Snippet from the article:

Complete hair loss is one of the most common side effects of chemotherapy. Patients often turn to wigs, hats, and scarves to cover their heads, but now there’s a new alternative.

Henna Heals is a global community of artists that tattoos temporary “henna crowns” on patients’ bald heads, as a form of empowerment.

In 2011, Henna Heals began as a group of five women in Toronto,Ontario, but has since expanded to nearly 150 artists worldwide — in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Australia.

Read the rest and see the photos — Overcoming Cancer With Henna Heals: Global Artist Community Empowers Patients With Temporary Head Tattoos

You can learn more about Henna Heals at their website.

Snippet from the article:

Treating prostate cancer has always been trickier than most patients anticipate. Unlike other cancers, most prostate tumors are slow-growing and emerge late in life, so the majority of men affected are more likely to die of other causes than their cancer. For up to 15% of cases, however, the disease can be fast-moving and life-threatening, and because doctors don’t have good ways of separating these aggressive cases from the less dangerous ones, many physicians and patients prefer to err on the side of over-treatment. Recent changes to prostate screening recommendations advising men not to get routine blood tests that can signal the disease have made matters more confusing for men worried about the disease.

That may soon change, thanks to a test that can pick out the slow-growing cancers from the faster-growing ones. Researchers at Columbia University report in the journal Cancer Cell that they have identified two genes that are likely driving the most aggressive cases of prostate cancer. Other scientists had linked the genes, FOXM1 and CENPF, to cancer, but none had connected them to prostate growths. And more importantly, none had figured out that the two genes’ cancer-causing effects only occurred if they are turned on at the same time.

Read the rest — The Genes Responsible for Deadly Prostate Cancer Discovered

Snippet from the article:

A Japanese pub deep in the heart of white-collar Tokyo wants to help out their customers whose heads are showing the consequences of too much stress and hard work (and perhaps a bit of genetics too).

The restaurant hopes that instead of covering their heads with a complex comb-over or taking a cue from monks to shave it all off, “salarymen” white-collar workers treat their thinning hair as a badge of honor and proof of their dedication to help the struggling Japanese economy. And to show their support, the restaurant has announced a generous “balding discount” as a way of thanking follicly-challenged gents for sacrificing their precious locks for the country!

Read the rest — Tokyo pub offers “balding discount” for follicly-challenged diners

So if you find yourself in Tokyo, Japan and have some thinning hair, head on over to this pub to claim your discount!

Snippet from the article:

He was famously spotted leaving a hair transplant clinic in Los Angeles in 2011. But Gordon Ramsay’s latest look has sparked fresh rumours that the no-nonsense celebrity chef has undergone follicular surgery.

The 47 year-old attended Victoria Beckham’s 40th birthday meal at The Arts Club in London’s Dover Street on Sunday sporting a brushed-forward fringe and seemingly shaved back and sides. The back of Ramsay’s head also looked to have been covered in some sort of camouflage substance, perhaps a fibrous spray to give the illusion of hair density.

Normally, Gordon’s blonde hair is worn with a spikey fringe, so the look is certainly a diversion from his standard style. Suspiciously, the line between his shaved hair and his longer growth isn’t blended, which will further raise suspicions.

Read the rest — Gordon Ramsay sparks new hair transplant rumours with questionable hairstyle at Victoria Beckham’s 40th birthday meal in Mayfair

We’ve posted about a possible 2011 hair transplant for chef Gordon Ramsay before, and the photos at the above link do appear that he’s trying to mask possible FUE scarring with some poorly blended camouflaging agent.

Perhaps he didn’t realize that his concealer didn’t look very good under certain lighting conditions, because the photos show some very obvious stuff smeared all over the shaven donor area at the back of his head.

Snippet from the article:

A Victorian charlatan who was banned from selling his miracle hair loss cures has lashed out at an A Current Affair crew after he was discovered selling similar products under a different name.

Hair industry professional Steve Sindris and his now defunct company Hair Science International was ordered by a Victorian Magistrates Court to pay a fine of $100,000 and banned from selling hair loss cures. He was also ordered by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to repay one of his customers the $3500 he charged for his dodgy solutions. Mr Sindris did not pay either and instead declared himself bankrupt.

When he was tracked down by A Current Affair, Mr Sindris was hocking the same wares but for a different company — The Hairloss Institute — which is tangled up in a complex international web of similar enterprises.

Read the rest — Hair-loss charlatan lashes out at reporter and crew

Australian readers, take note.

