I just had a recent patient stop by my Los Angeles office to bring me a custom cake (the design of the head was made of frosting). This is a beautiful (HUGE) treat, and my staff and I are enjoying it as I am typing this. Just a fun surprise that I wanted to share with my readership. The cake could feed 50 people so my staff ended the day by bringing cake home for their family and kids. Click the photo to enlarge.
Hello Dr. Rassman,
On wikipedia I read that gamma linolenic can inhibit 5 alpha-reductase. I was wondering how effective taking gla would be and if you have observed its affect on anyone. Thank you ahead of time.
Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) is an essential fatty acid (EFA) in the omega-6 family that is found primarily in plant-based oils. You likely eat GLA every day if you eat food prepared with plant-based oils. The internet is a wonderful resource and sites such as Wikipedia have lots of information, but sometimes too much information can be confusing and misleading. GLA to my knowledge has not been observed to grow hair.
There are many oral vitamins and minerals which have suggestive evidence for preventing hair loss. This site may have interest for our readers, but I can not take a position on the recommendations it contains.
With all do respect Mr. or should I say Dr. Rassman, I think you are wrong about saw palmetto sir. It has done miracles for me. It is in the supplement I use.
Good for you!
However, I do not recall stating saw palmetto does NOT work (see here, here, here, here). I always state that using nutritional supplements does not have firm scientific basis or evidence. This may be due to the lack of such studies, but I am sure that there are herb and minerals that benefit many medical ailments. Furthermore, nutritional supplements such as saw palmetto are not regulated by the FDA so the active ingredients and the potencies can vary from each manufacturer. As such my motto has consistently been and still is, “It is a buyer beware market”.
Hi Dr.Rassman
i’m 27 yr old and have been taking finasteride for a week now, i have been prescribed finepecia as propecia is not available in india, my doc says that both of em are same, anyways my concern is that i have been having testicular pain after the 2nd day of use, its mild but remains, will it subside? also i am very much concern about the sexual side effects. i have recently quit smoking and in college i have had my fair share of marijuana…will these things aggravate the side effects. what do u suggest should i stop it or continue ?
Smoking cigarettes and using marijuana can have negative sexual side effects independent of Propecia use. With respect to testicular pain after starting Propecia, I have occasionally heard reports of this as a relatively rare side effect. Usually the pain is not significant and will subside. However, it is more important to check with your doctor and notify him/her of this problem since the testicular pain may signify other serious medical problems unrelated to the Propecia use.
This question is for William Rassman. I understand that in the studies of both rogaine and propecia, some men on placebos in the control group had actually slowed their hair loss down and even some regrew their hair. I would like an understanding of this. If a man assumes he will grow hair, can the mind trick the body into growing growing hair? If nothing is blocking the DHT and there are no other medications used I find this puzzling.
What you are referring to is known as the “placebo effectâ€. The placebo effect is the measurable, observable, or felt improvement in health that is NOT attributable to treatment. Read more about the placebo effect at The Skeptic’s Dictionary.
Hi, I am experiencing thinning on the top of my head, a bald patch shaped like a number ‘8’ on my crown. I also have a hydrocele which i have had for eight years, could this be a possible reason for the balding, considering that it might affect testosterone? cheers
I doubt that a hydrocele is the cause of hair loss or that it has an affect on your testosterone level. You may have male pattern hair loss. If you are concerned about hair loss, you should see a hair specialist (transplant doctor or dermatologist) to explore medical or surgical options.
I am trying to conceive with my wife and the doctor advises that I stop taking propecia during this period. If I do so, I have 2 questions:
- How long after I stop taking it will I start to see hair loss – been on it for 7 years.
- How long after I stop taking it will my body not have any its system to impact this conception process?
Thanks
Officially, you can continue taking Propecia while trying to conceive a child. From the official Propecia.com’s Possible Side Effects page: “Contact with the semen from a man being treated with PROPECIA is not a risk to the unborn child of a pregnant woman.”
