Hair Foundation Blog

In newly released research on finasteride conducted over two years, it found that hair growth increased in four scalp areas affected by male pattern baldness and reduced hair loss in two or more of these areas. This varied on the patient’s age.

The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology published the research online last week.

A group of doctors from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. conducted the research through randomized, double-blind multicenter studies, according to HealthDay News. Men with vertex hair loss took either finasteride (1 mg/d) or an identical placebo for two years. The study had been divided into two age groups: 18-41 and 41-60.

To determine the effectiveness of the finasteride treatment, standard global photographic assessment of the vertex, anterior/mid-scalp regions, and frontal and temporal hairlines had been reviewed to see if it worked for treating male pattern baldness.

When looking at the results versus the placebo, researchers discovered that finasteride increased hair growth in the four scalp regions after two years of treatment. In addition, the young men treated with finasteride incurred less hair loss in the four regions but the older group experienced less hair loss in the vertex and anterior/mid-scalp regions.

Drug-related sexual side effects for both age groups were slightly higher with the finasteride treatment as compared to those who took the placebo.

The authors of the study wrote, “In conclusion, treatment with finasteride (1 mg) improves scalp hair growth and decreases hair loss in the four regions of the scalp affected with male pattern hair loss. The greatest effects were seen in the vertex and anterior/mid-scalp regions, with greater efficacy seen in younger compared with older men.”

Merck, the manufacturer of finasteride, provided funding for the study with several of the study’s authors having financial ties to the company.

Dr. William M. Parsley, M.D, FAAD, a member of the Hair Foundation’s Board of Trustees, recently discussed tattooing over keloid scalp scars from hair restoration surgery in a Hair Foundation blog post. Parsley talked about tattooing over keloid scalp scars from hair restoration surgery (the area they harvest from) not as an option to conceal hair loss.

But now this alternative exists. The Britain-based company, HIS (Hair-Ink-Skin) Hair, has launched a technique to hide baldness by using a form of tattoos. The procedure, called micro hair technique (MHT) scalp pigmentation, gives the appearance of a short, cropped ‘buzz’ hair by applying different shades of specifically-blended pigments to the scalp.

This copies the size, shape and density of micro hairs, according to The Daily Mail.

The procedure costs on average of £2,000 (US $3,151) and was developed by HIS Hair founder Ian Watson. Some of the allure is coming from its lower cost as compared to other hair loss remedies.

Watson got the idea for the procedure when he developed alopecia in his mid-twenties after his older brother passed away from cancer. 

Sensitive to his hair loss, Watson asked his brother’s widow, Ranbir Rai-Watson, to grab a fine pen and draw dots on his scalp, in an effort to create a “cropped” haircut. While the ink washed off on the first attempts, after a decade of research the procedure has been tweaked by hair loss experts and English and Australian semi-permanent make-up artists.

The company is now opening clinics in Europe and the U.S.with this procedure.

Celebrity hairdresser Adee Phelan has opened the company’s newest clinic in Manchester, England; he is also a satisfied customer who’s had the procedure. Phelan said, “This is a great permanent, non-surgical option that can disguise everything from male- pattern baldness to receding hair lines and scars on your head. I thought losing my hair didn’t bother me but even I felt younger and more confident afterwards.

“And it looks so natural, most people don’t even know I’ve had it done.”

According to the Daily Mail, statistics show that 10 million men from the UK suffer from hair loss. By the age of 50, those affected by male pattern hair loss reaches 50 percent. Many in the country believe this new alternative will be great for hair loss.

If you have questions about hair loss, please contact us at info@hairloss.org or check out our online videos.

Recently, Aderans Research has been in the news a lot for its work in cell-based solutions. In January, the company discussed its Ji Gami™ family of cell products at the 2012 Winter Clinical Dermatology Conference in Maui and its expansion  to four new cities for its ongoing trials.

The Hair Foundation’s Vice Chair, Ken Washenik, M.D., Ph. D. is involved in the trials through his role as Aderan’s Chief Executive Officer.

