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Bosley Medical Boston
545 Boylston Street,
Penthouse,
Boston, MA 02116
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From Aesthetic Trends and Technologies (aesthetictrends.com)
August is National Hair Loss Awareness Month
By Dr. Ken Washenik, M.D., Ph.D.,
Medical Director of Bosley Medical
Dermatology states that this annual event is designed to increase public awareness about hair loss, the importance of early detection, and available treatment options. Hereditary hair loss, the most common form of hair loss, affects nearly 50 million men and 30 million women in the United States alone, according to the National Hair Journal.
It is important to set the consumer straight on at least one subject - hair loss - by separating fact from fiction about hair care and medical treatment options.
Causes:
Fiction: Hair loss is caused by hats and headgear which restrict blood vessels, the scalp draining transference of hair growth to a beard, too frequent washing or cutting of hair, microbes and bacteria, sunlight, smoking, sexual excess, nervous tension, diet, or the most common myth: the passing on of a baldness gene from one's mother.
Fact: While temporary hair shedding may be caused by any number of reasons including poor nutrition and vitamin deficiency, illness or hormone imbalance, true hair loss is a genetic response to the hormone dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. It is not inherited, however, from the mother's father as was once commonly believed, but can come from both sides of the family.
Attitudes:
Fiction: Distaste for baldness is a product of modern times. It is a form of vanity born and bred in 20th century youth culture madness.
Fact: The disease has afflicted men since the dawn of civilization, and they have gone to almost any length to regrow thinning hair. In ancient times, they smeared their heads with fats from ibex, lions, crocodiles, serpents, geese, and even hippos. They have since used wigs, painful scalp "blistering, sheep pituitary injections, herbs, vitamins, liniments, elixirs, and salves. None work.
Women and Hair Loss:
Fiction: Hair transplantation is for men who are the predominant sufferers of genetic baldness.
Fact: While 80% of men exhibit some degree of hair loss, 17% of women also are afflicted, beginning at about the age of thirty. In the United States, that constitutes more than 20 million women. They are now prime candidates for hair restoration by means of surgical implantation.
Surgical Results:
Fiction: Hair transplantation produces "doll scalp or plugs resembling corn rows.
Fact: Procedures today such as Bosley Follicular Unit Transplantation techniques performed by Bosley hair restoration surgeons are light years ahead of older methods. Hair restoration in the hands of the skilled physician is natural, virtually undetectable, and individually designed for a person's facial structure, age, and hair color, texture, and type.
Cosmetic Options:
Fiction: Hair care products cannot address the problem of hair loss.
Fact: While most products are just volumizers plumping up the hair shaft, new products are now available with topical Minoxidil, the only FDA approved ingredient for stopping hair loss and promoting regrowth (such as Bosley Hair Regrowth Treatment).
About Ken Washenik, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Director, Bosley Medical
Ken Washenik, M.D., Ph.D., is the Medical Director of the Bosley Medical and the Executive Vice President of Scientific and Medical Development of the Aderans Research Institute, a biotechnology firm involved in researching tissue engineered hair follicle neogenesis and cellular based hair restoration.
Dr. Washenik is the former director of the Dermatopharmacology Unit at NYU School of Medicine, where he is a faculty member in the Department of Dermatology. He has conducted extensive clinical research and phase II-IV studies in the area of dermatopharmacology.
As part of his achievements, Dr. Washenik is a well-known national and international lecturer and has presented many seminars on dermatopharmacology and dermatology-related issues. His PhD is in Cell Biology and focused on progesterone metabolism and ovarian development. He frequently lectures on the effects of hormones on the skin including their effects in acne, hirsutism, and alopecia.
Dr. Washenik is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, North American Hair Research Society, the National Alopecia Areata Foundation and the National Psoriasis Foundation. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dermatology and a member of the Dermatological Society of Greater New York.
Dr. Washenik has published numerous scientific and medical articles in peer review journals including Endocrinology, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, Archives of Dermatology, The Lancet, and The New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Washenik has been widely recognized in the medical and academic communities with many honors and awards. He received top honors for doctoral research and clinical performance from the Baylor College of Medicine Medical Scientist Training Program as well as first place awards in research from the American Medical Association and Mead Johnson. Additionally, Dr. Washenik received a Young Investigator Travel Award from the Endocrine Society and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honor society.
After earning his medical and doctorate degrees from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, Dr. Washenik completed his internship at the St. Joseph Hospital Department of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where he received the Outstanding Intern Award. He finished his residency training at the New York University Medical Center, where he also completed a dermatopharmacology fellowship.
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