However, some doctors and patients are still cautious about using Propecia when trying to conceive. Because of this, some doctors recommend you temporarily stop taking the medication during the fertile period when you are trying to conceive with your partner and best to stop for only a week when your wife is fertile. You can also stop taking Propecia for two weeks and I doubt it will have any significant negative impact on hair. I’ve written about Propecia and pregnancy before:
Hello,
I’m 17 years old, wanted to ask a question about genetics:
My hair is completely identical to the hair patterns in my mother’s side of the family. Same hairlines, cowlicks, hair type, widow’s peak, thickness, color…everything. It’s just like my mom and her father and some other relatives from that side. No one was balding there in the past 3-4 generations, for sure.On my father’s family there is balding in most men, yet their hair is completely different than mine. My brother has the same hair pattern as they and he’s balding in early age. Does it mean I’ll be fine?
And another question – can a hair loss skip on over 1 generation? Thanks for you time.
In short, androgenic hair loss (AGA) or male pattern balding (MPB) is genetic and can skip generations. Genetic hair loss can be either from your mother or your father’s side (with a slight favoring towards the mother’s side). I couldn’t say with any authority whether or not you’ll not experience any hair loss. It is a wait and see game at this point.
In the end, if you have the gene for AGA or MPB it doesn’t really matter where it came from, unless you would like to blame your mother or father. In that case, just flip a coin.
A study published a few weeks ago indicated that the blood serum level of certain cancer medications, when ingested along with a meal and washed down by a cup of grapefruit juice, can be enhanced by up to nine times. This enabled patients who had been prescribed pills 5x daily on an empty stomach to cut their intake to 1x daily, as well as making their regimens much more affordable to them.
Can grapefruit juice be used to enhance the absorption of eiether finasteride or dutasteride? What about when taken along with a meal?
I have read that grapefruit juice impacts drugs. Unfortunately, I don’t know any particulars about enhancing absorption of hair loss drugs. Read the following references:
Doc,
You have stated in previous answers that no matter what treatment a male is on, Male pattern baldness will eventually catch up. I do not see how this is possible since drugs such as Dutasteride can block up to 90% DHT when taken on 0.5mg form. Lets say it is approved in five years time for MPB by the FDA and taken along with minoxidil twice a day, how would MPB be able to catch up since the main factor; DHT is blocked?
Are then any studies that actually back up your opinion/theory?
If this is the case then surely every male suffereing from MPB including myself is throwing their money down the drain?
I suspect MPB is not singularly dependent on the concentration of DHT alone. Small amounts of DHT (the 10-20% that still is produced, even with taking dutasteride) can still trigger hair loss. Case in point, there are a few of my patients who have chosen to take dutasteride, but they still lose hair. I do not believe taking medications such as finasteride or dutasteride is “throwing their money down the drain,†because I have seen clear evidence on many of my patients that it does work! All medications have limitations — yes, including dutasteride and finasteride. For example, you can take the most potent anti-oxidant anti-aging medication, but you will still grow old and look your age.
Hi. I’m a little confused about the FDA ‘clearance’ of the LaserComb. I’ve read on some websites that this only covers the safety of the product but there is still no proof that it is effective in regrowing hair. Is this FDA clearance conclusive evidence that the clinical trials are correct and the LaserComb does in fact regrow hair? Is there a difference between ‘clearance’ and ‘approval’?
I am not sure about the implication of clearance or approval but it seems to be more of a semantic problem. The FDA has approved / cleared the use of the laser for the purpose of hair growth, but I believe it was approved because the laser has been shown to be safe in predicate medical devices that are similar. I have written extensively about this matter before.
I was taking lipodrene for like 5months to lose some extra body weight. I decide to stop taking it, and when I did I realized that my hair was starting to fall out. It has been 7 months since taking the lipodrene pill and my hair is thinning and I have loss about almost half my hair. It is really noticeable that I have lost my hair. Why is my hair falling out and when is it going to stop and finally grow back. What hair growing shampoo should I use to help it grow back?
