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I just came across the diagnosis of trichostasis spinulosa, which I have seen in my practice on occasion and have failed to come up with a diagnosis.

eMedicine states, “In trichostasis spinulosa (TS), clusters of vellus hairs become embedded within hair follicles, with resultant elevated, dark, spiny papules on the face or trunk. Trichostasis spinulosa frequently is discovered as an incidental finding, and often it is confused with keratosis pilaris or acne comedones.”

This condition is more common in men, but does not cause risk for the people having it, just some cosmetic deformities of varying degrees. To see the various forms that it takes, see Google Image Search. Maybe you have seen these on your own body and wondered about it.

My question is about the sox21 gene. I was ecstatic when the news broke that scientists have discovered the “hair loss gene.” I am wondering if there has been any progress with this, or even any attempt. Who is doing the research to further understand this gene and search for its connection with the cure for hair loss? Although its been less than a year, and the hair loss prevention field of science seems to move extremely slow, I still figured we would have heard more about this in the news.

I understand if you have no insider information on the subject, but I don’t know where else to go for the latest in hair loss related news. thanks.

The following response is by UK-based physician Dr. Bessam Farjo:

Response by: Dr Bessam Farjo United Kingdom

Of course it is very exciting whenever there is news about scientific discoveries in our field. However, do keep in mind that hair loss and restoration are very attractive subjects in the media, and I find some scientists or institutions take advantage of that to attract publicity and hopefully additional funding for their research. My understanding was that the group who studied the sox21 gene were not investigating hair loss nor were they interested in this subject. The study was on mice, not humans, and showed a relationship between this gene in the mouse and TOTAL body hair loss in it. This does not necessarily mean there is any relationship with inherited patterned hair loss in humans.

The researchers were speculating as a result of their findings that this may help in the future with hair loss research in humans. Significantly they also stated that they had no intention of investigating this further. As far as I know there has not been any further results or conclusions with regards to sox21.

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Learn more about the author of this article, Dr. Bessam Farjo, on his BaldingBlog profile or at his website.

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.