Despite several recent studies, the prognostic factors of the outcome for Alopecia Areata are not yet fully determined. In order to gain a fuller understanding of prognostic indicators, researchers at Tokyo Medical University conducted a study of 1030 patients with Alopecia Areata.

The study, which was published in Journal of American Academy of Dermatology, examined the participants retrospectively for three years and followed them up for 24 months or more using a questionnaire. The key areas of interest were age at onset, severity of hair loss and treatment modalities. The researchers were also keen to see whether there was a difference in prognosis between rapidly progressive alopecia areata (RPAA) and non- RPAA patients. In total there were 199 patients with RPAA and 831 patients with non-RPAA.

The findings indicated that the most typical age at onset was early 30s for males and in the 20s for females. Regardless of the type of alopecia areata, an early onset was associated with poorer prognosis than a late onset. Similarly, a previous history of alopecia areata was related to a poor prognosis but was not related to the type of alopecia areata. One factor that appeared to be associated with a good prognosis was regeneration of vellus hairs and the authors argued that the extent of hair loss was not related to a poor prognosis. This finding is particularly interesting as it is at odds with previous reports and implies that the hair loss that has previously been associated with poor prognosis may be relevant to alopecia areata patients in general but not RPAA patients. Perhaps the most encouraging finding was that treatment modality was not related to a poor prognosis.

The value of this study comes not only from its sample size, but also from the statistical analysis that they utilised, which is more robust than previous studies. However, the nature of the study is bound to have some problems. For instance, once the large sample has been divided into groups, it becomes clear that the comparison between them is challenging as the follow up period of patients differs from case to case. Similarly, the authors note that some patients changed treatment modality throughout the study, yet these were not excluded.

We reported back in March that scientists in the US had discovered a crucial role that Prostaglandin D2 has in inhibiting hair growth. A higher level of Prostaglandin D2 normally indicated a degree of thinness of the hair. Some animals with very high levels of this enzyme had no hair at all.

The same scientists are now talking to pharmaceutical companies about developing a medication to treat people with hair loss associated with high levels of Prostaglandin D2. According to news reports, such prostaglandin inhibitors already exist so a medication for hair loss may be just around the corner. We are not sure that it will be this simple. One of the most famous prostaglandin inhibitors is Aspirin. Have you hear of people taking Apsirin and suddenly growing hair? We thought not! We don’t what to dismiss the idea of drug therapy based on prostaglandin inhibition and we are sure that this avenue of research will prove fruitful, but any drug will have to be targeted at a particular receptor and this could take years of research. In the meantime, there is always Propecia or Regaine for men suffering from hair loss.

Has football made the sneaky hair transplant the ‘in thing’ to do? We’re sure that most men hope so anyway. Michael Gray, former Sunderland player, was filmed as he underwent the painful hair transplant. The piece was broadcast in an effort to get rid of any stigma or misconception that might be floating around regarding the procedure and the producers seem to think it will have done the job.

For those who would rather a brain transplant than to stay awake while undergoing the painful donor extraction and re-implantation of hair, Propecia is a simpler and much cheaper option than the current hair transplant procedure, which can cost up to £30,000. The key to getting the most out of Propecia is to start taking it as soon as hair loss begins since less hair will be lost initially. The treatment has also been seen to encourage hair growth in areas where hair had already fallen out.

Budgets permitting, there are now a few options for men who are losing their hair and for whom baldness is not an attractive option.

Scientists in the US have discovered an unusual amount of protein, prostaglandin D synthase, in bald men and this, they hypothesize, may be a contributory factor in male pattern baldness. Drugs that act on this protein are already under investigation and a report detailing recent study evidence is published in Science Translational Medicine.

Research has targeted particular genes that are activated when men start to lose their hair and it has been found that levels of this protein were highest in the areas of the scalp that were without hair.

In mouse studies, those with higher levels of the protein had no fur at all. Human hairs that had been transplanted also stopped growing when this protein was administered. Identifying this protein as a growth inhibitor could mean another successful hair loss treatment for men. Researchers will now look at how they can target this protein and its action to stop hair loss and maybe even use this knowledge to create a treatment that works to regrow hair that has fallen out. The existing treatment, Propecia (finasteride), has a very high success rate but does not always result in regrowth, although the overall success rate of Propecia is high at around 89%.

It will be interesting to see if this research throws up a potential treatment for hair loss in women as well as there is currently nothing on the market that has a good rate of success in this demographic.

There is a new calculator available on the internet that helps men gauge when they will lose their hair or if they will lose it. A hair loss expert at the Alpecin Research Institute in Germany came up with the novel idea and can even show men what they will look like bald if they decide to upload a photograph of themselves.

This new calculator will help men to act fast when it comes to the loss of their hair. The success of hair loss treatment is often down to how soon a man begins treatment. The sooner a man commences taking the once daily Propecia, for example, the better the results will be as this drug can stop the progression of male pattern baldness. In some cases the drug causes the regrowth of hair that has already fallen out. Starting early is crucial to maintaining a full head of hair.

