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I’ve heard the Hardy-Weinberg principal can help determine your probability of going bald. Is this true?

If you know what the Hardy-Weinberg principle is all about, you should know it is a GENERAL principle… and at the risk of seeming like I’m just brushing this off, I doubt most readers have heard of it or would be interested in it. Moreover, genetic male balding only applies to men, but the trait is not sex linked (meaning women can carry the gene), and the gene in question may be more than just one gene, as nobody has found the specific gene(s) for balding.

In the end, if you have it, you have it! It is not that difficult to see the balding. And even if the principle works, how useful would it be?

Snippet from the article:

You’d have thought a fur coat would have been the ultimate bear necessity.

But not for the unfortunate Dolores who has lost all her body hair and has just been left with a few tufts around her head.

Vets have been left baffled by the condition of the bespectacled bear, who lives at a zoo in Leipzig.

Read the full article (with beautiful, large photos) at: DailyMail UK

This is very peculiar. I don’t know much at all about alopecia in animals to even begin to speculate what the cause is, but the article hints to genetic causes and I’m sure the veterinarians there are going to continue to study it.

Hi there,

I have an unusual question! I have noticed mild temple recession over the past 6 months. I am not aware of my hair “falling out” in the shower or anything like that, but rather when I look at photos of myself of late, it is noticable that my temples are more receded. I still have hair in the temple point region, but it is not as thick or prominent as it used to be.

However, something occurred to me today. I have for the past 6-8 months been using a “self-tan” moisturizer, of which the active ingredient is DHA… The areas where I have noticed hairloss (frontal hairline & temples) are the exact areas where my hairline comes into contact with the tanning lotion. The instructions for the self tan state that you should avoid the hairline, as it may cause mild discoloration of the hair, which I have noticed in this area.

After googling DHA and DHT, my initial understanding is that it seems that there may be some correlation between the two? My question therefore is could the DHA in self tan be having an impact on my hair and causing slow but gradual hair loss? And if so, if I stop the self-tan, will the hair likely return in these areas? I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks

I do not know the connection to the tanning solutions and hair loss. If you think that it may be the cause, then stop using the self-tanner and see if your loss subsides. Most tanning lotions like that will advise to not let it touch the hairline, but that is because it could dye your hair.

Hey doc I wrote you here and after you mentioned the chimeric process I did a little research because frankly I had no idea what that was, and I’m convinced I am chimeric.

It’s literally like I have two different kinds of hair everywhere on my body. On my head I have brown normal hairs much like my father and Black thick really curly ones, I have noticed there are a few patches where the curly hair is more concentrated, it makes me look incredibly silly when my hair gets longer. The same goes to my body, except the black body hairs aren’t curly. Assuming I am chimeric (I understand no one really knows how frequent it really is, and I’m not going to get tested because i don’t care that much and don’t have the money), does this mean my different hair will inherit different balding genes? Have you dealt with anything like that before?

Sorry, but I just don’t have the answer to your question. In the real world things are not so theoretical and your guess is as good as mine. You should try to send me some photographs of what you’re seeing with the different hairs (you can blank our your face, as that is not important for us).

It’s not hair loss related, but I wanted to share something…

The Medical Board of California sends each licensed physician notification of doctors who are being investigated by them for a variety of problems as well as doctors who have been disciplined by the Medical Board. With the Michael Jackson fiasco in mind, I read about a doctor who is under investigation for overprescribing Endocet (a controlled narcotic). One patient who found the doctor through the Yellow Pages, received 7,912 tablets of Endocet over a 77 day period (1-2 pills per day for short periods of time should be normal). One of the excuses given as to why such a large amount of pills were needed included: the family dog ate them. I wonder what happened to the dog?

The Medical Board is given the responsibility to watch over the practices of doctors. They have told me privately that they do not have the resources to chase down every complaint, but they will open an investigation on doctors who practice outside what is considered the Standard of Care. I have been an expert witness for the state in the past and the actions of that one particular doctor just amazed me.

Snippet from the article:

While Chris Rock’s new documentary, Good Hair, is certain to get laughs, it’s sure to leave the audience talking. And that’s the point, the comedian says.

“When you talk about something with some weight to it, like hair, even when it’s over, you’re still in people’s heads,” Rock said. “That’s what I wanted with this film.”

The movie, which opened Friday, examines the issue of hair in the African-American community and the pressure to straighten or lengthen naturally coily hair.

Read the article and interview with Chris Rock at Chron.com.

I believe hair is important to people of all races, but Chris Rock explores the issues that black women have with their hair, including the use of chemical straighteners, weaves, wigs, and other things I’m sure I’m forgetting. The movie trailer looks hilarious and I’m interested in seeing it at some point.

dr rassman
i always see people on this site asking for your estimate on the cure of balding and you do not believe it will arrive in the next 10-20 years. what about a drug or some other method of permanently halting the hair loss, not necessarily regrowing, but just preventing the progression of the condition where then a hair transplant would compensate for the remainder of the lost hair? are you optimistic about something along these lines?…. looking forward to your response, as they are always very intriguing and informative

I think of myself as being an optimist, but with respect to hair, there is nothing as far as a cure that I see on the horizon. We (the medical/scientific community) haven’t even found a cure for the common cold, diabetes, high blood pressure, HIV, etc. It’s not to say balding is low on the priority either. On the contrary, there is a huge market if someone can find a cure. Hair loss is genetic, and research into genetic cures is in its infancy.

Doctor Rassman, I’m currently taking dutasteride for hair loss. Under the microscope, is there a way to tell the difference between new hair growth and a minaturizing hair?

If you can always return to the same location on your scalp and visualize it with a video magnifying camera (check out part 1 of the 3 part series), you can see the difference in the hair thickness.

Keep watch here over the next few weeks and I will introduce a way to determine the value of drugs on hair thickness. It is a way to measure hair mass with an invention by Dr. Bernard Cohen. This is a picture of the device (see right), with more to follow in about 2 weeks when Dr. Cohen will produce a guest editorial on his invention.

Dr Rassman, have you heard of a company called adistem before? adistem.com

i only ask because i have come across a “vendor” in Thailand and i can’t decide myself if this is a genuine hair multiplication company releasing the product in a medically unregulated/less regulated area (like what the major HM companies say they are going to do) or if this is a well planned and neatly dressed scam?

The site and information is interesting, but there are few, if any, clinically reliable studies to hang your hat on. I was suspicious when, along with everything else, the fat you can inject in your scalp to supposedly regrow your hair is also being used for penis enlargement. Sounds like they are undermining their cause with this outlier treatment.

I’ll try to find out more about AdiStem and will post about it in the future if something presents itself. All I can seem to find is a press release from about a year ago that announces the distribution deal between AdiStem and the Thai company. I doubt something like this will ever be available legally in the US until stringent testing can prove safety and efficacy, but it all remains to be seen. I’m skeptical, of course.

I love these photos! The international World Beard and Moustache Championship took place in Germany about two weeks ago and more than 160 facial hair combatants showed off their unique accomplishments. I believe this is just the German club’s awards, as the overall world champ is crowned every 2 years (unless I’m understanding it wrong). Here’s the official site of the World Championship here.

Nonetheless, check out the photos of this recent event at Yahoo!