I am going to assume that you are a female and that what you are telling me about is not genetic hair loss. I do not know why your hair is falling out. There may be reasons other than the use of lipodrene, such as anemia, thyroid problems or iron deficiency. You need a physical examination and a good medical history. You may be noticing something coincidental.
I do not know of any hair growing shampoos in existence. It is a buyer beware market.
hi
about six years ago i lost my hair to alopecia. i found out a few months ago that i was pregnant. The last month my hair has been falling out in clumps just as it did six years ago. although i am scared i’ll lose all my hair again, i am more worried that i may pass the alopecia on to my unborn child. is it common that a child may suffer from alopecia because the mother has? please help
I do not understand what is happening to you. Some types of alopecia are passed from mother to child. I would want to know more about your hair loss.
Dear Dr,
I’m 24 and have had very thick hair all my life, though my father is bald and started losing his hair in his late teens. (My mother’s father was not bald, and everyone on her side of the family has thick hair). I’m spending this summer doing research in Egypt, and shortly after I’d arrived I noticed hair falling out while shampooing and drying my hair. I think the worst was about 10-14 strands in one shower. I’m wondering whether I’m starting to go bald, or whether I’m losing hair because of the climate (maybe it’s not falling out so much as drying and breaking?). I had been taking extra vitamin A (25,000 IU) for acne, but have stopped that because I read on the internet that large doses of vitamin A can cause hair loss. I have also started using “anti-hair fall conditioner” which they sell here, but not, so far as I’m aware, in the States. Over the two weeks after those first few days, I didn’t notice much hair falling out at all. Yesterday however about 10 hairs or so came out while shampooing and drying, and today maybe 5 or 6. Out of curiosity, I took a picture of the back of my head, and was surprised to notice what looks like a bald spot. Now, I don’t know many people here in Cairo, so I’ve got a bit of extra time on my hands to worry. Am I overreacting? Is this just climate related “hair fall”? In the pictures I’ve included, does it look like I’m starting to bald? Is that just what the back of my head is supposed to look like? (I hadn’t, before this concern arose, taken many pictures of the back of my head). One of the photos is of my frontal hair line. I’ve always had a pronounced widow’s peak, but maybe it’s been receding without my noticing? This worry has become a major distraction from my work. Please help me figure out if I am going bald or not. I’ll be here until August, and have no way of seeing a trichologist until I’m back in the states. Should I start Rogaine now (supposing I can get it here)? If I wait two months to start it, will I have missed the opportunity to halt the onset of baldness?
You can use my photos, but please conceal my face and don’t use my name. I realize it’s difficult to give a prognosis at a distance, but I really would appreciate your best guess on my condition. Not sure this is relevant, but I thought I should mention that when hair does come out while I’m washing, drying, or combing my hair, it often makes a kind of a pop or snap, which might be the hair breaking. Also, most of the hair that comes out is white at the scalp-side tip.
Thanks so much for your help
First, thank you for granting me permission to use your photos.
I don’t think anything severe is going to happen to your hair for the next few months. Don’t stress yourself out about it. When you return to the United States, come visit me if you can (I’m in California) and I will map out your hair for miniaturization and that will let you know if you are truly balding or not. Not much else I can offer via the internet without examining you. The best FDA approved medication for treating hair loss is Propecia (finasteride 1mg). We lose 100 hairs/day and that is standard in everyone. You can hear your hair popping and snapping? That’s an interesting one, for sure.
I just joined Hair Club and spent 2,000 to join because I notice hair loss on my crown. Did i waste my money? Is this a scam and are they allow to do this false advertisement? I just had my first appoitment but I did sign a contract. Just wondering if I got scammed
You need to educate yourself before entering any program or signing any contract. It is not difficult to get information these days through the internet to compare different products and services. Hair Club is a company that offers systems (wigs) with various attachment mechanisms. These systems can be expensive over time. You should be able to meet with others who had the systems or treatments that are being offered to make the judgments you need. Hair Club also has a medical group that offers hair transplant services. Hair Club is a reputable organization offering many options for hair loss, but you should always do your research.