Crown Balding and Heart Disease Linked in British Medical Journal Study

Crown Balding and Heart Disease Linked in British Medical Journal Study

A new meta-analysis of six studies, published in the British medical journal BMJ Open, has found a linkage between balding at the crown and coronary heart disease. While the top-line result of the study may be alarming, let us look first at some of the key facts.

While the study showed a modest link between crown balding and heart disease, the link was not as strong as for other heart disease indicators such as smoking, obesity, cholesterol levels and blood pressure.
There was no link established for men with a receding hair line.
Key indicators of heart disease — high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, and smoking — are present in about half of Americans, according to the Center for Disease Control in America. So this is a health issue faced by many Americans, hair loss or not.
Importantly, the most appropriate response if you have balding at the crown (and particularly crown balding at an early age), is not to worry first and foremost about your hair, but to concentrate on basic heart health and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Discuss these issues and any concerns with your primary care physician.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo in Japan compiled information from six different studies with a combined total of almost 37,000 male participants. The studies were published between 1993 and 2008. Although one of the six studies did not find a link between baldness and coronary heart disease, the other five studies did find a link with the strength of the association differing in each study. In general, the more severe the balding at the crown, the more likely there was an association with heart disease. In addition, early onset of vertex balding — i.e. early balding at the crown — was found to be associated with the early development of more significant heart disease.

More research needs to be done to investigate the actual medical causes of the linkages shown.

An article on the BBC News website quotes a cardiac nurse from the British Heart Foundation discussing the findings:

“Although these findings are interesting, men who’ve lost their hair should not be alarmed by this analysis. Much more research is needed to confirm any link between male pattern baldness and an increased risk of coronary heart disease. In the meantime, it’s more important to pay attention to your waistline than your hairline.”

Image c/o BBC online

Posted by Robert M. Bernstein M.D.

Japanese Researchers Bioengineer Hair Follicles from Stem Cells, Dermal Papillae

Credit: Tokyo University of Science

Japanese researchers have demonstrated that scientists can bioengineer viable, hair-producing follicles from epithelial stem cells and dermal papilla cells. Using these components, the team produced follicles that exhibit both the normal hair cycle and piloerection (the reflex contraction of a tiny muscle in the hair follicles which creates what is commonly referred to as “goose bumps”). The bioengineered follicles also developed the normal structures found within follicles and formed natural connections with skin tissues, muscle cells, and nerve cells.

The scientists used a breakthrough type of hair multiplication to achieve a functional bioengineered hair follicle. In hair multiplication, germinative cells are harvested non-surgically and then multiplied outside the body in a laboratory. These cells are then injected into the skin where they, ideally, grow into hair follicles. The Japanese research team takes this concept one step further by first combining the stem cells and dermal papillae in the laboratory to create a germ of the hair follicle. This germ is then implanted into the scalp where it grows into a viable hair follicle.

The study opens the door to treat common baldness (androgenetic alopecia) and a host of other medical conditions that can cause hair loss.

View the Hair Cloning section to read more on hair multiplication and hair cloning methods.

Reference:

Koh-ei Toyoshima, Kyosuke Asakawa, Naoko Ishibashi, Hiroshi Toki, Miho Ogawa, Tomoko Hasegawa, Tarou Irié, Tetsuhiko Tachikawa, Akio Sato, Akira Takeda, Takashi Tsuji. Fully functional hair follicle regeneration through the rearrangement of stem cells and their niches. Nature Communications, 2012; 3: 784 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1784

Posted by Robert M. Bernstein M.D.

Dr. Bernstein, ARTAS Robot for FUE Featured in Japanese Language Magazine ‘NY Japion’

NY Japion Features Dr. Bernstein, ARTAS Robot For FUE

Dr. Bernstein with ARTAS Robot for FUE

Dr. Bernstein was featured as the cover story of the April 27^th edition of NY Japion, a weekly newspaper in the Japanese language, published in the New York tri-state area and distributed for free in the Japanese community.

The article includes an interview with Dr. Bernstein about the latest in hair transplant surgery, including his pioneering use of the ARTAS robot for FUE hair transplantation.

NY Japion featured Dr. Bernstein in a 2006 series on hair restoration in which Dr. Bernstein discussed hair loss and its implications.

Posted by Robert M. Bernstein M.D.

Japanese Magazine Features Dr. Bernstein and Robotic FUE

Dr. Bernstein and ARTAS Robot

Dr. Bernstein’s pioneering work in developing FUT and FUE hair transplant procedures has influenced hair restoration physicians across the globe. Recently, his use of the ARTAS System for robotic FUE has grabbed international attention.

Yomitime, a Japanese web-zine, recently featured Dr. Bernstein and his foray into robotic hair restoration. The article describes the “cutting-edge” ARTAS robot, while also covering the basics of Dr. Bernstein’s FUT and FUE procedures.

Patients of Bernstein Medical fly in from around the globe to receive world-class treatment for their hair loss. This past year alone he has treated patients from India, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, France, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Israel, the UK and Russia.

For more about visiting our office from abroad, visit Our Patients in the New Patient Information section. Or, to have a consultation with Dr. Bernstein via the internet, visit our Photo Consult page and submit the form.

