Hi Dr. Rassman
I just watched a timelapse video of a man age for 17 years, which shows the balding process really nicely. I noticed that his hairline recedes very slowly and gradually. But his crown thins all of the sudden at age 44. Can you explain why this happened?
Thanks
This is a great video illustration! This man took multiple photos daily for nearly two decades. As to why he lost his hair in this way… it’s all in the genetics.
See the video below:
Hello doctor, I don’t know if you already have seen this but I think you might find this interesting. Maybe you have comments on it?
Thanks for sending the video. I had not seen it before. The video is of Dr. Ken Washenik from Aderans Research discussing where his company is at in the hair cloning race at the ICRAH (International Congress Research Against Hair Loss) meeting in France earlier this year. Even though it seems his voice was replaced with a female speaker in the video, this is very exciting stuff. It appears that we are getting closer to the final solution to the hair loss problem.
I’ve embedded the video below:
Here’s a hilarious video from CNN about conspiracy theories and President Obama’s mysterious scalp scar that I thought you all might enjoy…
I wanted to show you some interview videos we took of patients that have had SMP done, so you can hear what they have to say about their hair loss journey.
Happy Friday!
Hey! I’m a balding film maker out in LA, and I recently shot a short comedic film about my hair loss – take a look…would love it if you posted…I think many people would relate. Bald is beautiful!!
Link to the entire 10 min film: Chris Weisberg is Growing Bald
Keep in mind there is some cursing in the video, so if you’re at work or somewhere that requires the F word not to be uttered, you should probably wait to watch the video. It’s very funny, though! Here’s the trailer:
One of my favorite BaldingBlog contributors (who shall remain nameless) sent in some great insights about FDA advisory committees. We’ve previously posted his thoughts on the LaserComb, clinical trials, and FDA trials. This post will be used in the future as a point of reference:
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The recent finasteride and dutasteride opinions noted in the Dec 3 Balding Blog posting are not from the FDA, but are from an independent group termed the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee. The committee is composed of 18 voting members (and several non-voting members) – mainly oncologists, with some statisticians, epidemiologists, and a patient representative, the former mainly from academic institutions.
The FDA eventually considers the committees opinion in approval or withdrawal of drugs (or “expansion†of a drug label for a new indication). The FDA usually follows the recommendations of advisory committees, as the committees’ recommendations are presumably “data-driven†and the FDA typically comes to similar conclusions. However, as in the case of many decisions that are split or where significant differences in interpretation of risk-benefit exist, the FDA has occasionally approved or rejected a drug against the recommendation of an advisory panel. Examples of split Advisory decisions (where a majority vote did occur) are the opinions this year related to several weight loss drugs.
The Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 17-0 against expanding the label for finasteride to include prevention of prostate cancer. A unanimous vote by FDA Advisory Committees is rare. I have no special knowledge of the meeting. This decision was based in part on data from the 19,000 patient Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial and the belief that the data did not support the risk benefit profile (i.e. possibility of increased aggressiveness of tumor did not outweigh reduced risk of low-grade tumors). As with all such committee meetings, which are open to the public (including listening via live webcasts), the transcript will be published and available within a few weeks at the FDA’s web site.
However, interested readers can go to the FDA web site now and access the Briefing Document and presentations given to Committee members from the drug company seeking approval. This information is public and typically posted several days before the meeting. The meeting was held on Dec 1, but the date of posting was Nov 26 (see under Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee). The info can be found at the following links [note – all are PDF files]:
Nearly 3 years ago we posted about limb regeneration, and at the time I stated, “I read this material with great anticipation that someday we will see such breakthroughs available to us all, but I couldn’t say when that might happen.” While I was initially skeptical that this would be made available for hair loss patients so soon, Dr. Cooley’s presentation at the recent ISHRS meeting shows that it can be effective for hair.
Someone recently pointed out a video from CBS News about extracellular matrix that aired in early 2008 that I don’t recall seeing, so I wanted to bring it to light here:
Video: Regenerated Body Parts
I found this humorous clip from i love lucy where ricky thinks he’s going bald and lucy gives him a hair growing treatment. Very funny!
I love this. Thanks for sending it! This is a clip from season 1 of “I Love Lucy” that originally aired in 1952. There’s not much more I can add here, so just watch the video below and enjoy!
