Archive for the 'Hair Loss' Category

Are there any possibilities of transplanting gray hair? This question is often asked by most of the people who start losing their gray. Such hair loss is called as androgenic alopecia and is a condition that is quiet common in both male and female alike especially due to ageing. The answer to this question is ‘Yes’, as gray hair can also be transplanted easily. Transplantation of hair is not dependent upon the color of hair that is being transplanted. Most of the people have a very common misconception that gray hair are not healthy. Health of your hair has nothing to do with the color of your hair.

This theory can also be understood on the basis that if gray hair were not strong enough, then they could never have been transplanted. The main aim behind hair transplantation is to try and move most of the healthy follicles and concentrate them in an area where they can continue to produce more healthy hair. Gray hair are healthy hair and are produced by most of the healthy hair follicles. We all are aware of the fact that hair gets its color from a chemical known as melanin. So, the production of melanin and its quantities is determined by the type of genes in a particular individual.

The fact is that when this melanin production tends to stop completely of even slow down then our hair starts losing its natural color. So if the pigmentation is decreased we get gray hair and if it stops completely we get white hair. There are no specific reasons known yet for the decrease in production of melanin in our body. But most of the reasons points on the fact that it is the biological cycle that usually determines the production of melanin in our body.

Getting a gray hair or even white hair is a process that is associated with the aging of our body. Most of the people start getting gray hair at an age of 50 but it may also begin as early as 20 for some individuals. Most of the people may not be aware of the fact that hair transplant is safe for aged patients or not? We also know that age alone may not stop a person from undergoing hair transplant. A number of physicians have also reported few cases in which they have completed hair transplant successfully even at the age of 80.

Moreover hair loss is very common at the age of 80, so hair transplant has to be done at this age. Considering aged patients for hair transplant should in fact be one of the preferred priorities. Most of the causes may also be the same as that of younger people like the cause of hair loss, their physical condition, medical history, condition of the scalp, hair loss pattern, expectations.

The physician is also advised to discuss the outcomes of transplantation with their patients as the outcome may differ in different cases depending on the age of the patient. The patient should also be advised that future graying of hair is possible.

Perhaps one of the greatest fears of men is hairloss. A man’s hair defines his self-image and he is willing to undergo all sorts of treatment and medication to prevent the onset of hairloss or treat baldness. Male hair loss treatments can be anywhere from a topical solution to transplantation and often, people who losing their are willing to pay the price just to have it grown back.

Male hair loss often responds to minoxidil and finasteride. Rogaine is the most popular brand of minoxidil and in 1996, the medicine was approved for over-the-counter sale worldwide. As male pattern baldness occurs, hairs in the affected area become shorter and finer and are less pigmented with successive growth cycles. This type of baldness is also known as androgenic alopecia and is associated with the presence of dihydroxytesterone, which is a metabolite of testosterone. Finasteride is a competitive inhibitor of type II 5alpha-reductase that can lower dihydroxytesterone levels, preventing baldness.

The pathologic causes of alopecia are often evaluated when treating baldness in men. The patient’s medical history plays an important role in diagnosing the condition. The key elements considered include family history, medications, underlying medical illness, stress factors and the patterns and speed of hair loss. Male pattern baldness is characterized by an M pattern, while patchy alopecia is usually associated with conditions such as tinea capitits, lupus erythematosus and immune-mediated alopecia areata. Telogen effluvium is alopecia that occurs after a stressful event.

As of now, there are no studies that compare the effectiveness of minoxidil and finasteride. Some medical researchers have claimed, though, that minoxidil at two percent topical solution could grow hair in about 50 percent of patients. The medicine appeared to be ineffective for frontal baldness and effective in preventing hair thinning and loss. Studies on the effectiveness of finasteride on the other hand revealed that its greatest benefit may be in preventing further hair loss in men at the early stages of baldness.

Both minoxidil and finasteride have proven to be well tolerated by patients. The reported side effect of minoxidil is pruritis of the scalp, while finasteride revealed sexual side effects such as decreased libido and erectile dysfuction. Finasteride is not recommended to be used in women and children. When counseling patients, physicians should stress that effectiveness have been primarily demonstrated in younger men.

Scientists agree that further study is required to determine the long-term benefit of medications for male hair loss. It may also be possible to predict those who will respond to treatment with further study.