The lead article in the March/April 1997 issue of Hair Transplant Forum International focuses on the latest tools available for assessing whether or not a person experiencing hair loss is a good candidate for hair transplant surgery.

Dr. Bernstein uses the techniques of densitometry and video-microscopy to analyze the scalp under high-powered magnification. This gives the doctors vital information for making decisions about whether patients are candidates for hair transplant surgery.

Q: I have read that in the evaluation of a patient for hair restoration surgery some doctors use a densitometer to measure miniaturization – the decrease in size of hair diameters. I read that miniaturization is a sign of genetic hair loss, but when there is miniaturization of greater than 20% in the donor area, [...]

Q: Why should a doctor measure miniaturization in the donor area before recommending a hair transplant? A: Normally, the donor area contains hairs of very uniform diameter (called terminal hairs). In androgenetic hair loss, the action of DHT causes some of these terminal hairs to decrease in diameter and in length until they eventually disappear [...]

Q: Can stress accelerate hair loss? I am 25 and there is balding on my dad’s side of the family. I never had any thinning or hair loss till this year. I guess you can say I’ve been under a lot of stress. When I did notice shortly after my 25th birthday I started stressing [...]

In 1995, a surgeon just entering the field of hair transplantation became aware of these natural “follicular units” and came to believe that they should be the building blocks for all hair transplants. His name was Bob Bernstein.