Androgenic alopecia is genetic and it is the most common form of hair loss. It afflicts a large number of men but early intervention can help to maintain a full head of hair.

Wayne Rooney was spotted leaving a hair loss clinic on Harley Street in London having had a hair transplant. He bravely removed his cap and made his way home donning a new set of follicles where he once had no hair.

Rooney was either so proud of his new hair or so eager to stay one step ahead of the inevitable media barrage that he posted a picture of his new scalp on twitter and told his fans that his hair would grow over the following months. The procedure that the Man U striker underwent is known as follicular unit extraction and costs around £12,000.

It is a quite a gory process, which involves the removal of follicles from the back of the head and the replanting of them in the areas where hair has fallen out thence, a new head of hair is born maintaining the careers of pop stars, film actors and now, famous footballers everywhere.

This procedure has a high success rate and among the bogus hair loss treatment fads and herbal topical treatments, it makes a lot of practical sense but Propecia is the less invasive option for hair loss treatment and is known to cause some regrowth in most users.

A London based man suffering from alopecia areata is selling his bald spot to companies as advertising space. He has just sold his 6” by 9” spot to his first client for £215 and has promised that he will not take his hat off for one week while the company’s logo is tattooed there.

This is not only a clever idea, it is a generous effort considering all of the money he makes will go directly to the Little Princess Trust, a charity that offers wigs to young people who have lost their hair whilst being treated for cancer.

Alopecia areata cannot be remedied with Propecia, the most popular hair loss treatment available for a particular type of hair loss in men.

A recent study published in the Annals of Oncology shows that men who lose their hair early (in their 20s) are more at risk of prostate cancer than others. Evidence suggests that men who lose hair in their thirties and forties are not considered at as high a risk.

The study observed 388 men with prostate cancer who were being treated. A further 281 men with no prostate cancer participated in the study and both groups were examined for a period of 28 months. Men with prostate cancer were x2 as likely to lose their hair at 20 years as men without the cancer. Unfortunately there was no relationship between early hair loss and early detection and there was no link between the pattern of loss and the cancer development.

The author of the study raises concern over the lack of prostate cancer screening services and reminds us that the NHS decided not to introduce a general screening programme for prostate cancer last year. Doctors wanted a way of identifying men who were more at risk than others. The author suggests that if a man is losing hair at 20, he should have a PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test before his fifties.

Considering that baldness in men has been linked to androgenic hormones, the hormones which have previously been linked to prostate cancer, it seems likely that there is a relationship here between early hair loss and prostate cancer. Hair loss medication has for years been associated with prostate cancer prevention because the drugs stop the conversion of testosterone to the hair loss causing androgen, dihydratestosterone.

The study was not large enough to draw concrete associations between early hair loss and the development of prostate cancer but prostate cancer is genetic and this should be the first identifier for screening. Men who have had an uncle, brother or father with prostate cancer are two and a half to three times more likely to experience prostate cancer than others without such a background. Interestingly, early male pattern hair loss is down to genetics too.

A genetic androgen sensitivity test has been created and is said to be able to predict whether or not Finasteride will benefit sufferers of female hair loss. Finasteride (Propecia) has been very successful in the past as the treatment of hair loss for men but due to problems with birth defects in the sons of women who have consumed or come into contact with it, the female hair loss sufferers are out of bounds.

With female patients there is a 50/50 chance that there will be any success with it but now the test will tell us how the individual female will react to the drug before she takes it.

The test is for androgen sensitivity and is carried out using a swab taken from the cheek. The latest studies show that females with a large amount of sensitivity to androgens are much more likely to benefit from Finasteride.

We will report on this topic as we see the results of this new test come in, however we can still not prescribe Finasteride to female patients as it is not within the terms of the license.

As if we couldn’t get any more bad news regarding the financial crisis, as well as being labelled a hereditary condition or an unavoidable result of ageing due to hormonal changes, hair loss is now being associated with the Recession.

Men lose their hair for a variety of reasons. Medically it is explained as resulting from an increase in the hormone Dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT is created naturally in the body but it has limited beneficial functions beyond prenatal male sexual development. In addition to this form of hair loss (described as male pattern baldness) recent studies have outlined how the present economic crisis is taking its toll on our hair, with an 89% increase in men who are seeking hair loss treatments in the last three years.

Stress is another cause of hair loss in men and can cause three times the hair loss of the average, stress free individual. There are two types of stress related hair loss including telogen effluvium where hair growth stops temporarily causing an interruption to the natural growth and shedding cycles, thus causing a thinning of the hair. The most severe stress related hair loss is alopecia areata. Here the hair can fall out over a period of weeks and can leave men (and women) completely bald in about 10% of cases – most who fall victim to this type of hair loss with lose hair over a small discrete area and it normally grows back but could do so without the normal pigment.  Most cases of alopecia areata are caused by an autoimmune disease that can be triggered by stress but it is not well understood.

The best way of avoiding the problem of hair loss is to begin treating it as soon as it starts. Propecia is the most successful hair loss treatment on the market and those taking it have not only kept their remaining hair but in many cases they have experienced regrowth. Propecia is only appropriate for hair loss caused by DHT and it would not work for stress related hair loss.

