Hair Loss

For two years, California businesswoman Rita Lazar panicked every time she looked at her hair. It was thinning and she couldn't stop the process. But Lazar is lucky. Diagnosed with androgenetic alopecia, or genetic hair loss, she was able to stop the fallout and regrow hair with minoxidil, the only FDA-approved treatment for her condition. Patented by Upjohn and marketed as Rogaine, the topical preparation was introduced for men only in 1988.

OIL of wormwood. Dog urine. Equal parts Abyssinian greyhound's heel, date blossoms and ass hoof, boiled in oil. Being licked by a cow. Through the centuries, men losing their hair have resorted to desperate measures to recover the luxurious tresses of their youth -- but happily, their options have expanded substantially beyond dog urine. Now there are sophisticated transplant techniques and drugs shown by science to be more than mere snake oil. And more is still to come.

I've been reflecting a lot lately--especially when bright light shines on the top of my head. My hairline is headed north, and I'm slowly developing a monk-like bare patch at the crown. Which is why in the last few days I've spent a few idle moments--OK, about six or seven hours--surfing the Internet to see what options are available these days for men with thinning hair. Much of the buzz online concerns a remedy that's not yet available.

Life in Toronto was pleasant, but William Edwards thought he'd really thrive in a city with a lot more smog and a lot more stress. "They make problems occur much faster," said Edwards, a Canadian biochemist. "Los Angeles was the perfect place to go." Edwards had good reason for seeking out two elements most Southern Californians try to get away from.

It's getting harder for me to deny that I've reached middle age, and the most obvious sign is that the men in my life are losing their hair. Many men struggle to come to terms with hair loss and yearn for a way to turn back the clock. Although I'm no expert on the subject, I've suggested they look into Propecia, a medication used to treat male pattern hair loss. Invariably, they're intrigued. It works by preventing testosterone from turning into another hormone that causes hair loss.

The glorious hot sunny days of summer require shifts in beauty routines, and it's agood time to reassess hair care. We do tend to take our locks for granted. The American Academy of Dermatology offers hair tips that are useful year round. To preserve your hair, the academy recommends: Be gentle with your hair when it is wet, the time it is most apt to break off. Don't rub it too vigorously with a towel, or brush or comb it too roughly.

Coming to terms with hair loss can be difficult, even for men who aren't fashion plates. Here, two experts debate the pros and cons of two established approaches: hair replacement surgery, in which flaps of hair-bearing scalp are transplanted to bald areas, and minoxidil (Rogaine), a medication that is rubbed on the scalp twice a day to promote hair growth. Surgical remedy: Dr. Richard W.

If you think it's tough being a bald man, try being a bald woman. "Hair is a big part of femininity; all the messages out there tell women that you're not a woman if you don't have long, gorgeous hair," Cari Bickley says. "Every man is concerned about losing his hair, but it's still much more socially acceptable for men to be bald or balding. If you're a woman--or a child--you're just 'weird.' " Bickley knows this only too well. Her hair started falling out in 1980, when she was 18.

Q: Our American water spaniel had a litter of 10 puppies eight weeks ago. One of the male puppies has no hair on the underside of his body, starting from under his chin. Our veterinarian couldn't find anything wrong and suggested that it might be genetic. We talked to the breeder, who said that he had never seen one without hair. Do you have any ideas?--K.A. A: There are several classifications applied to defects of the skin and hair coat.

IT MIGHT reasonably be argued that the most sensitive portion of the male anatomy--above the belt, at least--is the dome of the skull. Certainly, it's the spot that men are most determined to shield from society's scrutiny. And when it's suddenly exposed to the glances of a contemptuous public, there seems to be no limit to the pain and humiliation that balding men will endure to preserve the illusion that they've got just as much hair as the next guy. Pity the poor skinhead.