Doctors on Hair Loss & Hair Transplant surgery.

I am 27 and first noticed that i had hair loss about 24..My dad also has hair loss so its should be caused by genetic. About 1 year ago,i already had very little hair . I have been using Minoxidil 5 %, and Propecia, and it helps to control the hair loss but recently i realize that there is excessive hair loss even though i use it faithfully. I tried other ways of different treatment but i dun see any results. I recently saw this product “provillus’,its main ingredient is saw palmetto. It is said that it is similar to propecia but it doesn’t affect your sex drive ,Is this true? Can you please advise me on what other methods can i try,i recently just bought a laser set,do you think it will be useful?

Hair Loss is a multi-factorial problem. This is probably why some people respond well to DHT inhibitors such as Propecia and why others do not respond as well. Some people respond well to Minoxidil or Rogaine, while others do not. We recommend treating your hair loss with as many options as possible to cover as many potential causes of hair loss as possible.

You can purchase saw palmetto over the counter in a health food store and take the pills each day. Saw palmetto is a DHT blocker. We recommend you use this.

We also recommend you shampoo with Nizoral Shampoo at least once a week. Leave the product on for 5 minutes prior to rinsing. The product is a topical agent so it needs skin contact to do its job. We also recommend Hair Cycle shampoo and conditioner 4 to 5 times per week. Again, leave this product on 5 minutes prior to rinsing. Hair Cycle is an anagen stimulator so it will help you keep the hair in the growing phase longer. This should help you prolong the life of your hair. Hair Cycle is also healthier for your scalp since it lacks sodium laurel sulfate, which is the agent creating lather in most shampoos. This lather is the equivalent to engine degreaser and it is not healthy.

Other products you might consider include topical spironolactone.

The laser comb is expensive, but should help. We are working on a less expensive model.

You might find that decreasing the dosage of your Propecia to three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday has less of an affect on your sex drive.

Please note that Rogaine Foam is a new version of topical minoxidil and seems to produce less skin irritation. It also is better absorbed and does not leave your hair oily or greasy the way most minoxidil solutions do.

Tags: anagen, anagen stimulator, dht blocker, hair cycle, hair loss, hair loss treatments, minoxidil, nizoral, Propecia, results, rogaine, saw palmetto

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My reason for writing to you is over the past 8 to 9 months I have noticed an “excessive thinning” of my hair. My hair has also been dried out and brittle. I am a natural dark haired individual and do bleach my hair. I have been doing so for over 20 years with no negative affect.
I moved to south Georgia in September - into an older home, which has well water. I immediately noticed the texture of my hair changing. It became much drier and hard to style. I was told it might be because of the well water and the pH of the water.
What is your opinion? Are there any tests I can do on the well water? Would that cause hair loss? Is there any other tests to perform that might indicate something bad or missing in the water that would be so negative on my hair.

There multiple reasons people loose their hair. With female hair loss the causes may include hormonal problems. One should consider a thyroid problem. This could be due to an elevated thyroid or a low thyroid function. A change in medications might stimulate hair loss in women with female pattern loss and this should be considered too. One would generally see female pattern loss prior to age 62 if this were the cause.

I think you should consider the well water as a possible cause. There are numerous heavy metals present in well water and you can absorb heavy metals through the skin or through ingestion. There would include thallium, arsenic, mercury, copper, cadmium, or bismuth. A half gram of bundled hairs kept in their normal orientation (tops toward the top) sent to the National Medical Services in Willow Grove, PA can evaluate your hair for arsenic.
A low pH can sometimes cause copper in the pipes to precipitate out into the water and this can result in an accumulation of toxic levels of copper in your system.

You could have your physician work you up for heavy metal exposure. Blood levels, urine levels, and hair levels will generally tell you if you have been exposed to heavy metals. Often times you will have neurological findings or symptoms with heavy metal exposure.