The latest episode of My Face, My Body on Sky has focused on the top aesthetic worries of men in the UK. Top of the list (somewhat unsurprisingly) is the fear of going bald. A large percentage of men start losing their hair by the time that they reach 30 and most believe that there is nothing that they can do about it other than the extreme (and not always successful) hair transplant.

The fact is that men can do something about their hair loss and it does not need to include the drastic option of a hair transplant. There is an over the counter remedy called Regaine that can be purchased from most pharmacies. Regaine does work but it is not the most successful product on the market and it is a topical solution so it can be a bit messy. Propecia is a daily pill with a much higher success rate than Regaine. Around 89% of men taking Propecia experience a cessation of hair loss and around 65% experience re-growth.

The show featured the Gladiator star, Warren Furman who had a hair transplant. This is the nuclear option but for some men it is the only realistic option if they let their hair loss go too far. If Propecia or Regaine are to be successful, a reasonably early intervention is normally advantageous. Once a man has gone completely bald, it is unlikely that Propecia or Regaine will be of much use.

He’s well known for his work on Embarrassing Bodies, where he encourages patients to go public with their usually repulsive health problems. Now it seems that Dr. Christian Jessen finds something embarrassing about his own body – his hair.

The TV doctor has admitted that he had a secret hair transplant a year ago, swearing that it was not because he disliked his looks or was worried about seeming older, but because he has always hated his hair line.

He explained that since his teens his temples have been high, which he says gave him an ‘academic’ look. Apparently, the transplant was to change the shape of the hair line, rather than disguise any recession.

The process would have seen the surgeon take a strip of hair from the back of the presenter’s scalp,  which is then divided into individual hairs. They are then planted like seeds into the hairline. The surgery lasted for 7 hours and Dr. Christian said that it was uncomfortable, particularly sleeping immediately after the procedure.

He added that he was inspired to go ahead with the operation after meeting a man on Embarrassing Bodies who got it done, and so he asked him for the number of his surgeon, Dr. Asim Shahmatak at the Crown Cosma Clinic in Cheshire.

Dr. Christian says he is “really pleased” with the results and says realised its nothing to be ashamed about, as many men are making greater efforts to look after their appearance.

A new report for a consumer magazine has shown that the hair loss treatment Propecia is one of the few remedies for the condition that consumers find actually works.

Consumer Reports surveyed over 8,000 men and women struggling with hair loss to ask them about how they dealt with the condition, whether they used any products to slow down the process and whether they found those products to be effective.

Nearly 40% of women and 27% of men said that they had tried some kind of treatment to reverse their hairloss. A large section of the men, over half, said that they believed that many remedies for baldness overstated how effective they are. Most opted for remedies available over the counter, but 20% got prescriptions from their doctor for Propecia.

27% of the men who used the medication described it as ‘very’ effective. Minoxidil, sold as Rogaine over the counter, was deemed considerably less successful, with only 4% of the men who used it describing it as very effective. 43% of those who tried it said it made no difference to their hair loss. 6% of those polled thought taking herbal and dietary supplements made a big difference to their hair loss.

Only 2% of the men opted for the fairly expensive option of hair transplant surgery, but nearly half of those were either very or totally satisfied with the results.

A spokesperson for Merke, who manufacture Propecia, said that the survey supported the findings of clinical trials indicating the medication is the most effective treatment on the market. She added that those suffering from hairloss should speak to their doctor, so they can get reputable advice as to how they can separate fact from fiction.  

Researchers have announced the discovery of a gene which could cause hair to thin, with the hairloss beginning in childhood.

The team from Columbia University say that the gene, called APXDD1, is linked to a condition known as hereditary hypotrichosis simplex, characterised by thinning hair. They are now hopeful that the discovery could lead to a cure for hair loss.

The lead researcher on the study, Dr. Angela Christiano, believes that by studying how the gene leads to the miniaturisation of the hair follicles scientists could begin to better understand the process that leads to male pattern hairloss.

Christiano and her team studied two Pakistani families and one Italian family, who all had inherited the condition. They were able to map the shared gene which lead to the condition, causing them to grow ‘peach fuzz’ hair.

She pointed out that both hereditary hypotrichosis simplex and male pattern baldness share a physiological process, but the discovery of the gene does not necessarily mean that they will ever understand the complexities of male pattern baldness.

While the Columbia team seek to understand what causes baldness, another group of scientists in Tokyo are trying to find a gene which could aid hair retention.

Americans believe stress is a leading cause of hair loss, according to a survey commissioned by hair-loss treatment makers Regaine, an over-the-counter preparation.

The firm asked Wakefield Research to survey Americans to see what their attitudes to hair loss were. 57% of those questioned said they were not attracted to people with thinning hair, while 40% of married respondents said they would prefer their partner to be overweight rather than bald.

The survey asked 1,001 adults how much they knew about hair loss. 75% said that stress was a leading cause of the condition – incorrectly – while 35% believed that wearing a hat frequenty could cause hair to thin. 24% said that overstyling hair could lead to hair loss. This last belief is partly true, as hair treatments such as hair extensions can put stress on hair and cause it to thin.

