Hair Loss Blog

1: Plast Reconstr Surg. 1979 Mar;63(3):369-71. Transfer of a large, single temporo-occipital flap for treatment of baldness.

Lauzon G.

A technique is described to correct male pattern baldness by transferring a large, single, temporo-occipital flap after one delay.

Link: http://www.drproctor.com

Int J Pharm. 2000 Jan 20;194(1):125-34. New topical antiandrogenic formulations can stimulate hair growth in human bald scalp grafted onto mice.

Sintov A,et al

The purpose of this study was to test the ability of topical formulations of finasteride and flutamide to re-enlarge hair follicles in male-pattern baldness. This was evaluated by an experimental model of human scalp skin graft transplanted onto SCID mice. A comparison was made between formulations containing finasteride and flutamide, and a vehicle formulation in terms of the mean hairs per graft, length, diameter of the shafts, and structures of the growth stages of the hair. Flutamide and finasteride had a significantly higher effect (P<0.05) than the placebo in all the tested parameters, but flutamide demonstrated more hair per graft and longer hair shafts than finasteride (P<0.05). The number of hairs per graft for flutamide and finasteride groups were 1.22+/-0. 47 and 0.88+/-0.95 hairs/0.5 mm2 graft, respectively, versus 0. 35+/-0.6 hairs/graft for vehicle-treated graft. Similarly, hair lengths for flutamide and finasteride were 5.82+/-0.50 and 4.50+/-0. 32 mm, respectively, versus 2.83+/-0.18 mm for the vehicle-treated grafts. An in vitro diffusion study of flutamide gel using hairless mouse skin demonstrated the beneficial effect of the vehicle composition in comparison with a hydroalcoholic solution or a gel containing no penetration enhancer. It is therefore suggested that this topical composition containing flutamide or finasteride may effectively result in regression of male-pattern baldness.

Cell Stress Chaperones. 2008 Spring;13(1):31-8. Epub 2008 Feb 5.

Prevention of chemotherapy-induced alopecia in rodent models.

Jimenez JJ, Roberts SM, Mejia J, Mauro LM, Munson JW, Elgart GW, Connelly EA,Chen Q, Zou J, Goldenberg C, Voellmy R.

Alopecia (hair loss) is experienced by thousands of cancer patients every year.Substantial-to-severe alopecia is induced by anthracyclines (e.g., adriamycin), taxanes (e.g., taxol), alkylating compounds (e.g., cyclophosphamide), and the topisomerase inhibitor etoposide, agents that are widely used in the treatment of leukemias and breast, lung, ovarian, and bladder cancers. Currently, no treatment appears to be generally effective in reliably preventing this secondary effect of chemotherapy. We observed in experiments using different rodent models that localized administration of heat or subcutaneous/intradermal injection of geldanamycin or 17-(allylamino)-17-demethoxygeldanamycin induced a stress protein response in hair follicles and effectively prevented alopecia from adriamycin,cyclophosphamide, taxol, and etoposide. Model tumor therapy experiments support the presumption that such localized hair-saving treatment does not negatively affect chemotherapy efficacy.

Cleve Clin J Med. 2009 Jun;76(6):361-7.

Diffuse hair loss: its triggers and management.

Harrison S, Bergfeld W.

Department of Dermatology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.

Diffuse hair loss can affect both sexes at any age. Anything that interrupts the normal hair cycle can trigger diffuse hair loss. Triggers include a wide variety of physiologic or emotional stresses, nutritional deficiencies, and endocrine imbalances. Loss of telogen-phase hairs is the most common. Hair loss during the anagen phase is usually caused by chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Finding the cause, or trigger, of the hair loss requires a thorough history and examination and will enable appropriate treatment. Patient education is key in the management of diffuse hair loss.

Related Links

Shedding: how to manage a common cause of hair loss. [Cleve Clin J Med. 2001]

[Physiopathology and diagnosis of hair loss] [Schweiz Med Wochenschr. 1971]

Diagnosis and management of the hair loss patient. [Cutis. 1987] PMID:3652735

Alopecia. III. Diffuse hair loss (nonscarring). [Cutis. 1983] PMID:6682748

'Atrophic telogen effluvium' from cytotoxic drugs and a randomized controlled trial to investigate the possible protective effect of pretreatment with a topical vitamin D analogue in humans. [Br J Dermatol. 2005] PMID:16029334