Aderans is a subsidiary of Aderans Co., Ltd, the world’s largest wig manufacturer, and affiliate of Bosley, global leaders in surgical hair restoration, where Washenik is the Medical Director.

In this video from the 4th International Congress Research Against Hair Loss , Washenik discussed the most advances in hair cloning.

Take a look.

Presentation by Dr. Ken Washenik on Hair Cloning

In a recent Oprah Magazine article, Your Biggest Hair Problems – Solved!, one of the topics discussed was thinning hair. Within the article, the Hair Foundation’s Dr. Jerry Shapiro, a member of the Scientific Advisory Council and an adjunct professor of dermatology at New York University, was quoted in a passage about hair supplements as an alternative to help thinning hair.

Called, The Truth About Hair Growth Supplements, Shapiro said:

“I have never seen a study that proves vitamin supplements work to make hair grow longer or thicker. If you’re losing hair, supplements can help stop or slow the shedding—but only if you have a deficiency in certain vitamins.”

Shapiro further suggested supplements for those whose blood tests have shown they are low in vitamin D, zinc, or iron, according to Oprah.com. He noted that he doesn’t test for deficiency in biotin, a vitamin most commonly found in supplements promoted to help hair growth.  Shapiro added,

“If you were truly biotin deficient—which is extremely rare in this country—you would be too sick to make it into my office.”

In a second section to the story it discusses, Illusions of Thickness. Two products are suggested for thinning hair and one of them, Toppik, is made by a Hair Foundation partner, Spencer Forrest.

And readers on oprah.com rave about two products for concealing thinning hair: Toppik ($22; toppik.com), a shake-on powder made of tiny keratin fibers that cling to your existing hair to fill in sparse patches.

And in one final section for the article, it discusses areas of research for thinning hair. Currently conducting clinical trials by the drug company Allergan, is a topical hair-loss treatment that contains bimatoprost. This is the active ingredient in Latisse, which grows eyelashes.

Allergan is currently seeking FDA approval. The treatment could be available in 2014, according to Oprah.com.

While not cited in this article, a few of the Hair Foundation’s doctors are involved in the clinical trials. They include Hair Foundation Chairman and President Dr. Matt Leavitt, D.O. and Treasurer Dr. Dow B. Stough, IV, MD, FAAD.

Stay tuned for more information about the trials as we will post updates in this blog.

This is a guest post by the Hair Foundation’s contributor, Dr. Alfred Soffer, M.D. Cardiologist, Glenview, IL. He is the former  Editor and Chief of the Archives of Internal Medicine of AMA and Professor of Medicine.  

In this post, Soffer discusses hair loss, false claims and natural alternatives.  

Are you worried about losing your hair? According to claims on a prominent website, this offers no problem. The company’s multicolored, multipage advertisement offers products for concerned individuals struggling with baldness, hair loss, and alopecia.

One of their products is a “hair loss survival kit, travel size.” Don’t leave home without it!

Can we assume that the kit contains either Rogaine (minoxidil) or Propecia (finasteride)? After all, they are currently the only two products in the United States proven to limit hair loss and promote hair growth. They have received FDA  approval as a result of the data obtained in scrupulously controlled clinical trials.

Our assumption is erroneous. The “ hair loss survival kit “ contains only herbal-based shampoos.

For the non-traveler, this distributor of herbal pills recommends saw palmetto and Kava root powder. Their hawking of ineffectual compounds is representative of the staggeringly large number of similar websites. One “doctor  of neuropathy” claims that “my herbal therapy for alopecia is 100% effective.”

Under the heading of “herbal hair loss treatment” another herbalist urges the consumer to “apply red pepper flesh directly to the scalp.”

All of these fanciful claims which appear on the Internet, in magazines, and in the media have one thing in common: they offer compounds which are entirely ineffective for the treatment of hair loss. In a definitive analysis, the National Council Against Health Fraud reported that herbal product vendors benefit from societies with a romanticized view that equates “natural” with “safe.”

Unfortunately the assumption that natural products are safe is false. Herbal remedies are being marketed as “dietary supplements.” As a result, consumers are being denied the most fundamental information and assurances of quality and efficacy.