From this past weekend’s season premiere of SNL, a fake commercial for Bosley pokes fun at the use of body hair in transplantation. If you can’t see the video below, here’s the direct link.
Hi doctors. I’m a big fan of your work and this site. Thank you for what you do!!
I just saw this video by Dr Umar using beard hair taken with the FUE technique as the donor into the line scar from the strip technique. I know how you feel about body hair transplants and I agree that the results from using body hair on front/top of the scalp generally look unimpressive, but what about using body hair densely packed into the strip scar? Even if the hairs never get too long or have a different growth cycle, its just being used in the scar.
I have a scar and it doesn’t bother me, but if I have the option to essentially eliminate the appearance of the line I might consider something like this. I wanted to get your thoughts about using body hair for this and whether one could use hair from another part of the body for the same thing (why not chest hair for example). Check it out:
Thanks again
While I do have reservations about using body hair transplants, my biggest problem is when they’re used in the frontal hairline or top of the scalp. That being said, the use of beard hair to transplant into a linear scalp scar (from a hair transplant) is reasonable. The beard hair has a thicker hair shaft than most scalp hair and it would work well to fill in the scar.
I have used it on a limited basis, particularly when a plastic surgeon supplies me the beard skin after a facelift. The few cases I have done (one with FUE) have worked nicely.
As I mentioned in a past post, I cannot give an endorsement of Dr. Umar because I have not reviewed his work beyond what I’ve seen in YouTube videos. The video is impressive, though it is a bit long, so for those that don’t want to watch the whole thing just skip to about 2:30 to see how the linear scars disappeared.
Dr uses Latisse on scalp. Here is the youtube link
I’d consider this as human experimentation and there is no evidence that Latisse (bimatoprost) grows hair on the scalp. It was FDA approved for growing longer eyelashes, but it is not approved for use on the scalp. Could it work? Possibly, but I don’t know why you’d want to be the guinea pig. Aside from potential safety risks in applying it all over the scalp, there is the financial part of it since the drug is normally sold in a very tiny tube meant to apply to eyelashes.
I’ve embedded the video here:
Dear Dr Rassman,
You mentioned bimatoprost a week or so ago. Has anyone you know tried using it for scalp hair growth? Apparently some doctors have been experimenting (see link). As a rule, of course, one should wait for clinical trials. But if, according to the FDA, the drug is safe enough to put in your eyes for glaucoma, surely applying it to your scalp wouldn’t be dangerous?
I have heard some scuttlebutt in the hair professional community that bimatoprost does not work on the balding scalp, but I really do not know much about it as I do not use or promote it. I wouldn’t want to speculate on the dangers, as I don’t know enough about the medication at this point.
That being said, the comedy site FunnyOrDie.com created a parody of the Latisse commercials that Brooke Shields did. Check it out:
Hey doc,
I know you’re not a fan of the various hair loss treatment lasers and I found this video that backs up your opinion. I thought you’d be interested in seeing it.
Thanks for sending this in. The video appears to have been produced by Feller Medical, and the basic argument it makes is that the laser doesn’t penetrate the skin, therefore it can’t possibly do what is claimed.
I’ve embedded the video here for all to see:
Hi,
I was watching this video on youtube
This gentleman, John Crisler, D.O. says finasteride can smash an endocrine system ans leave you impotent, even in cases where a person has been taking it for as little as week. Can you speak to this? Is this doctor, just pushing his own concoctions. This is quite scary, no?
Thanks in advance
In my opinion, he is just promoting his own product. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and just because someone has two letters behind their name, it does not make them an authority. Yes, that includes me.
For what its worth, in the video he says he has NEVER prescribed finasteride. So how can he be such an authority just by reading unverified posts on a “Yahoo discussion forum”? I have been prescribing Propecia for over 10 years now and I have not seen a patient with such “terrible” and “irreversible” side effects. I do see some patients (1-2%) that have side effects, but when they stop or lower the dosage of the medication, the side effects reversed. Maybe I am just lucky.
My friend Dr. Robert Bernstein was recently featured in a couple of segments on the Fox News Channel’s morning show, Fox and Friends. I got the 1st segment posted in a video below:
I can’t figure out how to embed the video for the 2nd segment (“After the Show”) on the page, so I’ll just link to it below. I hope I’m not spoiling any surprises, but in this clip, Dr. Bernstein gets asked about treating a seal for hair loss. And no, they were not talking about the singer.