Snippet from the article:

Three measures of physical capability in middle age could predict subsequent mortality risk, and light activity reduces disability, according to 2 studies published online April 29 in the BMJ.

The first study, by Rachel Cooper, PhD, from the Medical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at University College London, United Kingdom, and colleagues looked at 3 measures of physical capability (grip strength, chair rise time, and standing balance time) and their association with all-cause mortality from 1999 to 2012 in a prospective cohort study. The team also tested a composite measure of the 3 tasks for association with mortality.

The researchers used data from the Medical Research Council National Survey, the longest-running British birth cohort, which includes 1355 men and 1411 women. Physical capability had been assessed at age 53 years by a trained nurse during home visits. The researchers gathered mortality data from the National Health Service central register.

Read the rest at Medscape (free account may be required) — Simple Measures May Predict Mortality in Middle Age

“Our study shows robust associations of standing balance time, chair rise speed, and grip strength at age 53 with all-cause mortality rates over 13 years of follow-up,” the authors conclude.

Snippet from the article:

Overwrought with worry over hair fall, a 47-year-old woman allegedly hanged herself from the ceiling fan at her flat in Bhayander late on Wednesday. The family of the deceased informed the police that the woman had been experiencing excessive hair fall over the past few months, and was worried about it. The Navghar police have registered an accidental death report in the case.

The deceased has been identified as Suparna Das, a resident of Krishna Park in Bhayender (East). Madhusudan, her husband said, “My wife used to look beautiful as she had long hair. A few months ago, she started suffering from excessive hair loss. We got her blood tests done to identify the cause. Since then, she had been very quiet. But I never thought that she would do something like this.”

Read the rest — Mumbai: Fed up of severe hair loss, woman commits suicide

This is a very sad story, but suicide is not uncommon in those with severe depression. When balding occurs in an unstable person who can not manage the added stress on their lives, this could be the end result. I am aware of two other such cases over the past 23 years.

Snippet from the interview with Carl Djerassi, “father” of the The Pill:

Djerassi himself was snipped in his early fifties; his daughter was sterilised at 25, convinced the world didn’t need more babies and she’d adopt if necessary. But will there be a male Pill?

“Never. This has nothing to do with science; we know exactly how to develop them. But there’s not a single pharmaceutical company that will touch this, for economic and socio-political rather than scientific reasons. Their focus is on diseases of a geriatric population: diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular, Alzheimer’s. Male contraception is nothing compared with an anti-obesity drug. Plus, men are preoccupied with the side-effects. Men who start taking it at 18 will ask, ‘Will I still be able to have a child 30 years later?’ How do you answer? To prove that is monstrously difficult and expensive. No one would spend that amount of money.”

Read the rest — Carl Djerassi: ‘We know exactly how to develop the male pill, but there’s not a single pharmaceutical company that will touch it’

Snippet from the article:

The Duchess of Cambridge passed a royal milestone today by cracking a joke at her husband’s expense while on public duty for the first time. She suggested the perfect solution for Prince William’s growing bald patch – a toupee made from alpaca wool. “You need it more then me,” she said, pointing to his head.

William, who has teased her mercilessly about her clothes, telling her she looked like a banana in a yellow dress and complaining that a dazzling green outfit was too bright, laughed and took it in his stride.

Read the rest — Kate teases William over thinning hair at Sydney Royal Easter Show

Over the years, many patients have come to our office to have hair transplants because of such teasing by family. This is not uncommon.

I’ve seen you mention many times that bulk analysis is a good way to determine if someone is balding and that density should be the same everywhere for a non balding patient.

But I’m not convinced by this – I recently saw a well known hair transplant surgeon and he said that people typically have less density around the crown and temple areas anyway. He didn’t believe in bulk analysis for analysing hair loss.

Today I saw a male child who must have been around 8 years old. His saw was shaved short and sure enough, his temple/corner areas were noticeably less dense than the rest of his hair and this went quite a way back (I suppose to the point where someone might have suggested he was between a NW2 and NW3 on a balding scale if he was an adult).

You may not be convinced of the value in measuring hair bulk, but I am not going to try to convince you.

In a non-balding man, the bulk analysis shows that the hair in the 4 areas we measure (down the midline: front, top, crown and donor area) are all within 10% of the measurement of each other. I do not measure the hair at the sides of the head, because that is not where the balding will be. I would therefore possibly agree with you that the side densities are not as high as the midline densities.

Out of curiosity, I will measure a non-balding man’s sides and see if we are both correct.