It is vitally important to determine the reasons for either hair loss or poor hair growth in each individual. The status of health or disease of one’s hair can provide valuable diagnostic clues regarding the presence of pathologic phenomena  elsewhere in the body. Continued  use of  futile remedies as a substitute for clinical evaluation may result in a delay to obtaining the correct  diagnosis and instituting appropriate therapy.

The Hair Foundation’s president and chairman, Dr.Matt Leavitt, D.O. recently emphasized that diabetes can initially appear with the loss of hair. Iron deficiency and a number of other hormonal diseases, along with diabetes, may be manifested initially by hair loss or poor hair growth.

The death of Steve Jobs is a tragic example of the dangers of using futile scientifically-unproven therapy. The diagnosis of pancreatic cancer was made at a time when surgical intervention may have resulted in a full cure. Instead, Jobs insisted on first using acupuncture, colonic irrigation, and “natural” compounds for a period of nine months.

Eventually surgery was performed, but by then it was too late to effect a cure.

At the recent 2012 Winter Clinical Dermatology Conference in Maui, the Hair Foundation’s Vice Chair, Dr. Ken Washenik, M.D, Ph.D., gave a presentation called, “Emerging Therapies for Hair Loss.”  It focused on new and breakthrough treatments in hair loss, such as clinical treatments.

Another topic in Washenik’s discussion was the progress Aderans Research has made on the Ji Gami™ family of cell products. This is a key component in the company’s cell-based solutions to androgenetic alopecia (pattern hair loss), according to a press release.

Washenik serves as the company’s chief executive. Earlier this month, Aderans Research announced the expansion of its hair loss clinical trials to four new cities. With almost 350 subjects, this trial represents one of the largest for researching cell-based solutions for pattern hair loss.

Aderans Research has been a pioneer in the research and development of safe, effective cell engineered products for hair regeneration. The Atlanta-based company is a subsidiary of Aderans Co., Ltd, the world’s largest wig manufacturer, and an affiliate of Bosley, a global leader in surgical hair restoration.

In addition to his presentation on hair loss, Washenik was also a participant in an audience question and answer session comprised of practicing dermatologists.

Joining Washenik at the conference were two other Hair Foundation members. The doctors sat on the following panels.

Hair Foundation Scientific Advisory Council Member Dr. Valerie Callender, M.D

Clinical and Therapeutic Challenges in Medical Dermatology: Sweat, Hair, Pigmentary Disorders and Warts and Management of Pigment Disorders

Hair Foundation’s Board of Trustees secretary Dr. Zoe Diana Draelos,  M.D., FAAD

Cosmeceuticals in Dermatology and Clinical and Therapeutic Challenges in Appearance Procedures

Pantene’s Healthy Hair Campaign for Clean Water

Pantene, a top shampoo product produced by the Hair Foundation’s partner Proctor& Gamble, recently launched a new campaign in the Phillipines to raise awareness about the lack of access to clean water and to reduce deaths by half for those that die from it.

For young children under the age of five, more than one million will die each year from a lack of access to clean, potable water.

The campaign is called, ”Healthy Hair for Healthy Water.” According to Pantene’s corporate communication manager Anama Dimapilis, the reason for it is so “every individual is given the chance to donate a day’s supply or about two liters of clean, drinkable water in areas in the Philippines where it is most needed like in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan which was recently hit by storm Sendong.”

Dr. Greg Allgood, Director of Procter and Gamble’s Clean and Safe Drinking Water Program explained that the campaign will provide at least 17 million days of clean drinkable water for more than 25,000 people from vulnerable and remote areas that only have access to contaminated water sources.

The areas will receive PUR packets, which are powdered water-purification technology, that will be mixed into dirty and potentially deadly water;  it is then converted into clean and  drinkable water.

This campaign will run until February and the goal is to get 10 million pledges which equates to 20 million liters of clean, drinkable water.

To donate to Pantene’s campaign, interested parties can go to the Pantene Facebook page and make a pledge.

Wella Makes Marie Claire’s Top 25 List

Wella, also produced by Procter&Gamble, has one of its products in Marie Claire’s list, 25 New Products That’ll Change Your Life. The product is Wella Professionals Velvet Amplifer Style Primer.

