing service called 23andMe, I know just three things about her: she's pregnant, she's married to Google's Sergey Brin, and she went to Yale. But after an hour chatting with her in the small office she shares with co-founder Linda Avey at 23andMe's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., I know some things no Internet search could reveal: coffee makes her giddy, she has a fondness for sequined shoes and fresh-baked bread, and her unborn son has a 50% chance of inheriting a high risk for Parkinson's disease.

Learning and sharing your genetic secrets are at the heart of 23andMe's controversial new service — a $399 saliva test that estimates your predisposition for more than 90 traits and conditions ranging from baldness to blindness. Although 23andMe isn't the only company selling DNA tests to the public, it does the best job of making them accessible and affordable. The 600,000 genetic markers that 23andMe identifies and interprets for each customer are "the digital manifestation of you," says Wojcicki (pronounced Wo-jis-key), 35, who majored in biology and was previously a health-care investor. "It's all this information beyond what you can see in the mirror."

We are at the beginning of a personal-genomics revolution that will transform not only how we take care of ourselves but also what we mean by personal information. In the past, only élite researchers had access to their genetic fingerprints, but now personal genotyping is available to anyone who orders the service online and mails in a spit sample. Not everything about how this information will be used is clear yet — 23andMe has stirred up debate about issues ranging from how meaningful the results are to how to prevent genetic discrimination — but the curtain has been pulled back, and it can never be closed again. And so for pioneering retail genomics, 23andMe's DNA-testing service is Time's 2008 Invention of the Year.

The 1997 film Gattaca depicted it as a futuristic nightmare, but human-genotyping has emerged instead as both a real business and a status symbol. Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein says he is backing 23andMe not for its cinematic possibilities but because "I think it is a good investment. This is strictly medical and business-like." Google has chipped in almost half the $8.9 million in funding raised by the firm, which counts Warren Buffett, Rupert Murdoch and Ivanka Trump among its clients.

Weinstein isn't saying what his test told him, but Wojcicki and her famous husband are perfectly willing to discuss their own genetic flaws. Most worrisome is a rare mutation that gives Brin an estimated 20% to 80% chance of getting Parkinson's disease. There's a 50% chance that the couple's child, due later this year, will inherit that same gene. "I don't find this embarrassing in any way," says Brin, who blogged about it in September. "I felt it was a lot of work and impractical to keep it secret, and I think in 10 years it will be commonplace to learn about your genome."

And yet while Wojcicki and Brin aren't worried about genetic privacy, others are. In May, President George W. Bush signed a bill that makes it illegal for employers and insurers to discriminate on the basis of genetic information. California and New York tried to block the tests on the grounds that they were not properly licensed, but have so far been unsuccessful. Others worry about how sharing one's genetic data might affect close relatives who would prefer not to let a family history of schizophrenia or Lou Gehrig's disease become public. And what if a potential mate demands to see your genome before getting serious? Such hypotheticals are endless. And some researchers argue that the tests are flawed. "The uncertainty is too great," says Dr. Muin Khoury, director of the National Office of Public Health Genomics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who argues that it is wrong to charge people for access to such preliminary and incomplete data. Many diseases stem from several different genes and are triggered by environmental factors. Since less than a tenth of our 20,000 genes have been correlated with any condition, it's impossible to nail down exactly what component is genetic. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing," says Dr. Alan Guttmacher of the National Institutes of Health.

23andMe is unfazed by its detractors. "It's somewhat paternalistic to say people shouldn't get these tests because 'we don't want people to misunderstand or get upset,'" says board member Esther Dyson. There can be a psychological upside too: some people decide to lead healthier lifestyles. Brin is currently funding Parkinson's research. And not all customers' results are as troubling as his. Nate Guy, 19, of Warrenton, Va., was relieved that though his uncle had died of prostate cancer, his own risk for the disease was about average. He even posted a video about it on YouTube. And unflattering findings can have a silver lining. "Now I have an excuse for not remembering things, because my memory is probably genetically flawed," Guy says.