Dr. Robert Leonard, a member of the board of governers for the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery and a leading hair transplant surgeon, said that the survey showed that people were unaware that hereditary hair loss accounts for 95% of all hair loss. He warned that diet, vitamins and thickening shampoos and conditioners were not effective treatments for hair loss.

The survey shows how little the general public really know about hair loss, suggesting that many people suffering from the condition will turn to untested or pointless treatments to cure the problem. There are lots of shampoos and serums that claim to ameliorate the condition, but as hereditary hair loss is a medical condition with specific causes, they are not going to make a difference.

There are only two products which have been clinically proven to combat hair loss. The first is Regaine, the commissioners of the survey, which uses the active ingredient minoxidil to combat heridatary hair loss. It is believed that it encourages blood to flow to the hair follicles, encouraging regrowth.

While Regaine is available over the counter, the other option, Propecia, is only available with a doctor’s prescription. It is only suitable for men and contains finasteride, which stops the production of dihydratestosterone, responsible for attacking the hair follicles in the scalp.

During his trip to New Zealand, Prince William has got a lot of positive coverage. Newspapers around the world have published pictures of him cooking steak during a barbeque with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key as well as the future king exchanging the traditional nose-to-nose greeting with the head of a Maori tribe.

There has also been a fair bit of attention paid to a less statemanly aspect of his trip – photos that show the Prince is not just struggling with a receeding hairline but is clearly experiencing fairly severe male-pattern hairloss.

Local journalists were overhead discussing his exposed pate, with one female reporter quoted by the Daily Mail as saying to a colleague, “Oh my god, he looks really bald. But he is still handsome.”

William has clearly inherited a condition predominant in his family, male-pattern baldness. Often sons are more likely to see their hairline receed if their father also experienced the same thing. Prince Charles’ hair started thinning when he was aged 28 (Prince William is 27) while Prince Edward started losing his hair aged 21.

Male-pattern hair loss is caused by hormonal changes where the hormone testosterone is converted into another hormone called dihydrotestosterone. The hair follicles become more sensitive to this hormone and it causes the hair follicles on the head to shrink.

There are some treatments to halt the progress of male pattern baldness, such as Propecia or Regaine. Some men even resort to hair transplants. It all really depends on how the man in question feels about the hairloss.

The Maori women certainly weren’t put off by the glimpses of pink pate showing through – one women yelled, ‘We love you William!’ as he exchanged greetings with a group of Maori elders.

1 in three women over 25 are believed to be suffering from hair loss, as the strains of modern life and the pressures to look good take their toll on their locks.

A new survey, commissioned by the vitamin supplement manufacturers Vitabiotics WellWomen Tricologic, has discovered that 37% of women in the UK have noticed hair loss to some extent, with 4.7 million women reporting serious hair thinning to be a problem. The researchers claimed that as most women think thinning hair is a problem that occurs in older women, the stress from the loss of hair itself was adding significantly to the problem, making the hair loss worse.

Of the 3,000 women who took part in the survey, the majority admitted that they would be ashamed to say if they were losing their hair. A third of the women said their hair loss made them depressed, while a quarter said the problem was affecting their personal lives.

In an article in the Daily Mail, they suggested that the hair loss might be a result of women feeling pressure to stay thin, meaning that they weren’t getting the right nutrients for their hair. They quoted a trichologist, Sara Allison, as saying that women simply ‘don’t eat enough to get all the nutrients”.

While some hair loss can be stress related, other conditions are purely medical, such as alopecia areata. Most experts agree this is an auto-immune disease, which can be genetic or possibly triggered by a severe physical trauma. The Mail decided to illustrate their piece with a picture of Gail Porter who lost all her hair due to this condition, a fairly misleading choice as her condition is certainly medical rather than related to poor diet.

They also published the story of Paula Smith, implying that her hair loss was diet-related, despite the fact that she had given birth 7 months ago. Women who have just finished a pregnancy are at higher risk of losing their hair.

While the article does well to raise the issue of hair loss in women, it’s a shame that it didn’t seem to be especially well researched and that they didn’t make a clearer differentiation between medical hair loss and stress-related problems.  The fair number of distressed alopecia sufferers writing messages on the comment board also showed that those with medical hair loss were justifiably upset their problem had been trivialised.

Cricketing stars Shane Warne and Graham Gooch might be remembered for the spin they put on their bowling, but according to the Advertising Standards Agency, there was a bit too much spin in their adverts for the Advanced Hair Studio.

National adverts for the clinic were branded misleading after Warne claimed, “I stopped worring about my hair when I heeded the Warne-ing signs and saw Advanced Hair Studio”. Despite the fabulousness of the pun, The ASA launched an investigation when they received a complaint that the advert was misleading in its claims that the system used by the cricketers, AHS-FP treatment, could stop hair falling out or even cause it to grow back.

The adverts showed four different photos of Gooch’s scalp before and after the treatment, which involves a hair-replacement process called strand-by-strand.

