Hair Foundation Blog

In a recent ABC News story, “After Hair Loss at 11, Shame Ruins Woman’s Singing Career,” the Hair Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Council (SAC) member, Dr. Valerie Callender, offers some background on hair loss and treatment experiences from her dermatology practice.

The story begins with a young woman who has suffered from hair loss since age 11. It came from a heredity condition and it was quite traumatizing for her.

According to the American Hair Loss Association, hair loss has been called a ”devastating disease of the spirit.”

For Dr. Callender, she has experience with patients suffering from hair loss. She said, “As a dermatologist, the longest office visit I have is when I have a hair loss patient in the room. We think of it as our crown and glory. In Western civilization being attractive is having healthy, thick, long hair and when you start losing it, it’s devastating.”

Hair loss can be caused by a number of factors including aging, heredity, or allergies. Recently actress January Jones from AMC’s “Mad Men” spoke out about her thinning hair on top after utilizing hair dye.

Callender said, “As a clinical dermatologist, the first thing I think about with allergies and hair loss is the chemicals in hair grooming procedures or treatments. The number one reason for an allergic reaction to a chemical is hair dyes.”

Additional reasons for hair loss can come from scalp dermatitis, allergies to fragrances found in skin care products, soaps and lotions, and mold and yeasts on the scalp.

But the most common hair loss is called androgenetic alopecia. This comes from aging.

Callender explained, “Basically, what men have is pretty easy. In contrast, women are more complicated. We can have so many different causes of hair loss. A work-up in women is really, really important. You need to see a dermatologist to determine the cause.”

For the ABC News story, Callender said the woman’s hereditary hair loss is “rare, but not uncommon.” Women will suffer from thinning hair after menopause due to losing estrogen and progesterone while male hormones (“androgens”) are “unmasked.”

She explained of men, “They lose it not only on their scalp, but on their body and we get hair on our face and chin where we don’t like it.”

Hair loss treatments include over-the-counter hair products such as Rogaine but it must be done on a continuous basis or hair will again fall out.

Other options include low-light treatment using a laser comb, hair transplants, hair pieces and hair systems.

If you have any questions about hair loss treatments, feel free to contact us at info@thehairfoundation.org.

Berg Pharma, a Boston-based pharmaceutical company focused on discovery and development of new treatments in cancer and metabolic diseases, has announced the start of its new clinical trial, “Phase I Dose-Escalation Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability and Pharmacokinetics of a Topical Compound 31543 in Adult Patients Receiving Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Breast Cancer.”

The trial will be conducted at New York City’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Here’s more details about the news.

In the June issue of InStyle, it devotes a page to thinning hair for women of different ages. Throughout the article, there’s references to Hair Foundation’s partner products and council members.

Take a look.

For women in their 20s, birth control pills and crash diets can cause thinning hair. A daily supplement with fish oil can help if hair problems comes from dietary issues. A leave-in conditioner with caffeine is also a good option.

One product to try is Nioxin Diamax thickening treatment. This is made by the Hair Foundation’s partner Procter and Gamble.

For women in their 40s, Dr. Jerry Shapiro, a member of Hair Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Council said, “As you age, hair follicles start shrinking, generating strands that are thinner.” In addition, hair is starting to get grey, dull and fragile. It should be nourished with a scalp treatment that includes arginine, a major ingredient in hair-strengthening ingredient kertain. For extra hydration, use a weekly deep-conditioning mask.

For 50+ women, menopause will cause estrogen levels to drop, which could cause hair shedding. Speak with your doctor about Minoxidil, a FDA-approved drug for regrowth. This can be found in Rogaine, a Johnson&Johnson product.

To fluff out your hair, another suggested product is Toppix, a Spencer Forrest product and Hair Foundation partner. Sprinkle the keratin protein powder on your hair and see fuller results.

And regardless of age, if you’re looking for an at-home laser treatment for listless hair, try the HairMax laser comb. One of the Hair Foundation’s partners, the company received FDA approval in 2007 for the over-the-c0unter genetic hair loss treatment. And last year, Hair Max received approval for its HairMax LaserComb® Lux 9. It treats androgenetic alopecia (female pattern hair loss) and the promotion of hair growth.

The laser comb is simple to use. By discharging a low-level laser to raise blood flow and circulation to the scalp, it will energize hair follicles for growth. Using it three times a week for 15 minutes, you could begin seeing results in 12 weeks, according InStyle.

For additional questions about hair loss, check out our online videos.

In the recent article, Anti-aging beauty tips can help you prove that age is just a number, it cites thinning hair as one of the most upsetting signs of aging, right behind wrinkles. Noting a recent study by Nioxin, a salon treatment for thinning hair, it found that women are especially concerned about seeing their hair lose density.

Dr. Valerie Callender, a member of the Hair Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Council (SAC), contributed to the article by offering the following hair anti-aging tips.