Lab tests in addition to a heavy metal analysis include thyroid function tests, a CBC and ferritin level to evaluate you for iron deficient anemia, a dihydroepiandrosterone level to check you for elevated male hormones, a testosterone level, a FSH and LH. If the work up comes back negative, you could consider a properly performed biopsy. The dermatology department at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta could perform most of this work up.

Heavy metal poisoning produces a characteristic form of anagen hair loss. A dermatologist should be able to assess you for any particular hair shaft abnormalities. Heavy metals were often found in pesticides and herbicides that could have found their way to your well water.

Of course hair coloring can make your hair brittle and cause breakage. This could be a factor currently and might result from a change in salons who use different chemicals or leave the agents on for a long period of time.

I usually see progressive female pattern loss begin after pregnancy or in the 40s to 50s. I do not see it begin in 62 year old women typically. Often times there is a family history, which means your mother would have exhibited these symptoms. Medications high in progesterone can stimulate hair loss in women prone to this form of hair loss. Any therapy would be directed at the cause. Therefore, it is best to determine the cause first. I think most of this work up can be done closer to your home. If it comes down to a biopsy, it probably is better for me to take, but I’d get the lab work up first.

Tags: female hair loss, female pattern loss, hair loss, Hair Loss In Women, male hormones, physician, testosterone, thyroid

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What is the importance of hair characteristics in hair transplant surgery?

These characteristics are significant in that they determine to a great degree how much coverage of the scalp there is, in order to block light. When light is not blocked and penetrates through to the scalp, the appearance is of thinning or balding.

The other big factor here is the density, which is another topic unto itself. The density is the number of hairs or follicular units per unit area (square centimeters or square inches or whatever unit you prefer; the centimeter is the standard for physicians). Although this density usually gets most of the attention when discussing hair loss, hair characteristics are equally, if not more, important.

First let’s look at color. At first, one might think that the darker the hair, the better the coverage. This is generally not correct. Lighter hair usually goes with lighter skin, and the tow together tend to mask thinning very well. Darker hair can cover well, but in the case of poor hair transplant work (pluggy looking, or larger graft on frontal hairline) they may stand out much worse than lighter hair. We will discuss color in more detail when we discuss contrast.

Curl is another very important factor in coverage. Generally speaking, curly hair provides coverage in proportion to the degree of curl (i.e., wavy hair gives better coverage than straight hair, curly hair better than wavy, very curly better than slightly curly, etc.). This has to do with light blockage as well. The curlier the hair is, the more it creates a meshwork of sorts (kind of like a thatched roof) which “stands up” a little bit off the scalp and keeps the light from penetrating to the scalp.

Contrast has to do with the difference between hair color and skin color. The closer to each other the hair and scalp are, the better the coverage. In a way, this “fools” the eye of the observer into not noticing the decrease in density. If a person with blonde hair and light skin loses 50% or his or her density, they may appear much less affected than a person with equally light skin and jet black hair. In this case the dark hairs of the second example are highlighted against the light skin and it shows the sparseness of the hair. The person with the blonde hair reveals very little difference between the hair and scalp, in other words, the observer cannot detect where the hair leaves off and the scalp begins.

Last, let’s consider caliber. Thicker strands of hair provide more “hair mass”, which is a term doctors use to describe the total effect of length times caliber. The more hair mass in a given area, the better the coverage. This makes intuitive sense. Imagine covering a hut with logs. If you place 20 logs as a roof, which will give better coverage, skinny logs or big round ones with large diameters? Of course, the bigger ones, so the thicker hairs do the same over the scalp. And remember, what appears as thinning or balding is simply the appearance of light shining through to the scalp.

Tags: balding, blonde hair, caliber, curly hair, diameter, hair characteristics, hair loss, hair mass, hair transplant, hair transplant surgery, scalp, shaft, skin

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What is Maximum Medical therapy for hair loss?