The ASA concluded that Advanced Hair Studio was only entitled to claim that the system had a ‘cosmetic effect’, whereas the wording of the advert implied a physiological effect.  The adverts can no longer appear in their current format.

The chairman of Advanced Hair Studios, Carl Howell, said that the decision was unfair and that the company had asked the Committee on Advertising Practice for advice on the advert’s wording. He was especially critical that the process of investigating the advert had taken two years and that despite an decision in their favour in October, this was overturned without ‘any new arguments’ having been presented to them.

Generally hair loss is seen as an unfortunate part of growing old, something that can be ignored or panicked over, but a natural part of the aging process. However a Korean soldier has won a court case after he claimed that his hair loss was caused by extreme stress related to his duties.

The military worker first found circular balding in February 2007 and went to a military hospital for treatment However he then discovered that hair was falling out in other parts of his body, such as his eyebrows, armpits and body.

Despite being discharged from the army in November, he said that his hairloss did not improve and then sought legal advice, eventually suing the government.

The court heard that the 27-year-old man was put in charge of the postal exchanges of a land force squadron in September 2006. He described how he was overseeing three postal exchanges and working night and day.

The court found that he was in ‘good condition’ before he was given this responsibility and ruled that it was apparent that an excessive workload caused the hair loss.The Ministry of Patriot and Veteran Affairs were ordered to acknowledge him as a ‘man of national merit’ and pay him a monthly amount to compensate for the hair loss.

While previous studies have shown that British men are less likely to seek treatment for hair loss than men from other European countries, a survey has now suggested that they are nonetheless more likely to retain their hair for longer.

In a survey commissioned by the hairloss shampoo company, Alpecin, it seems that British men on average retain their hair for 6 more years than their continental counterparts. While men on the continent on average go bald at 52, British men only do so aged 58.

The study also showed that men in the south east and office workers are more concerned about premature hair loss, while of all the professions lawyers are most comfortable with losing their locks.

The study surveyed more than 1.5 million men across Europe and the results have formed the basis of Alpecin’s new ‘ baldness calculator ', which promises to accurately predict how old a man will be when he first loses his hair.

The creator of the calculator, Dr. Adolf Klenk, however warned UK men that though baldness might be less of a threat, they were likely to see their hair start thinning much earlier.

If you could find out if and when you were likely to go bald, would you want to know? A new DNA test has been developed in the lab that is going to give anyone who wants it the power to look into their future (or at least the future of their hair.)

Dr. Alan Bauman, a board-certified hair restoration physician at Bauman Medical Group in Boca Raton, Florida said "This is exciting because it's the first lab test for hair loss."

The test involves nothing more than a saliva swab which is then taken back to the laboratory where the DNA is analysed. What the Researchers are looking for is a variation on the X chromosome which is directly linked to hair loss.

The test reveals whether you are at high or low risk of losing your hair. If you are at low risk then you have an 80% risk of keeping hold of your hair by the time you’re 60. If you are at high risk then there is a 60% chance of severe hair loss by the time you are 40.

One hundred million Americans have hair loss - which is about 60 million men and 40 million women, and the interest in a test such as this will be popular across the globe. Dr Baumen believes the test will be a positive step for many people, claiming: "This just gives another piece of information, and then you decide with your doctor what you want to do."

Drugs such as finasteride and minoxidil can help to slow down the progression of hair loss and promote hair growth. With the ability to know the future of your hair available to anyone for around $200, there is little doubt that the interest in preventative hair therapy will be more popular than ever.

Beauty editors have been getting excited about the prospect of a new treatment, Latisse, which apparently increases the growth of eyelashes. Approved by the FDA in America, it is applied like an eyeliner and vouched for by Hollywood actress Brooke Shields.

Now, men are  unlikely to be getting as squeakily excited about this as the beauty editor of Grazia, but a new announcement may change that. Clever boffs started thinking that if the medication, originally developed to treat glaucoma, made eyelashes grow then it might do the same for the hair on the scalp.

Now Allergan (who manufacture the medication) have announced that testing is going to start to investigate the potential for bimatoprost – the chemical name for the drug – to be used as a hairloss treatment.

Their head of research and development, Scott Whittcup, said that though bimatoprost was approved for glaucoma, as a treatment for hair loss the company were “sort of starting from scratch.”

We are currently trying to establish if Allergan has applied for a license for Latisse in Europe. We will bring you further news on this as and when we have it.

An Israeli dermatologist has concluded that frequent combing of the hair can lead to excessive hair loss. Studying 14 women over the course of a month, he found that when they combed their hair more regularly, they were more likely to shed more of it.

Though Dr. Alexander Kidman himself admits the study was not particularly high-tech, he says that his simple study has shown women – and presumably men – are best off not fiddling about with their hair too much if they want to keep it.

He got the 14 volunteers to count the hairs caught in their comb after each time they brushed. For one week, they combedonce a day, the next week twice a day, and so on for a month. Dr. Kidman said that once the results had been tallied there was a clear link between the number of times they combed and the amount of hair that came out.