She notes the following:

For thicker, fuller looking hair

Full, healthy hair is the ultimate sign of youth and 87 percent of women ages 18-55 feel a strong enough connection to their hair to consider it a part of their personality. But as chance might have it, as many as three out of four people in the United States experience hair thinning.

“Thinning hair can be a result of poor scalp health,” says Callender. “It’s important to clean and refresh the scalp.”

Eat right

A healthy diet affects not only weight, but can help maintain healthy, lustrous hair and glowing skin as well. “The right diet nourishes the entire body from the scalp down,” says Callender. A diet rich in protein and iron is essential for a healthy scalp, and foods full of antioxidants promote glowing skin. For this purpose, enjoy salmon and beans for healthy, lustrous hair, and blackberries, strawberries and plums for radiant skin.

Are you interesting in learning additional anti-aging tips for your hair? Please visit the Hair Foundation’s blog, which includes tips by Dr. Zoe Diana Draelos, a member of the Hair Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

It’s a tough time of year to think about our diets and working out with so many holiday distractions. With New Year’s quickly approaching, many of us are already thinking about resolutions. I know I have but I haven’t written them down yet.

One of the most popular ones is to lose weight and a lot of people choose to do that by dieting.

In a recent Telegraph article, the question was posed by a reader whether there’s a link between diet and hair loss. After a few months on a low-carb, high-protein diet (think Atkins diet), the woman noticed thinner hair. She asked if there was anything else she could do to help with the hair loss through either diet or treatments.

The question was answered by three different experts: a general practioner, a nutritional therapist and a registered dietician.

Here’s their responses.

GP (Rupal Shah)

In a recent People magazine article, actress Selma Blair talked about the physical changes she faced after child birth. One of these is hair loss.

Blair said,

This is so not glamorous, but it’s true: I need to take longer showers so that I can collect the hair that falls out and throw it away so I don’t clog the drain. Why do actresses never talk about that?”

She added that three months after giving birth, her hair started falling out. Blair didn’t want to combat the problem with hair extensions and made the decision to let nature take its course.

The actress isn’t alone in her post-pregnancy hair loss problems. According to an ABC story, women may see their hair becoming thicker during pregnancy but afterwards, hormonal changes will affect this as hair decides “to go into old age at the same time and decide to come out.”

This hair loss is called telogen effluvium. It is defined as “the excessive shedding of hair that occurs one to five months following pregnancy,” as defined by The American Pregnancy Association. It is commonly seen three months after pregnancy and it can take up to six to 12 months for hair to return to normal.

This temporary hair loss has affected between 40 to 50 percent of women.

In addition, the hair loss isn’t most likely to be noticed by others; however, if you are seeing bald spots, you should talk with your doctor. The majority of new moms do see the hair loss cease.

Ways to combat the hair loss is go with a shorter hair cut (now you know where the name Mom Hair comes from) during this time. Others have cut their hair and donated it to Locks of Love for wigs.

Other recommendations for your hair during pregnancy and after delivery includes the following from the American Pregnancy Association’s website.

• Consult with your health care provider to ensure a proper balance of hormones
• Avoid pigtails, cornrows, hair weaves, braids and tight hair rollers which can pull and stress your hair
• Eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables, which contain flavonoids and antioxidants that may provide protection for the hair follicles and encourage hair growth
• Use shampoos and conditioners that contain biotin and silica
• Hair is fragile when it is wet, so be gentle; avoid fine tooth combs
• If you need to use blow dryers and other heated hair instruments, try to use the cool setting
• Supplement your diet with the following nutrients including Vitamin B complex, Biotin, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Zinc

For many people facing thinning scalp hair, a number of remedies including reputable medical therapies and hair restoration procedures can help restore hair loss and slow down future ones. However some people, including those with thinning eyebrows, aren’t sure where to turn for help.

In a recent International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) press release, it tells of a new remedy for thinning eyebrows. The treatment came to light after Denise Goolsby, 37, of Virginia Beach, Va. started noticing her eyebrows were beginning to thin while in her 20s.

Goolsby explained,

“I always had fine eyebrows, so when I noticed them getting thinner I tried tattooing as a first step — but it only made the problem worse. It got to the point where I actually had no eyebrows left, and it became too much to deal with to pencil them in with cosmetics every day.”

So what did Goolsby do to remedy the situation?

She contacted Dr. Edwin Epstein, a Virginia Beach hair restoration surgeon and former ISHRS president, who has conducted hair restoration surgery on other areas of the body than the scalp, including eyebrows. For Goolsby’s case through outpatient surgery, tiny single hair follicular units from a donor area at the back of her head had been transplanted to the eyebrow area.

Epstein explained that donor hair is selected based on whether or not it has the appropriate texture and orientation to lay as eyebrow hair after transplantation. He noted that this type of non-scalp hair restoration can be a good option for many patients with hair loss, but prospective patients should always contact a hair restoration physician and discuss this alternative before taking any action.

