I’ve received a few emails directing me to the a publication in the New England Journal of Medicine from last month regarding finasteride, dutasteride, and prostate cancer reduction. We’ve written about this issue here and specifically, albeit briefly, about this NEJM piece here. So I’ll take the opportunity to highlight it again, since people are still finding their way to the article.
The authors’ take on the relationship between the use of these drugs (finasteride and dutasteride) and the risk/benefit relationship on prostate cancer concluded that the original reports of a cancer reduction in the studied men (about 10,000 men who received finasteride 5mg dose) showed that the lower risk was found only in men with low grade cancers. If men had a high grade cancer, they felt that there would be no benefit to taking these drugs and suggested a possible harmful risk that is clearly ill-defined at this time. On the basis of this conclusion, the use of finasteride or dutasteride as a preventative medication for prostate cancer is claimed not to be justified.
The FDA came out echoing this sentiment. It appears that “the labels of approved 5α-reductase inhibitors, which are currently indicated for the treatment of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia and male-pattern hair loss, have been modified to include the observation of high-grade prostate cancers” found in the relevant trials.
I am sure that one result of this formal, official FDA change in position is that some men will consider abandoning the use of these drugs. I will be attending the annual ISHRS physician meeting in September, where this subject will be discussed amongst many doctors who are concerned about this announcement. I’ll be curious to learn about patient reactions to the FDA’s position.
This question is a little bit different, but I’m curious what your opinion is.
What happened to Steve Jobs’ hair? If you look here, he had a good head of hair until he was about 40, and then it all disappeared. Now I know Steve Jobs is a sick man, and has probably had several chemo treatments, but I always thought hair grew back after chemo. I also thought that if you didn’t have some hair loss in your younger years (20-30), that you would probably never progress to the level of balding Mr. Jobs has. Do you think his hair loss is genetic, or cancer-related?
Thanks!
While it is possible to lose hair later in life due to genetics, we can’t discount what Steve Jobs has gone through with all of his medical issues over the past decade or so. It looks like he was losing hair in his late 30s and 40s, and then he got ill, possibly exacerbating the hair loss issue and leading to weight loss.
Simply put — When chronic illness hits, you lose hair. His multiple medical problems (liver transplant, pancreatic cancer) clearly impacted his hair.
I just had a tumor removed during what was anticipated to be a basic appendectomy. Fortunately, my doctor has assured me that the prognosis is excellent and that I don’t have any reason to anticipate any further complications. About 5 yrs ago I was diagnosed with a form of scarring alopecia. What are the chances that I unknowingly have been suffering from a “secondary” form of the alopecia that is directly related to this tumor?
You’re probably referring to this quote from the Cicatricial Alopecia Research Foundation: “In secondary cicatricial alopecias, destruction of the hair follicle is incidental to a non-follicle-directed process or external injury, such as severe infections, burns, radiation, or tumors.”
That being said, I do not believe your scalp hair loss has any relationship to the tumor you had in your abdomen.
My long, thick red hair - the thing I liked most about my looks - began to fall out 5 years ago, when I was 37. I’d perpetually pick hair off my arms, my back, my car seat, my bathroom counter. My shower drain clogged easily. Running the vacuum meant enduring the smell of burning hair.
At first I thought the shedding was temporary and must be connected to a medical problem. I consulted eight doctors, endured dozens of blood tests and spent thousands of dollars. I secretly hoped I had a thyroid problem, a hormone imbalance, some kind of vitamin deficiency, even lupus. I needed an explanation. But all the tests came back negative.
Other than a transplant are there any methods, creams, or procedures to increase facial hair growth? I know it sounds ridiculous but I am 100% serious. I’m growing my beard and its not growing in areas I’d like it to. Thank you
It’s not a ridiculous question, but I don’t know anything about you so I’ll have to generalize. If I assume that you are a young man under 25 years old (you didn’t mention your age), that would be typical of late onset appearance of beard formation. If you wait it out, your beard will most likely appear over the next few years.
I remember when I was 20 years old, my beard was thin and spotty. My father told me to wait and one day it would look like his (very scratchy, coarse hair). He also told me that one day I would wish it did not grow as heavy as his. Oh, was he ever right! That is exactly what happened and over the next 5 years, my beard came in heavy enough that my 5 o’clock shadow came in at about 1pm. Now I wish it never grew in, as shaving is quite the daily chore.
If you are over 25 years old, you might try Rogaine (minoxidil) and apply it to your face twice a day, but be careful you do not overdose the medication and develop side effects that are defined in the drug insert found in the product packaging. It’s not guaranteed to grow a beard, but you don’t really have many options for facial hair growth.