He said that when the team compared the amount of hairs lost in the twice-daily week to those of the once-daily week, more combing increased hair loss by almost 30%. Normally we can expect to lose between 100-200 hairs each day.

Dr. Kiderman added that hair loss was one of the most common reasons that younger women visited a dermatologist. However he claimed that a dermatologist could only treat about only 0.5% of those cases, so the best solution was “not to stretch your hair when its not necessary.”

A new study from a British hair loss clinic, the Belgravia Centre, has indicated that British men are more likely to be concerned about hair loss in their earlier life, with most deciding to take action aged 30.

Figures released by the clinic showed that there was a significant rise in the number of men seeking treatment for hair loss who were under 30, but then there tended to be a decline in patient numbers.

Out of all the 10,660 men the Belgravia Clinic is treating for hair loss, young men make up a significant proportion of the customers.  The senior hair loss specialist, Leonora Doclis, said that statistics show that men are first noticing hair loss at a younger and younger age and the number of people affected is growing.

Ms. Doclis said that various aspects of life for men in their 20s – career expectations, exam stress, frequent moving – could be triggers for early onset male-pattern baldness.She added that while there was a fair amount of scepticism about hair loss treatments, younger men were more likely to be better informed about the medical developments, such as the creation of Propecia, that have taken place over the last decade.

The New York Times has run a story claiming that the Republican ex-vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s hair has started thinning with the stress of the past year. They quoted her hairdresser Jessica Steele as saying that Ms. Palin needed emergency help to cover up the loss, after a spate of political setbacks “just broke her heart.”

Hair loss in women is still seen as a rather taboo subject, though it is increasingly common. Like men, women often find that their hair loss can be triggered by stress.

Looking at Sarah Palin, the shock could be any number of stressful events in her life, from an investigation into her taxes, allegations that she abused her position to get her brother-in-law fired and a public feud with the American TV host David Letterman after he make a joke about her daughter. This has all been topped off by her resignation as the Governor of Alaska, a move some say is part of a run-up to a shot at the White House.

The stress-related hair loss syndrome is known as telogen effluvium and describes when hairs in their growing phase are pushed suddenly into their resting phase by a shock to the system. The resting phase then prompts them to fall out.

There are some specific options for women than can halt the hair loss, such as the version of the topical gel Regaine which has been developed especially for females. Unfortunately, the prescription-only medicine Propecia only cures male-pattern baldness, and cannot be taken by women. Some women are opting for the more extreme – and expensive – option of hair transplants.

We quite often get enquiries from women who are suffering from hair loss but there is not much that we can do for them as in most cases, the sort of hair loss that they are suffering from is something called alopecia areata. The appearance of this type of hair loss is when large areas of the scalp shed hair and form bald patches. In extreme cases, people can lose all the hair from every part of their body.  It is not known exactly why this happens and it is heart-wrenching telling patients that there is not much that we can do for them. It is thought that alopecia areata is caused by an autoimmune disease so it is often treated with steroids to suppress the immune system. The problem with this is that the hair loss usually resumes as soon as the patient comes off the steroid treatment so it is not very satisfactory. Some people will grow their hair back and others will suffer sporadically thoughout their lives.

Here is a link to a diary kept by Lulu O'Hagan who suffers from alopecia areata and published in The Times

For all those men worried they may go bald in later life, a new product has hit the market that promises to let them know either way – the ‘baldness calculator’. It sounds improbable, but the program promises to tell users the exact age at which they will start losing their hair.

The program was designed by German scientists due to the high incidence of hair loss in the country, where half the male population suffer from hereditary hair loss. By looking at users age, occupation, hometown, family history and stress levels, the scientists say that they can predict whether there will be hair loss.

So far, half a million German men have made use of the program within 10 days of it being unveiled. Over half of those using it – 60% - have been relatively young men aged between 18 and 30. Dr. Adolf Klenk, who is head of research and development at hair care company Dr Kurt Wolff, is not surprised that many users are young men. He pointed to the fact that at that stage of life, they are socialising a lot and starting to think about finding a long-term partner. As hair loss can cause severe loss of self-confidence, at that stage of life they are particularly concerned that hair loss will make them less attractive.

He added that there were various risk factors that made men more likely to go bald, including a history of hair loss in the mother or father’s family, increased and prolonged stress and a poor diet. He then warned that men who regularly wear headgear, including headsets and helmets, might be pulling their hair out or reducing density.

Dr Kurt Wolff has also created a range of shampoos and hair tonics to combat hair loss, which have gone on sale in the UK. They contain caffeine and after tests on 500 volunteers, showed that the stimulant promoted hair growth.

A new survey has shed light on the difficulties faced by those who are losing their hair, whether male or female. Commissioned by Viscera, a hair loss supplement company, it was revealed that around a third of Brits suffer from hair loss, or have suffered from it previously. While most of the 1,400 respondents were not overly distressed by the loss of their hair, there was a significant proportion who found the experience extremely difficult.