The transplanted hair will slowly grow for several months and for Goolsby, her eyebrows were fully grown within six months. Because transplanted hair continually grows over time, her eyebrows will need to be regularly trimmed.

In response to the procedure, Goolsby said, ”My new eyebrows look great, and it’s so refreshing not to feel self-conscious about them after years of trying to cover up the noticeable hair loss,” said Goolsby.

Recent statistics

This summer, the ISHRS released a recent member survey and disclosed that 92.8 percent of hair transplant procedures performed in 2010 targeted the scalp area while 7.2 percent of procedures targeted non-scalp areas of the body. This included eyebrows (4.4 percent), face/moustache/beard (1.5 percent) and eyelashes (0.6 percent).

In the period covering 2008 to 2010, hair restoration procedures conducted on eyelashes, eyebrows and faces rose 14.2 percent while the highest hair restoration procedures for the scalp, facial (moustache/beard) and chest hair restorations had taken place within the United States.

Meanwhile, Asia performed the greatest number of eyelash, eyebrow and pubic area hair restorations.

To learn more about hair restoration procedures, please visit the Hair Foundation’s website at www.hairfoundation.org

Autumn and Hair Loss

As the seasons begin to change in cooler areas, leaves will to turn colors and fall off trees. Other changes during the fall season includes women and hair loss.

In a recent six-year study by Swedish scientists, it found that healthy women are more prone to losing their hair in the fall than during other seasons. After following 800 women, the study found fall was the prime time for hair loss.

Why that time of year as opposed to another?

The study explained that the life cycle of a human hair is between two and six years. During this time, 90 percent of hair is in the growth stage while the remaining 10 percent is in a resting stage before it falls out.

The resting state can last from two to six months. During this time, hair does not fall out as much.The study had found that the women had the most “resting” hair during July. This may be attributed to the body holding on to hair during the summer as a protector from the heat and the sun.

With a cycle lasting about about three months (or about 100 days), fast forward to the present time of year. This means an October start for hair to begin falling out again.

Have you noticed additional hair falling out lately? In addition to a potential seasonal effect on hair loss, there are a number of other triggers.

Divorce, Smoking Affect Hair Loss

In other recent research on women and hair loss, a new study has found that in addition to genetics, a strong predictor of midline (central) hair loss is marital status. Whether it is losing a spouse through a divorce or death, the risk for thinning hair is higher than for married or single women.

The study’s subjects were 84 female identical twins. All participants completed lifestyle questionnaires, incurred hormone blood level testing and participated in a photo analysis of their hair.

Why the hair loss for these women? Stress

The study’s author Dr. Bahman Guyuron, chairman of the plastic surgery department Case Western Reserve School of Medicine noted, ”Most likely, stress is the aspect of a troubling divorce that appears to lead to hair loss among women.”

In addition, the study also found  that excessive drinking and/or smoking also boosts women’s risk for hair loss.

If you have experienced any of these problems along with subsequently hair loss, you should contact your physician.

To learn more about hair loss, please see the Hair Foundation’s physician videos.

In a recent Yale study, researchers have found that signals from stem cells within skin’s fatty layer may spur hair growth in mice, promoting a possible new treatment for baldness in men and women.

According to the study’s senior author Valerie Horsley, an assistant professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at Yale University, she noted in a recent press release, “If we can get these fat cells in the skin to talk to the dormant stem cells at the base of the hair follicles, we might be able to get hair to grow again.”

For men battling male pattern baldness, stem cells remain in their hair follicle roots; however, they lose the ability to stimulate hair growth. These stem cells need signals from within the skin for hair to grow but where to find the signals has been a mystery.

According to the Yale study, researchers discovered that after hair dies, the layer of fat in the scalp that comprises most of the skin’s thickness shrinks; however, as hair growth begins, this fat layer will expand.

In this study using mice, researchers found their hair regeneration required a type of stem cell involved in the creation of new skin fat cells and that these cells produced the molecules required to produce hair growth. Once these imperfect mice received injections of stem cells from healthy mice, hair follicles began to grow.

Previously, studies on men have with bald parts of their scalp have disclosed they have the same number of hair stem cells as hairy areas. With these injections, scientists found that an 86 percent kick start in hair growth. However, the question now is whether or not these stem cell injections can work on humans and stimulate hair growth.

Additional studies will need to take place and it could take quite some time to determine its effect on humans but this is good news for those suffering with baldness.

The report was recently disclosed in the September issue of the journal, Cell.

If you are interested in learning more about hair loss, please visit the Hair Foundation’s new physician videos. The series includes a video on hair loss.

As we celebrate National Hair Loss Awareness month, there are many reasons for hair loss and its ensuing effect on people. In a 2006 Consumer Survey by the Hair Foundation’s partner, the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), here’s a sample of responses to the following hair loss questions:

What is hair loss caused by?

•  Adults (82 percent) correctly identified heredity as a cause of hair loss.
• Nearly six in 10 adults believe stress (58 percent) and medical causes (58 percent) can trigger hair loss.