People with hair loss, and certainly anyone even CONSIDERING hair transplant, may want to use a regimen of maximum medical therapy. This just means using a number of different medications that have different mechanisms of action to try to “cover all the bases”, so to speak. Attacking hair loss by targeting different aspects of the process is a way of using the synergy between various agents to maximize the effects.

Finasteride (Propecia and Proscar) is an agent that blocks the formation of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a hormone that has been implicated in male pattern baldness (androgenic alopecia). This is a first line drug for men with thinning hair or balding. It is not beneficial for women; in fact, it can cause birth defects if a woman is exposed to the drug and gets pregnant. It has few side effects in men and has been used for about 25 years with a good safety record.

Minoxidil (Rogaine and many generic versions) is topical, or placed directly on the scalp. Side effects are few, and it has a synergy when used with finasteride. This may be used in men and women, and is considered by many to be the drug of choice in women with hair loss.

There is some evidence that an anti-fungal shampoo containing ketoconozol (Nizoral) may help slow hair loss. It can be used twice a week and has the added effect of decreasing dandruff and itching of the scalp. There are also a variety of over the counter preparations (Hair Cycle products) and internet-marketed preparations that are available. Many of these contain minoxidil and other ingredients. Some of these are topical androgen (male hormone) blockers; there is little scientific proof of their effectiveness, but many men swear by them, and they may work for some.

The most important thing one can do with these latter agents is read and read some more. Information from sources other than the manufacturers is likely to be more objective and may help one with informed decisions.

Tags: androgenic alopecia, anti fungal shampoo, balding, finasteride, hair cycle products, hair loss, hair loss solutions, hair loss treatments, hair transplant, hormone, male hormone, male pattern baldness, medical therapy, minoxidil, nizoral, proscar, rogaine

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Do you recommend Zinc to treat hair loss

is a Zinc whitish metal that acts as an essential nutrient in humans. Its deficiency leads to a number of biochemical and physiological problems; it is required for hundreds of different biochemical reactions, so not having enough can affect many different systems in the body. Zinc helps the immune system stay strong so we can fight infection; it helps with growth and healing, and keeps our senses of smell and taste intact!

Some of the causes of zinc deficiency include chromic alcoholism, malnutrition, malabsorption (problems absorbing nutrients from the gut), vegetarianism (because plants provide much less zinc than animal products like meats), high intake of iron, and diarrhea. Dietary sources of zinc include meats, some seafood, dairy products, and nuts; people with meat/seafood in their diets absorb more zinc than people with largely plant proteins. Oysters have the highest zinc content of any food. Since zinc is known to have an effect on sexual function and fertility, perhaps this is where the age-old reputation oysters have as an aphrodisiac!

Supplementation of zinc may be necessary in some people prone to low zinc levels. Some people believe that in modern times our foods are so low in nutrients, that supplementing is always needed (although this is not the opinion of the scientific community as a whole). The recommended daily allowance (RDA) of zinc is around 10 mg per day for healthy adults. The upper limit considered safe is 40 mg per day for healthy adults. High intake of zinc (150 to 450 mg per day or more) may cause a number of health problems. Among these are low levels of copper, depressed immune system function with increased susceptibility to infection, retarded growth in children, loss of appetite, sexual dysfunction with erectile dysfunction in males, hair loss, diarrhea, delayed wound healing, slowed mental function, and altered taste and smell.

What scientific evidence is there for treating problems with zinc? There is strong evidence for using it to treat children in developing countries that have severe diarrhea, for treatment of stomach ulcers, and in the blood disease sickle cell anemia. There is good, but less strong evidence for the following:

• Acne

• ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder)

• Down’s syndrome associated problems

• Fungus infections of the scalp

• Herpes virus infections

• High cholesterol

• Immune system boosting

• Plaque on teeth and gingivitis of the gums

Wilson’s disease, which causes abnormally high copper levels (remember how we said that too much zinc lowered copper levels in the body?)

(Read The full Article » » » »)

Tags: causes of zinc deficiency, hair loss, hair loss treatments, healing, iron, sources of zinc, zinc

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