Recently, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article on finasteride and dustasteride, whose brand names are Propecia, Proscar, and Avodart. The article may be summarized as follows. An analysis of trials evaluating finasteride and dutasteride indicate that the reduction in prostate cancer risk with both finansteride and dutasteride was limited to tumors with a modified Gleason Score of 6 or lower. Therefore, the trade off inherent in using a 5 alpha reductase inhibitor for prostate cancer prevention is the acceptance of one additional high grade cancer in order to avoid three to four theoretically clinically pertinent lower grade cancers.
The supposition drawn by the advisory committee in December was that finasteride and dutasteride do not have a advantageous risk-benefit profile for the propositioned use of chemoprevention of prostate cancer in healthy men. The FDA agrees with this assessment.

I find this interesting.  This is another FUE extraction site treated with ACEll in a hyaluronic acid mixture after 5 weeks.  It is still too early to tell if the hair might regrow in the extraction site though I have seen this.  It does appear that a single hair is forming in the extraction site, which appear as a black nub.  What is interesting is the appearance of a capillary in the skin.  These are usually missing following FUE and help lead to the loss of pigment in the extraction site.  I’ve done enough FUE to spot extraction sites anytime I look at a donor area even when no hypopigmentation occurs.  It is an observation based on experience with FUE.  With this donor area, I could not find any evidence that FUE was performed.  The red circle is where I would expect a follicular unit to be.  The entire donor area looked like this.  The black circle is 10 sq mm.  I had the dermlite people make this reticule for me.

The long hair after 5 weeks is a result of a completely non-shaven procedure of 1464 grafts.  I call this C2G.  It is still to early to say for sure because I need more results, but this is an example of what I have seen in donor areas treated fully with ACELL with my method of FUE where I use minimal depth control.  The initial problem was treating all the extraction sites with a powder.  I overcame this with mixing it in a viscous hyaluronic acid.  More recently I have been mixing in a more viscous cellulose.  I have a few comparative examples where I am looking at powder, hyaluronic acid, and cellulose.  Time will hopefully tell. I think the minimal depth incision technique along with Acell may result in better healing than a full depth incision.  Maybe we will see more hair regrowth over time.   Maybe not.  Still no one could comb through this donor area and find any evidence that a hair transplant had been done.  It appears that we really are coming full circle today.  Not only have we produced optimal results in the recipient area such that you cannot tell that a hair transplant has been done.  Even the trained eye cannot see evidence that a hair transplant was done in the recipient area.

Amid discrimination concerns, China has revoked a controversial visa restriction placed on bald Taiwanese visitors.  The Chinese city of Xiamen imposed a rule barring bald people from receiving one-year multiple-entry permits.  However, according to Taiwan’s Travel Agent Association, this rule was repealed earlier this year.

Amid discrimination concerns, China has revoked a controversial visa restriction placed on bald Taiwanese visitors.  The Chinese city of Xiamen imposed a rule barring bald people from receiving one-year multiple-entry permits.  However, according to Taiwan’s Travel Agent Association, this rule was repealed earlier this year.Roger Hsu, a spokesman for the association said “it would probably have raised the question of discrimination if Chinese customs officials were to ask visitors to remove their wigs”.  Hsu said that the rule applied primarily to frequent business travelers, though he did not know how many people had been rejected for visas under this policy.  Unnamed travel agents reportedly justified the former policy by explaining that Chinese authorities were concerned that “it was easier for bald people to disguise themselves”.The election of Ma Ying-jeou noticeably improved relations between Taiwan and China when he was elected president of Taiwan in 2008.  Ying-jeou promised to do what he could to boost trade and tourism for the island.  The Chinese city of Beijing considers the self-ruled Taiwan to be part of its territory, awaiting reunification.

Originally posted on Google news: China cancels visa restriction on bald Taiwanese

Follica Inc. is a biotechnology firm focused on developing therapies for disorders and conditions of the hair follicle.  According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Follica recently raised an additional $7.5 million in equity financing, as part of the firm’s Series B round of funding.  This funding came from the company’s previous financial backers, including PureTech, InterWest Partners and Polaris Venture Partners.  The total series B capital raised is around $13 million.

Follica specializes in treating hair follicle disorders, including androgenetic alopecia, or male pattern baldness.  It is yet unclear how much progress the company has made in developing a new therapy for combating hair loss, or whether this is even their primary objective at this time.  Regardless, many individuals are hoping that this additional funding will prompt the release of some new, and highly anticipated, hair loss treatments.

A recent episode of online chat show, MyFaceMyBody, reveals men’s top concerns about their appearance, whether they would consider cosmetic surgery and who most influences their looks.

According to this survey, men are most afraid of losing their hair, with four out of five saying it’s a concern of theirs. Furthermore, over a quarter of respondents (27%) reported that they would consider having surgical treatment for hair loss, such as a hair transplant. A third of respondents said they would shave off all of their hair if they developed bald patches.

During the program, English television star, Warren ‘Ace’ Furman speaks about his recent hair restoration surgery. Of the experience, he says: “I had a hair transplant and am thrilled with the results, I look ten years younger. Initially I wasn’t that bothered about my hair, but I was only 35 when I looked in the mirror and saw Phil Collins staring back at me.”

Men are reportedly more concerned with their appearance than we tend to assume, with almost three quarters of men (72%) saying their appearance is important to them. As far as who influences their appearance, 46% of men sighted their wives and girlfriends as having the most influence, 19% admitted that they tried to copy celebrities (top style role models included Johnny Depp and President Obama), and 34% reported they want to look good for their own satisfaction.

The top five surgical procedures men say they would consider are: nose surgery, blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery), liposuction, breast reduction and hair transplantation.