Expatriate perspective

xiv | ExpatriatE LifEstyLE OCTOBER 2012

Health perspective

gainst popular belief, hair loss is a problem that can affect both men and women. it is normal to lose between 50 to 100 hairs a day, this is part of the hair

renewal process. However most people suffer from excessive hair loss at one time in their life. there are many reasons for this including medication, radiation, chemotherapy, exposure to chemicals, hormonal and nutritional factors, thyroid disease, generalized or local skin disease, and stress. Many of these causes are temporary and a few are permanent.

since hormones both stimulate hair growth and cause hair loss, hormonal changes by far have the biggest impact on hair loss. this is the most common cause of thinning and affects both men and women. Men generally have hair loss concentrated in a specific pattern from the front through to the crown. Women tend to have thinning throughout their head without being in any specific pattern. this type of hair loss is caused by the androgen DHt, or Dihydrotestosterone. since everyone has DHt that is produced by their bodies and only some people suffer from hair loss there has to be another factor involved. this other factor is having follicles that have a greater number of androgen receptors for the DHt to attach to. this is the component that is inherited through the genes. to date the most effective preventative treatments are anti androgens, drugs that prevent the creation of DHt. in the future, gene therapy will one day be able to alter the genes to prevent the follicles from being affected by DHt.

some very creative but ultimately fruitless concoctions have been devised in an attempt to reverse hair loss. Cleopatra used a mixture of horse teeth, bear grease, burnt mice and deer marrow in her attempt to cure Julius Caesar’s baldness (it didn’t work). Hedgehog urine was also thought to be beneficial. the smell in the heat of the Egyptian sun must have been something very special!

there is currently no cure for baldness. However, there are some treatments that can help slow down the process.

there are a few surgical options for treating hair loss.

Hair transplants involve taking very small plugs of hair from the side or back of the scalp and transplanting them onto the bald patches. the procedure has improved over the years, but it still takes a number of months to give a good effect.

in scalp reduction for male hair loss, loose skin on the scalp is surgically removed, pulling the hair on the sides of the head up. as the skin on the forehead is also sometimes slightly lifted, it can have the side benefit of lessening wrinkles. EL

Hair transplants involve taking very small plugs of hair from the side or back of the scalp and transplanting them onto the bald patches

Dr Mohamad Nasir Zahari

AHair loss and transplant

Expatriate Lifestyle welcomes columnist Dr M. Nasir Zahari–Medical Director of Beverly Wilshire Medical Center, specialist in surgical procedures that make a positive difference to people’s lives. Dr M. Nasir Zahari is a member of the elite ‘Malaysian association of plastic, aesthetic, and Craniomaxillofacial surgeons (MapaCs) from 1999 until present. Dr Nasir was awarded with Bachelor of Medicine in 1988 from University of Melbourne and post graduate degree at the royal College of surgeons (frCs) in Edinburgh (1993). Dr Nasir also obtained the Master of surgery from University Kebangsaan Malaysia in 1995 where he was honoured with the ‘award for Excellent service’.