Video: NHI on California Adventure TV
When we did this interview and video shoot for California Adventure TV, the host was very excited and she showed it in this piece. Can you imagine why we got excited?
And in case seeing a beautiful woman talk about hair loss treatments isn’t enough to get you to watch it, the video also gives a brief look at the Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) process.
Dr. Rassman,
Off topic, but as a former doctor working in the heart field and as a doctor who worked in the cardiac field what do you think are the biggest contributors to heart disease? Is there any one variable (e.g., high cholesterol, smoking, diabetes) that is most dangerous?
This is not a simple answer for a blog post. I will give a cursory answer to it nonetheless in the hope that what I have to say will help someone and possibly could even save a life. Apologies to those that come here for hair related posts, but this isn’t one of them.
Putting aside congenital heart disease, the things that are most dangerous for developing heart and vascular disease are the lifestyles and diets we have. There’s no one factor that I would be willing to pinpoint. What I tell people who ask heart related questions is that we are dealt a set of genetic cards… and if we win, it reflects the way we play those cards. If we keep ourselves healthy (good diet, exercise, no poisons in our system like cigarette smoking or excessive alcohol) we will live longer.
Some people are genetically programmed for high cholesterol and high body fats, so we must take control of those bad cards by going that extra mile. For example, the vegetarian who eats fruits and vegetables daily will have a lower cholesterol and lower body fat than the meat eater who sucks in daily milkshakes instead of water and consumes excessive calories with Big Macs a few times each week. Even the insulin dependent diabetic can improve his card deck with a good exercise program and controlled diet under good medical supervision. I’m not blowing any minds by saying this, I realize, but perhaps there’s one person out there that it’ll click with.
Just remember, life is fragile and you never realize it until you are given the bad news (like a cancer that you ignored when you notice rectal bleeding over the past few years or develop chest pain with your first heart attack). Those of you who think that your body is impenetrable, waking up with chest pain may indicate that you could be too late.
I see that mice are often used in studies for medicine before they are tested on humans such as this article posted recently on this site in regards to balding (here). I am not sure if anyone would have this information readily available, but how often is medicine that is successful in mice also successful in humans? I am curious to a percentage of a success/fail rate.
Thank you for your very informative site!
Animals such as mice, dogs, monkeys, etc are often used in medicine. In general, it may take many years for the study to leap from animal trials to human trials. With respect to the success and failure rates of such studies ever making to human trials, I would wildly guess that there are way more failures than successes… but I don’t have precise figures to satisfy your curiosity.
If someone has sebhoraic dermititus or Psoriosis, and the creams or whatever treatment prescribed do not totally remove the unsightly dandruff/scalling what should some1 do? If you just leave the dandruff alone will it go away eventually on it’s own? or w/ repeated applications of treatment? Or should I keep washing it? or apply more treatment? I never know what 2 do exactly.
The treatment of seborrhea is best in the hands of skilled dermatologists that specialize in skin conditions such as what you’re describing. I am not the right doctor to ask about it, as I am not a dermatologist.
If you don’t have a dermatologist in your area that a friend or family member can recommend, I’d try the American Academy of Dermatology’s doctor locator.
I know you guys know about the MEP-90 laser and its manufacturer MidwestRF, I was looking around on the internet and I found something rather interesting.I found a page that goes somewhat in depth about the methodology as to how the MEP-90 received its clearance.
Apparently the MEP-90 study wasn’t double blinded and the the only explanation that the report gave was this: “However, a sham/placebo study is not applicable to the long term required treatment of female androgenic alopecia because too many variations exist that would make it unfeasible to run a large number of experiments and it would constitute unethical treatment of the subjects.”
Interesting considering that the Hairmax lasercomb recently recently received clearance for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia in females by use of a double blinded study. This report also stated that Midwest RF has been manufacturing hair lasers since 1999 but all records I could find indicate that the only thing they manufactured were MRI components. It’s also interesting to note that for some reason this company received stimulus funds why I have no idea. Here is a link to the report: here.
tell me what you or someone familiar with clinical trials thinks about it.
