Hair Transplant, Hair Restoration & Repair
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Telephone: 212-826-2400
CBS News’ The Early Show has picked up the “balding buzz” that first started to grow when the National Enquirer reported that New England Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady is seeking advice on how to treat his hair loss.
CBS turned to Dr. Bernstein for his expert medical opinion on Brady’s hair loss. View the post to watch the video and read some links on hair loss.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has a multimillion dollar contract, a supermodel wife, and not one, not two, but three Super Bowl rings. He also has androgenetic alopecia, or genetically inherited male pattern baldness, and future prospects of being a balding celebrity. Or does he?
An article in the New York Daily News reports that Mr. Brady has consulted with a hair transplant physician about his hair loss. The Daily News interviewed both Dr. Bernstein and a patient at Bernstein Medical – Center for Hair Restoration for the article.
Read the full post for quotations from the article and some links on hair loss genetics.
Q: I am currently 28. I have been taking Propecia for 6 years and recently began to grow sparse chest hair for the first time in my life. Is the Propecia causing these effects?
A: DHT causes male pattern baldness and stimulates the growth of body hair. The use of Finasteride, a DHT blocker, will permit scalp hair to grown and inhibit the growth of body hair, not stimulate it.
However, the effects on body hair are quite small, so your natural tendency to grow chest hair over time is probably not being blocked by the treatment.
Dr. Angela Christiano of Columbia University in New York and a team of scientific researchers, have identified a new gene involved in hair growth. Their discovery may affect the direction of future research for hair loss and the diagnosis and ultimate prevention of male pattern baldness.
The condition, which leads to thinning hair, is called hereditary hypotrichosis simplex. Through the study of families in Pakistan and Italy who suffer from this condition, the team was able to identify a mutation of the APCDD1 gene located in chromosome 18. This chromosome has been linked to other causes of hair loss.
Q: Is it worth getting the genetic test for balding?
A: You’re referring to Hair DX (hairdx.com), which costs about $150 and came to market in January of 2008 as the first test for androgenetic alopecia, aka male pattern baldness.
The test screens for variations in the androgen receptor gene on the X chromosome, the gene that is associated with male pattern hair loss. The purpose of the test is to identify persons at increased risk of developing hair loss before it is clinically apparent – so that medical intervention can be started early, when it is most effective.
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