Medical Treatment Options for... Video Transcript

Participants

, David R. Marks MD, Michael L. Reed MD, Neil Sadick MD

Summary

With an expected 50 percent of all men experiencing hair loss sometime in their lives, the treatment of male-pattern baldness is a large--and growing--industry. What are the current options for treating male hair loss? What are the benefits and side effects of each? Join our panel of hair experts as they discuss the latest in hair loss treatments.

Webcast Transcript

DAVID R. MARKS, MD:  Hi, and welcome to our webcast.  I'm Dr. David Marks.  Half of all men will lose hair some time in their life, so it's no surprise the treatment of male pattern baldness is a large and growing industry.  What are the current options for treating male hair loss, and what are the benefits and side effects of each?

Here to discuss the latest in hair loss treatment are two experts.  First is Dr. Neil Sadick.  He's a dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon at the Weill Cornell Medical College.  Welcome.

NEIL SADICK, MD:  Hi, David.  Thank you.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD:  Next to him is Dr. Michael Reed, also a dermatologist and a hair transplant surgeon at NYU.  Thanks for being here.

MICHAEL REED, MD:  Thank you very much.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD:  Why don't you start us off by telling us what the medical treatment options are for men who are losing their hair?

MICHAEL REED, MD:  The medical treatment options have never been better, and I think we have the first generation of young men who don't have to go bald without a real fight along the way, and we can slow it down.  We can arrest it and even reverse it in some of these young men.  There's topical and there's oral medication that are both even FDA approved to help baldness.  Topically there is topical minoxidil, which is available over the counter in a 2 and 5% concentration under the name Rogaine.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD:  Let's talk about how that one works before we move on.

MICHAEL REED, MD:  It's still up in the air as to the exact mechanism.  It used to be thought that it worked by increasing blood flow to the hair root, giving it a hypernutrition or hyperoxygenation to keep it in the growing phase longer.  Now we believe maybe it's a direct effect on the hair root itself, keeping the cells dividing and preventing them from resting.  But regardless of which it is, it does keep the hair in the growing phase.  It keeps them from resting so it doesn't fall out, so the root gets larger, deeper and it makes a finer product, which is the hair shaft, ergo, more hair on the head.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD:  The other medical treatment may work even better.  What is it?

NEIL SADICK, MD:  The other medicine, David, is called Propecia, and it's the first drug that really interferes with the enzyme 5 alpha reductase that is felt to play a major role in genetic male pattern hair loss, and we know that this drug can slow down hair loss.  Two-year studies have now shown that men who take the drug maintain their hair over a prolonged period of time.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD:  Does it work indefinitely?

NEIL SADICK, MD:  It's only been around now for three-plus years in terms of the clinical investigation, but at least the long-term studies by the company that produces the drug have shown that men do maintain the hair growth that they're able to achieve utilizing this new medication.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD:  Does it work in all patterns of hair loss, front and back?

NEIL SADICK, MD:  The studies to date have shown that Propecia works best in men that have posterior hair loss.  There is some effect anteriorly, as well, but not as effective in men with posterior thinning.

DAVID R.