I generally do not trust clinical studies that are not double blinded, or have researchers with something to gain from the results. Most studies in the low level light area have failed to prove that there is a scientific result that is clearly positive.
I’m not a laser expert by any means, so I’ll defer to our readers that have more experience with this.
Hi Dr. Rassman,
I’m a 18 year old male and my hair is really oily and I mean REALLY OILY I take a shower every night but once I wake up in the morning its already really greasy and it smells, this started 4 years ago when I started High School I went to a regular doctor about 2 years ago so he could check out my scalp but he said it was fine. I have used Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Oil Shampoo, Head & Shoulders Hair Endurance for Men, Selsun Blue and Suave Clarifying Shampoo in the past couple of years and have have little to no success, so I was wondering if you can help me with my “smelly hair syndrome” as they call it I will really appreciate the help.
Thank You for your time
It’s possible there’s some shampoo out there that might help, but I couldn’t specify which one help for your particular case. A good dermatologist might be able to help you.
There is a pretty good article on this “Smelly Hair Syndrome” available here.
Hey doctor,
please spread the word. If anyone is suffering hair loss due to a head injury please rub ginger on that area for a month and you will see results. Personal Experience guaranteed.
Rubbing ginger on your scalp might sound like an easy herbal remedy that wouldn’t hurt to try, but I doubt it’ll regrow hair. What kind of head injury did you have?
While I appreciate your dedication to spreading the word, the only guarantee someone will have if they do this is a ginger smell coming from their scalp.
Hello Balding Blog Team. Thank you for your very informative site. I have a question that I could not find a clear answer to in previous posts. I am a very early Norwood 3v and have decided to commence medical treatment in the form of finasteride and monoxidil.
I am wondering your opinion on the benefits of laser therapy combined with these systemic and topical medications. I could go on a treatment plan via a specialist company which would cost close to $4000 but the only difference between this and getting the medications via my general practitioner is the laser therapy…so in effect I will be paying $4000 for a laser session every 2 weeks for a total of 8 months. Do you think A) laser therapy per se is of benefit and B) if so do the professional machines give better results than any home based machine I could buy. I REALLY appreciate your advice. Kind regards
I’ve written extensively about laser therapies, and quite frankly, they don’t work. In my opinion, they’re a good way to sell something to the desperate patient, but the results are not what one might expect. I had a large professional machine in my office some years back and offered it free to my patients. No noticeable change was detected.
See many past posts about low level laser treatment (LLLT) here.
From my favorite satire site, The Onion:
According to a study released Wednesday by the California Pain Medicine Center, subjects suffering from male- pattern baldness were found to experience a level of physical pain at least seven times more intense than that experienced by women during childbirth.
Read the rest — Report: Male Hair Loss 7 Times More Painful Than Childbirth
If you’ve visited The Onion site before, you know they have some hilarious articles and photo captions there. And if you’ve got some time to laugh, other classics include:
I’m sorry for asking so many questions. But here is one that may be odd.
I’m a 22 year old male with blond hair, and I’ve noticed that many of my hairs are nearly white at the base of the shaft, and darker at the ends. I notice that the shafts are not shrinking in size. This I am sure is not due to balding because it is happening in hairs in the nape of my neck and back of my head and sides as well. It isn’t something that is worrying me but I’m just curious if this is normal or not. Am I going white at a young age, or is that a normal characteristic for hair? (Not all of my hairs are like this, however.)
I assume someone is telling you what they’re seeing or you’re using elaborate mirrors to see hair colors at the back of your neck… but I can’t say if it is normal or not. It may be normal for you. People have different hair colors and their hair colors may even change over time (from light to dark).
You could be getting white hairs at 22 years old, or maybe it’s just looking whiter under bright lighting. Sorry I can’t give a more definitive answer, but I really don’t know.
