Dr. Alex A Khadavi, MD is a Board-Certified Dermatologist based in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Khadavi is the creator of Revivogen* and is also Assistant Clinical Professor of Dermatology at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Khadavi studied medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, DC and was a Resident in Dermatology at University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Khadavi is involved in research on novel skin cancer therapies, acne and hair loss.

[* Revivogen is a topical hair loss prevention formulation based on GLA, Saw Palmetto and other natural DHT inhibitors ]

There has been some exciting news regarding important proteins responsible for hair growth within the scalp. Researchers in Japan have found that within the scalps of males with male pattern hair loss, two proteins, bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), which promotes the formation of bones, and ephrin, which promotes blood vessel formation, are produced in decreased amounts. One may conclude that these proteins are important signals in the hair follicle cycle and over time become less available resulting in smaller and smaller terminal hairs until the hair follicle is completely gone.

Additionally, the Japanese group have found that by adding a chemical, 6-benzyl aminopurine, to hair root cell cultures results in increased amounts of BMP and ephrin. As such, these proteins may be manipulated by exogenous chemicals to stimulate hair growth.

This data helps to unravel the complexity of the hair follicle and the hair cycle. However, there may be more than a hundred proteins responsible for the hair cycle and without full knowledge of the proteins and their function, we may not be able to fully reverse or stop hair loss. But this study is a step in the right direction.

L’Oreal Study:

A separate study performed by L’Oreal in Paris, has determined that male pattern hair loss is due to premature aging of the scalp and oxidative damage to the hair follicle. The conclusions in this study are clearly flawed since the study simply observed the hair loss process, in which terminal hairs become finer and thinner. The team concluded that this process is due to constriction of the hair follicle, however there was no cause and effect defined. This study simply observed by histological means the natural hair loss process without any definitive insight as to the factors initiating and promoting hair loss.

The interpretation by the authors has no bases since neither this study or any other study has shown that oxidative damage will shrink the hair follicle or that the reduction of the follicular orifice will result in male pattern hair loss. The conclusions made by this study are similar to making a conclusion that if a person is fatally sick; it is because they are aging. In other words, the outcome (hair loss) is not necessarily due to oxidative stress or choking of the hair follicle.

Finasteride Study:

A very interesting study regarding the use of Finasteride 5mg (Proscar) in elderly men aged 55 and older was recently published by Merck. Men who took Proscar daily for seven years cut their chances of getting prostate cancer by nearly 25 percent compared with men given a placebo pill. Men who developed prostate cancer while taking Proscar were more likely to have tumors that appear aggressive. It appears that Proscar prevented little tiny, insignificant cancers, but in fact resulted in a greater chance of developing high-grade cancers. The increased incidence is not alarming but should be noted, since by decreasing incidence of small insignificant tumors, may allow the proliferation of more aggressive tumors.

This study brings good insight to elderly men using Proscar (finasteride 5mg) over a long period of time. However, this study does not translate to younger men using lower dose of finasteride for male pattern hair loss. Males using Propecia (finasteride 1 mg) should make their own decision after reviewing the results since there are multiple variables that are different in that population.