I had a consultation with my hair doctor. At which i brought up the proposition of a combined SMP and hair transplant procedure. His response was the 2 would compliment each other well but just SMP alone would be a mistake. What are your thoughts does SMP look more natural when done in conjunction with hair transplantation?
And lastly i recall reading about a young man who won the American Dream contest a few years back. You performed surgery on him as my balding pattern would be close to his (ill prolly wind up developing into a class 6)and our ages are close or were im 23 now(i have been on finasreide since 20) i am interested to see his results. Thank you.
Each person is a separate case. I can not tell you that Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) plus hair transplants is better than either alone. I make each judgment when I understand the patient, when I see how fast the hair loss process is, and when I can then build a Master Plan. Generally, the hair transplant is the way I start, adding SMP on only a minority of patients.
As for the winner of the American Dream Vote television show (see here if you don’t remember the single episode that aired before it was canceled), the last update photos we had to publish were from 2009 and can be found here.
I am starting to panic a bit and wondered if you could give me some confidence for the future months. I had a ht approximately 9 months ago in October of 2010. At the end of the 5 month period I could see definite results and was excited about looking even better in the coming months. Friends and family noticed a definite difference from before I had the transplant.
Now I’m seeing a lot more hair loss of what I assume is the transplanted hair since I didn’t have very much hair before the procedure. Do you think that it’s possible that a lot of the transplanted hair could fall out and then grow back in or do you think I might be stuck with no regrowth? I have tried to do everything the doctor has told me to do but am looking worse almost daily. My doctor says that it could take 12 to 14 months for the ending results in my specific case. I sometimes feel he isn’t telling me everything. I guess I’m a bit afraid that I am going to continue to look worse as time goes on. Do you think there’s any possibility that I’m going through a shedding cycle with my ht?
I would need to see you to draw any conclusions. I generally tell patients to wait a year before questioning the survival and the results of the hair transplant procedure. I wish I could help give you a better feeling, but maybe a visit to me at the 12 month time frame would be a worth while investment.
If the hair is heavily miniaturized, it may cause some hair loss, since that massage looks pretty rough. With a good head of hair, I would imagine that the massage would feel wonderful.
I know you are skeptical of Dr. Gho and his claims, and you’ve criticized him before here on Baldingblog.
Now a well-known, reputable hairstylist, Grant from Toronto (known as “Scissorboy”) has been treated by Dr. Gho, with the “Hair Stem Cell Transplantation” technique (HST), and he’s released a comprehensive video about the experience, showing Dr. Gho and his assistants actually performing the procedure.
By the way, Grant did not have any kind of severe baldness, only slight frontal recession. But I think the video nonetheless shows, in quite astounding detail, exactly how the procedure works, and exactly what its potential is. And its potential is actually to redouble the number of hair follicles available.
I believe this is a revolutionary procedure based on some real science, and (unfortunately), it may come as such a shock to many hair transplant surgeons in the US, who have been pretty refractory to new ideas.
Please give us your honest and unbridled opinions of the claims and revelations made on this video: Link
Thank you, Dr. Rassman
I did report on Dr. Coen Gho in a previous post in a less-than-favorable light. My comments on him reflected what appears to be intellectual dishonesty. I have heard Dr. Gho speak publicly, and what he is doing is the classic FUE technique that I pioneered and published in the Dermatologic Surgery medical journal in 2002 (see here).
There is no doubt that the stem cells in the FUE grafted hair probably causes the growth, but his representations that this is anything more than a typical FUE procedure would be improper. I watched the video and saw what I and hundreds of good doctors have been doing for years. Dr. Gho performed an FUE procedure in the video, not a stem cell transplant.
Don’t get me wrong — I love new ideas, science, research, and invention… but in the end, I would like to see the results. Maybe a follow-up video in 6 months would be good, too.
I know Rogaine can cause facial hair, but would it cause a large amount of hair to grow on a woman’s stomach, breasts, and sternum? I have already seen a endocrinologist and my testosterone was only at 4 and everything else was fine as well.
I have heard of cases and have occasionally seen a woman who developed body hair on the chest, between the breasts, near the nipples, and throughout the abdomen and back with the use of high dose minoxidil. When the minoxidil is stopped, the hair usually goes away.
This complication occurred most commonly when this medication was administered systemically in the treatment of high blood pressure in the 1960-70’s.
I’ve received a few emails directing me to the a publication in the New England Journal of Medicine from last month regarding finasteride, dutasteride, and prostate cancer reduction. We’ve written about this issue here and specifically, albeit briefly, about this NEJM piece here. So I’ll take the opportunity to highlight it again, since people are still finding their way to the article.
It’s not a ridiculous question, but I don’t know anything about you so I’ll have to generalize. If I assume that you are a young man under 25 years old (you didn’t mention your age), that would be typical of late onset appearance of beard formation. If you wait it out, your beard will most likely appear over the next few years.