Wojcicki and Avey see themselves not just as businesswomen but also as social entrepreneurs. With their customers' consent, they plan to amass everyone's genetic footprint in a giant database that can be mined for clues to which mutations make us susceptible to specific diseases and which drugs people are more likely to respond to. "You're donating your genetic information," says Wojcicki. "We could make great discoveries if we just had more information. We all carry this information, and if we bring it together and democratize it, we could really change health care."

Former tennis star Andre Agassi has admitted the lion mane-style hairstyle he sported during the 1990s was actually a wig, in extracts from his autobiography published in British weekend newspapers.

Agassi said he wore a hairpiece held together with pins in his first Grand Slam final, the 1990 French Open final, and blamed his concerns that it would fall apart for losing the match to Andres Gomez.

Before the match he prayed "not for victory, but that my hairpiece would not fall off", he writes in "Open".

In previous excerpts, Agassi admitted he had used the drug crystal methamphetamine in 1997.

He said he started to wear a wig to disguise hair loss.

"Every morning I would get up and find another piece of my identity on the pillow, in the wash basin, down the plughole," he wrote.

"I asked myself: you want to wear a toupee? On the tennis court? I answered myself; what else could I do?"

But the wig began to disintegrate as he took a shower the night before the Paris final - "probably I used the wrong hair rinse," Agassi writes.

He panicked and called his brother Philly into the room. Together, they managed to clamp the wig together using clips and pins.

Agassi, 39, writes: "Of course I could have played without my hairpiece, but what would all the journalists have written if they knew that all the time I was really wearing a wig?

"During the warming-up training before play I prayed. Not for victory, but that my hairpiece would not fall off.

"With each leap, I imagine it falling into the sand. I imagine millions of spectators move closer to their TV sets, their eyes widening and, in dozens of dialects and languages, ask how Andre Agassi's hair has fallen from his head."

It was actress Brooke Shields, who he married, who persuaded him to cut off all his remaining hair.

"She said I should shave my head," he said. "It was like suggesting I should have all my teeth out.

"Nevertheless, I thought for a few days about it, about the agonies it caused me, the hypocrisy and lies."

But after taking the plunge, "a stranger stood before me in the mirror and smiled," Agassi said.

"My wig was like a chain and the ridiculously long strands in three colours like an iron ball which hung on it."

Agassi won eight grand slams during his career and is one of only six men to win all four major titles.

Seeing recent pictures of Naomi Campbell's bald patches, probably caused by hair extensions, brought back bad memories for me.

I know how she feels because a similar thing happened to me a few years ago. I wanted the front of my hair to look thicker and longer so I went to a hair-extension stylist who'd been highly recommended.

At first it looked fantastic but about a month later the join between my own hair and the extension had become noticeable so I decided to have them removed.

That's when it went wrong. It took several attempts to dissolve the glue that was holding them on but the chemical used to do this pulled out my own hair.

As I looked down I saw huge clumps, roots and all, in my lap. When I looked up in the mirror, I had no hair at the front.

Once the shock had worn off, I was devastated. But I also felt incredibly stupid. I hadn't really looked into what could go wrong - after all, it was a just a hair treatment, not a medical procedure.

What a mistake - although my hair has partially recovered it never regained its original thickness.

Hair today..

Over the past few years, a number of celebrities, including Victoria Beckham, are said to have had the odd temporary bald patch after having extensions. Meanwhile, Jennifer Aniston has complained that having it done ruined the condition of her locks.

Stylists maintain that, if your own hair is in good nick and the extensions are properly fitted and maintained, they should be fine.

However, last year research
in the British Journal of Dermatology claimed that some women lose their hair within a week of having extensions and that even women with no obvious signs of hair loss had considerable underlying damage to the scalp when examined more closely.

The dermatologists - from the University of Miami in Florida and Bologna University in Italy - suggested that the problems are probably far more common than reported.

Danger areas

Traction alopecia tends to happen at the front of the head and around the temples, where the hair is weakest.

The extensions, which are attached by glue, weaving or braiding, put tension on the hair follicles, which become inflamed, causing hair to fall out. This is more likely if the extensions are heavy, left in a long time or fitted badly. Some glues can damage hair, too.

But any tight hairstyles like braids can have the same effect while harsh chemicals such as dyes, bleaches and straightening solutions further weaken hair.

If it's caught early, it'll grow back but the hair loss can be permanent.