Hello Doctor Rassman,
first of all thanks for your website and for all the precious information!
I have a question related to the haircheck methodology (re. a post on Aug. 8, 2011). Is the haircheck methodology related to miniaturization or is it a different methodology? I.e., would haircheck reveal an early stage of miniaturization, which would not be usually seen with the traditional magnifying camera that you and Dr. Pak use when visiting patients? I ask this because, when doctor Pak visited me in San Jose 2 months ago, he said that at 30y I don’t have any sign of miniaturization, but I still have the “impression” that the hair on the top of my hair has lost volume over the last year. Maybe just a little paranoia :-)?
Keep up the great work!
Best regards
I discussed your case with Dr Pak and he remembers you well. You have absolutely no sign of balding. There was less than 10% of miniaturized hairs all over your scalp. There was no balding pattern identifiable. If you would like, you can send us a photo and permission for us to post it. You are 30 years old with a Norwood 2 hairline.
You are one of those people who had so much hair when you were younger, that you probably never saw the skin on your scalp. As you aged, you probably had some thinning (not balding), and when your hair was cut short and you were under bright lights, the whites of your scalp could be seen. It was the perfect storm.
The bulk measurement can be used to assess the VOLUME of hair at certain areas (top or crown) of your scalp and make a relative comparison of that value to the measurement from the back (donor) area of your scalp. This test cannot be done if you have lots of product (gel, mouse, pomade, hair spray) on your hair, as it will add to the bulk, nor can it be done if you have very short hair, because we need to grab a section of your hair in each area of the scalp. The bulk measurement is like counting the number of hairs in a certain area (density) and multiplying it by the cross section area of each hairs.
The miniaturization mapping measurement can be used to assess the condition and distribution of miniaturized hairs around certain areas of your scalp. The proportion of miniaturized hairs to non-miniaturized hairs can be compared to your own donor hair to see if there a pattern to the miniaturization (thinning). In your particular case, you had absolutely no miniaturization all over your scalp.
By the way, thank you for the bottle of wine!
Hi Doctor,
I was just wondering which is most reliable to check for hair loss, a camera or a mirror? I have a red scalp due to seborrheic dermatitis, and I have naturally blonde, straight hair.
If I use a mirror, you can hardly see my crown. If I use a camera, the red scalp stands out more. If I’m under a harsh light, using a mirror, then my scalp stands out more.
I’ve been to my doctor, and she’s said my hair is fine, no hair los or thinning at all, it’s just my scalp I’m noticing. What do I believe?
Thanks.
If you’re using a camera with a bright flash, you’re probably going to see more scalp. The same applies to harsh lighting, which routinely makes your hair appear thinner. I can not tell you what is better. A camera gives you other people’s view, but make sure that the lighting does not distort what you are seeing.
Snippet from the press release:
Restoration Robotics, Inc., a privately-held medical device company, today announced that it has raised $41 million in a Series C financing. Clarus Ventures led the financing and was joined by current venture capital investors Sutter Hill Ventures, Alloy Ventures and Interwest Partners. “We are delighted to have the financial and strategic support of these top investment firms,†said Jim McCollum, President and Chief Executive Officer of Restoration Robotics. “The ARTAS™ System has the potential to transform the global hair restoration market and we will now focus on the commercialization and U.S. market launch of the technology,†concluded McCollum.
Read the full text — Restoration Robotics Receives $41 Million in Series C Financing
We’re posted about Restoration Robotics in the past, most recently here and here.
As I’ve noted before, we’ve licensed some of the optical technology to Restoration Robotics for their follicular unit extraction (FUE) harvesting system.
Doc – you recently commented on PRP, this video is a few days old, just wanted to send it along.
Here’s the video:
This treatment is for autoimmune disease and there are no studies that show it has value that can be replicated in other patients. Many doctors are offering this treatment for male pattern baldness, but with no proof that it offers better results, I still believe this is just a money-maker for the doc doing it.