If you can read Japanese, download the article here.

Posted by Robert M. Bernstein M.D.

Hair Loss Gene Identified in Mice

Japanese scientists have located a gene that seems to regulate hair loss in mice. They feel that this gene may also play a role in hair loss in humans. The results of the studies were recently reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers produced a strain of mice lacking in the Sox21 gene. As a result, the mice began to lose hair starting eleven days after birth. By the forth week, the mice were entirely devoid of hair. What was most interesting was that during the fourth week hair started to re-grow, but then eventually fell out starting the cycle again. These cycles were noted to repeat for as long as two years.

The scientific team is headed by Yumiko Saga of the Division of Mammalian Development at the National Institute of Genetics in Mishima, Japan. He stated that “The gene is likely involved with the differentiation of stem cells that form the outer layer of the hair shaft.”

The same Sox21 gene causing this cyclical hair loss in mice was also found in human hair shafts, so it is hypothesized that his gene might possibly be related to baldness in humans.

Posted by Robert M. Bernstein M.D.

Skin Cells Substitute for Embryonic Stem Cells in Cloning Research

The advantage of using embryonic stem cells in cloning research, organ transplantation, and in finding cures for disease, is that these cells are basically “unprogrammed.” This means that the stem cell has not yet determined what it will grow to become so, in theory at least, scientists can manipulate them into becoming anything that they are programmed to be.

Two teams of scientists working independently (Kazutoshi Takahashi and Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University, Japan and James Thompson’s team at the University of Wisconsin) announced that they had successfully replicated the biological abilities of the embryonic stem cell using only skin cells. Called “induced pluripotent stem cells” these former skin cells were programmed to become other types of cells, acting in the same way as the embryonic stem cells.

This transformation was accomplished by introducing four basic genes into skin cells, via a viral carrier. These genes cause the adult skin cells to revert and become the equivalent of embryonic stem cells. The breakthrough is in the ability to “unprogram” skin cells so that they revert to cells that have the same response and abilities as embryonic stem cells.

The debate regarding embryonic stem cells has been focused on the harvesting of the cells. A fertilized embryonic egg is allowed to mature until it formed blastocysts. These blastocysts contain the newly formed stem cells. When these stem cells are removed, the embryo is destroyed. If skin cells can be successfully converted to stem cells, this could negate the ethical questions of the use of embryonic stem cells and produce a large amount of readily available stem cells for research.

Caution must be taken with this new technology. For example, one of the genes used to unprogram the skin cells is carcinogenic (cancer-causing).

Research must also be done to verify that these reprogrammed cells don’t have subtle differences between themselves and true embryonic stem cells.

Although the ability to “unprogram” skin cells to form pluripotent stem cells is a significant breakthrough, it is important to stress that this is still a research tool and it will take quite some time before it is known if these cells can truly substitute for stem cells in the treatment of disease.

References:

Kazutoshi T, Tanabe K, Ohnuki M, Narita M, Ichisaka T, Tomoda K, Yamanaka S: Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Adult Human Fibroblasts by Defined Factors: Cell (2007), 131, 1-12.

Kolata G, Scientists Bypass Need for Embryo to Get Stem Cells, New York Times, 2007; A-21:23.

Posted by Robert M. Bernstein M.D.

What is a "Bar Code Hair Style"?

Q: I was at a party the other day and some women were talking about their boyfriend’s hair. I heard one refer to her ex-boyfriend as having a “bar code.” What is that? — B.A., New Albany, Ohio

A: A “bar code” is slang term used in Japan for a comb over.

Posted by Robert M. Bernstein M.D.

Hair Restoration Series in NY Japion Features Dr. Bernstein

NY Japion — a weekly newspaper in the Japanese language, published in the New York tri-state area, and distributed for free in the Japanese community — has featured Robert M. Bernstein, MD, in their series on hair loss in men and women. In the series, TV producer, Hideo Nakamura, who is bald himself, goes on a mission on behalf of fellow bald men. His column hopes to help others with hair loss to have a more fulfilled, fun life and to raise their self-esteem.

Nakamura interviewed Dr. Bernstein for this weekly series that began in October 2006. In issues No. 1 and 2, Dr. Bernstein explained the basic mechanism of balding for both men and women which are quite different in its causes, balding types, and progression of hair loss. The NY Japion’s readers were all very surprised by the fact that balding for men is actually related to genes on both the mother’s side as well as the father’s side of the family. Dr. Bernstein also shared his unique theory of why Japan’s Samurai had the uniformed bald look.

The column discussed post-op care after hair restoration surgery and explained the drug Propecia, a men’s oral hair growth treatment, minoxidil and some cosmetic hair products.

Reporter Nakamura was also examined by Dr. Bernstein and with the patient’s permission was allowed to observe a hair transplant surgery. Issues No. 3, 4, 5 are about the surgical hair restoration procedure known as Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation (FUT), a method that Dr. Bernstein helped to pioneer. By using the patient’s own hair, FUT can give totally natural looking results. The patient’s own hair starts growing where there was no hair before.

You can download a PDF version of the original series (in Japanese) at the link below:

PDF Version