Hair Transplant Surgeon Discusses Hair Loss on NPR

Hair transplant surgeon Robert M. Bernstein M.D. was recently interviewed on National Public Radio’s “The People’s Pharmacy”. Invited to speak about hair loss, Dr. Bernstein offered insights about the causes of hereditary baldness and it’s solutions including hair transplantation.

The show, which airs starting in May, is entitled “Dealing with hair Loss” and addresses issues such as the importance of hair to our sense of well being.

Also featured on the program was Sara Romweber, Ph.D. a registered nurse and psychotherapist. She is author of Hair: "Surviving the Fall".

This full hour radio interview is filled with informative facts about male pattern baldness, cultural attitudes toward hair loss and surgical hair restoration.

Hosted by Pharmacologist Joe Graedon and medical anthropologist Terry Graedon, “The People's Pharmacy” is on the current program schedule for over 500 stations through public radio, the InTouch Radio Reading Service, and the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.

On the program Dr. Bernstein was asked about his pioneering work in follicular unit hair transplantation and host of other questions ranging from the causes of hair loss to the psychological effects of balding. As an example:

Moderator: How one can tell the difference between hair loss from hormonal imbalances and common baldness?

Dr Bernstein: Measuring hormone levels alone, although important for medical management, does not necessarily reveal whether the cause of the hair loss is actually hormone related or is genetic. The diagnosis is made by examining the scalp and looking at the hair under close magnification using an instrument called a “Densitometer.” If the hair shafts are of different calibers, this is relatively diagnostic of female patterned genetic hair loss and in this case hormone levels are often normal. Hormonal changes or imbalances, on the other hand, may cause alterations in hair texture (such as in thyroid disease) or a generalized shedding that can occur after childbirth (called telogen effluvium). In telogen effluvium, the hair can l actually fall out in clumps – you can literally get handfuls of hair, but the hair often returns over time. In genetic hair loss, however, it is not a question of the hair falling out any faster, but the hair being replaced with thinner, finer hair in each hair cycle, until the hair gradually disappears.