A quarter of those surveyed said they felt distressed when they looked in the mirror, while a further 33% said it made them overly self-conscious. 20% said their hair loss had lead to them losing confidence in social situations. The negative emotions prompted by hair loss also seemed to open the door to damaging the relationships of those involved, as respondents said they were worried their sexual attractiveness would be affected.

The survey also showed that some people believed that hair loss could lead to discrimination at work, especially for women. 15% believed that men would suffer in their careers as a result of baldness, but more than twice that number thought when women were the sufferers, they would face difficulties in their workplace.

The report was timed to coincide with Hair Loss Awareness month. Dr. Nigel Hunt, a psychologist and author of the report, said that those suffering from the condition should perhaps have better access to therapy to help them cope with their baldness.

A small bio-tech firm in San Diego has been making encouraging progress in the development of a new treatment to combat hair loss. Histogen, which mimics nature to use the same science driving stem-cell research, has been working on their formula ReGenica for a while now and has just revealed the early results from a five-month clinical trial currently in progress.

The trial, though primarily aimed at seeing whether or not the formula is safe for human use, seems to indicate that ReGenica starts improving hair quality in just 12 weeks. Trial subjects developed “more hair, thicker hair shafts and what appears to be the growth of completely new hair follicles in the areas that received the ReGenica treatment”, according to Dr Craig Zimmerman, who was the principal investigator of the study. There was also no reported adverse reactions.

The treatment was developed using man-man fibroblasts, early stem-cells, grown in an environment that mimics embryonic conditions. The fibroblasts then cause certain proteins named WNT proteins to be produced. In mice, WNT was shown to be responsible for initiating the formation of new hair follicles and improving function in existing follicles, and when the proteins were harvested and used on humans similar results were observed.

Histogen have reported that they are planning to meet with the FDA (the US Food and Drugs Administration), the body responsible for granting new drugs licenses to be sold publicly. While this is still some way off, many healthcare professionals and balding men will be watching the performance of the company with interest. Let’s wait for the next round of clinical trial results, but its still good to hear promising news!

Botox is adored by millions for helping them achieve – well, if not eternal youth, then as least a rather shiny-faced and rigid approximation of it. However, an American doctor who specialises in cosmetic surgery is now claiming that Botox can also help combat baldness.

Dr. Simon Ourian, who is Medical Director at a firm of cosmetic surgeons in Beverly Hills named Epione, claims that he discovered this new method of treating the condition when he read studies indicating that Botox injections to the scalp might help with migraines. His mother had been undergoing chemotherapy and was suffering from them, so he decided to - and please applaud the pun – give it a shot. But low and behold, Mummy started sprouting hair around the site of the injections.

Intruiged and with a supply of patients willing to volunteer to try this out, Dr. Ourian spent three years ‘refining’ the treatment. He is now offering a botox-and-vitamin cocktail, injected into the scalp, at his clinic for quite a lot of money. He claims that because hair loss is a significant source of insecurity for many people, both men and women, there was no shortage of volunteers with thinning hair. The results for many were astonishing, and for some, a single session yielded dramatic results.”

He is certainly right that hair loss can be massively upsetting for many. It’s a bit creepy though to acknowledge this and then use that insecurity to encourage people to get toxins injected because it ‘worked for my mother’. Still, I suppose that were it not for crazy risk-takers we wouldn’t have penicillin or cookie-dough ice cream. It remains to be seen whether there will be any more detailed research done into this treatment method and we reserve the right to stay dubious for the time being. However, if it does actually work then it will probably prove wildly popular, considering how quickly people jumped to inject the stuff into their faces. Injecting into the scalp probably will seem less scary!

Its rare on this blog that we get to share a bit of celebrity news, but men experiencing male-pattern baldness will doubtless take an extra interest in this story. One of the UK’s best-loved comedians and actors John Cleese recently went on Richard and Judy’s new chat show New Position to reveal that he had had a hair transplant. While discussing his recent hip replacement, the star said nonchalantly, “ As we are talking operations, since I last saw you I’ve had a hair transplant.” He went on to explain the procedure to the couple, describing how it involved taking two strips of hair from the back of his head, where the hair grew normally, which were divided into 800 separate inserts. These were then transplanted back into his head.

Asked why he had gone through this fairly drastic procedure, Cleese, with the eccentric humour he is famed for, answered: “Because I’ve got a very strange shaped skull, very pointy and I don’t like wearing wigs.” Fair enough. However, his glib response suggests at the societal stigma still attached to hair loss, particularly in Britain. It is rare to hear someone publicly describe how distressing hair loss can be, though clearly for Cleese to have opted for fairly invasive surgery, the condition must have been seriously upsetting for him. A survey in 2004 showed that while British men have the second highest incidence of baldness in Europe, only one in ten men will seek treatment for the condition. Though the survey revealed that three-quarters of men who have started losing their hair suffered from self-esteem problems, and half the British men questioned said hair loss made them feel less attractive, there is still stigma attached to seeking help for the problem.