The $16 serum smooths and thicken strands before styling your hair, which will give it a fuller and luxurious end result, according to Marie Claire.

According to Digital Journal, Barbie-maker Mattel has recently come up against pressure to produce a bald barbie doll for children suffering from hair loss. It wouldn’t be the first time the doll maker has produced one: in 2011, they created one for a four-year-old girl who suffered from cancer and lost her hair from chemotherapy treatments, according to CBS New York.

Now the company has come under increasing pressure to commercially produce a bald barbie doll for girls suffering from hair loss, Digital Journal reports.

The push is coming from a Facebook page called, Beautiful and Bald Barbie! Let’s see if we can get it made. The campaign was created by two women. One is New Jersey photographer, Jane Bingham, who lost her hair from chemotherapy treatments for lymphoma and the second is a teacher’s aide from California, Rebecca Sypin, whose 12-year-old daughter with leukemia lost her hair following treatment.

The page currently has more than 121,000 likes and more than 109,000 people talking about it.

According to Sypin, the inspiration for the page is twofold. It came from the bald Barbie Mattel made for the aforementioned young cancer sufferer and it was also created to raise awareness for anyone dealing with baldness, such as people with alopecia.

Sypin said, “My daughter didn’t care if she went bald but there were several girls that we dealt with when she was getting her treatment that were so upset, and it wasn’t so much that they were upset about the cancer. They were upset about the fact that they were going to lose their hair.”

She added she and Bingham have been told that a bald Barbie isn’t the best way for a child to deal with the problem but Sypin believes regardless, kids have to deal with baldness as it’s in front of everyone on a daily basis.

She added that kids “look in the mirror every day and know they’re different, so giving them a Barbie that looks like them isn’t throwing it in their face. I think if anything, it’s showing them that, ‘You’re not so different. You’re still you — you’re just bald’.”

Sypin believes that parents need to make their child comfortable with the baldness and a bald Barbie is one way to begin a conversation.

The two women and supporters have petitioned Mattel to produce the bald Barbie but Sypin said the company has only responded with a form letter; no one has contacted them.

Mattel has not commented.

With cold winter weather affecting many of us, it’s important to remember it can wreak havoc on your hair just as summer weather brings its own set of hair challenges. Winter’s cold air is drying and can really take a toll on hair more so than other times of the year.

Adding to winter’s cold temperature challenges is indoor heat, which creates a dry environment. Hair also loses some of its natural highlights from exposure to the sun during this time of year and hair can look a little dull in the winter. And there’s also that frustrating static that comes after your take your winter hat off.

Here’s a few tips to help you take care of your hair in the winter and enjoy the season with healthy hair.

• One of the easiest and underrated tips is to wash your hair less in the winter. Hair doesn’t needed a lot of washing, only enough to clean the dirt from your hair. Be careful in the winter that natural hair oils are not used up from too much washing.
• Add moisture to your hair by either applying an oil in your hair and keeping it in overnight. For healthy hair, remember to use a normal conditioner after shampooing.
• Extra attention may be  needed for curly hair as it is naturally drier than straight hair. In the winter, people with curly hair will continue to fight the frizzies and should either not rinse out all the conditioner or re-apply a little after towel-drying hair.
• With oily hair, apply a conditioner to the ends for hair healthy and to prevent the frizzies.
•  To battle hair static, which comes from a lack of moisture, use a brush with natural bristles.
•  Don’t keep your hair wet for great lengths of time or brush it when it’s wet.
• Towel dry your hair instead of using a blow dryer. If you do blow dry your hair, think about using a leave-in conditioner beforehand.
• Take preventative measures for your hair. Protect your hair by wearing a scarf, hat or cap. Hair is susceptible to split ends in the winter so be sure to trim them. Wear your hair in a braid, twist or a knot that can prevent the wind from damaging your hair.
• Don’t over color, streak or straighten your hair as it takes away from hair’s moisture.
• The type of products you choose to use in your hair makes a big difference, so make some good decisions and invest wisely.