Britain seems to have a certain ‘put up and shut up’ attitude to baldness, despite the very detrimental impact it can have on a man’s sense of self. It is refreshing to hear a man in the public eye say unashamedly he has sought treatment. Perhaps even more refreshing is when such a man expresses the distress that hair loss can cause, as when Mark Oaten, the disgraced Liberal Democrat MP, wrote in the Sunday Times, “ I became more and more obsessed by its (his hair) disappearance. For me it was a public sign that my youth had ended.”

While hair loss is not the greatest excuse for a political scandal, it is certainly true that it can have a big impact on how a man feels about himself. Speaking as a woman, whether a man has a bald patch or not doesn’t bother me at all - but that really doesn’t matter, because I know from worrying over a few extra pounds that no one noticed, feeling good about yourself depends not on how others see you but how you see yourself. Surgery should always be a last resort, but there are medications that can help. It is terribly depressing to think of all the men who let themselves be shamed into suffering in silence. So lets say bravo to the men brave enough to take action.

We recently reported on The Online Clinic news blog that hair loss was one of the major health concerns for men over the age of forty. It was something that many men regarded as an unavoidable part of the aging process and something that they could do little about. It also ranked higher in their list of health concerns than the possibility of erectile dysfunction.

Scientists at Kings College, London, in conjunction with researchers from GlaxoSmithKline and McGill University, have identified a gene that may prove vital in the treatment of a particular type of hair loss. The gene seems to place one man in every seven at risk of male pattern baldness.

The survey was carried out on 1125 Caucasian men and identified two genetic variants that lead to a risk of hair loss that is seven times greater than those without the genes. The genes were found on chromosome 20. Possessing these particular genes and another on the X chromosome combined to increase the occurrence of male pattern baldness sevenfold. A surprising coincidence is the fact that one in seven men has this gene combination.

The identification of these genes will, hopefully, allow scientists to develop ways to prevent this particular form of baldness. At the moment we have a drug called Propecia to fight hair loss and this appears to be highly effective for many men losing hair on the crown but it does not work quite so well at the temple area. I have been taking Propecia for years to great effect but I have a constant worry that one day the drug will stop working so I believe that any new developments in this area would be welcomed by most men who are “follicly challenged.”

Last week on The Online Clinic health blog we reported a new government initiative to make men over the age of forty aware that forty percent of them would suffer from Erectile Dysfunction after reaching that age. The initiative was based on a survey of men’s health concerns that highlighted the fact that men were not aware of potential risks to their health or how to recognise them. These risks included prostate problems, cardiovascular disease and Type 2 Diabetes. The report did not, however, refer to the health issue which men were most concerned about over the age of forty. What was it you may ask? The answer was hair loss.

The August edition of the Harvard Health letter has reported that the news for those suffering from hair loss is both good and bad in equal measures. No new drugs have been approved for the treatment of hair loss since 1997, more than a decade, which may seem surprising if one takes into consideration the fact that men are so concerned about it. It states that the most effective treatment for the condition is a hair transplant, though unfortunately for hair loss sufferers, this is also the most expensive treatment. The journal reports that transplants are improving yearly due to improved surgical techniques.

There are two drugs currently approved for the treatment of male pattern baldness, one is minoxidil (Regaine) and the other is finasteride (Propecia). Both of these drugs slow hair loss or re-grow hair. Propecia has been shown to have better results than Regaine, but it is more expensive. In order to see benefits the medication needs to be kept being taken if the benefits gained are to be sustained.

Several new drugs are being developed for the treatment of hair loss. One of these treats the health of the hair follicle to make it live for longer. The other drug being developed is a topical cream that will actually activate the follicles and cause them to generate new hair. So the future looks promising after a number of years without any major developments.

We have just seen some very interesting research in the Archives of Dermatology which suggests that the amount of cigarettes that a man smokes can influence the extent to which he will go bald.  Male pattern baldness is influenced by genetic and hormonal factors but some research by scientists in Taiwan has concluded that there was a definitive link between men who were moderately to severely bald and the number of cigarettes that they smoked.

It is not clear how the cigarettes influence baldness but if there is a link then it is likely that it emphasises an already pre-existing predisposition to go bald.  It has been suggested that smoking destroys hair follicles but surely this would be the case with female smokers as well.  Whilst this research is interesting, further work needs to be done to determine if such a link does indeed exist, how it actually operates.

Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery that could lead to a new drug that is actually able to reverse baldness.  Experiments have taken place with mice that have demonstrated that hair follicles can be reawakened by deliberately activating a protein call Wnt.  Wnt is essential for the formation of hair follicles but it was previously thought to be operational in embryos only. The critical role of Wnt was confirmed in two further studies which inhibited the production of Wnt and the hair regrowth in the mice was much diminished.

A drug which uses this method of hair regrowth may be at least a decade away as the only way that the scientists were able to activate the Wnt was to create a large surface wound on the back of the mice which would be wholly inappropriate for cosmetic use in humans.

There are currently two hair loss treatments available to purchase, both of which have reasonably high rates of success.  Regaine is a topical solution that is applied twice daily to the scalp but most people find this less convenient that the once a day pill, Propecia, which is available on prescription only.  Both of these treatments are available through The Online Clinic.