Dr Leonards blog

When Ashlee Simpson recently expressed concern about losing her hair during pregnancy, it brought to light an issue that affects 40 to 50 percent of women. Debra Messing, Cate Blanchette and Gwyneth Paltrow have all publicly experienced postpartum hair loss, but for everyday women without a team of hair stylists to mask the effects, it can be an upsetting situation. While hair is at its best during pregnancy, the stress and delivery of a child and the tremendous hormone fluctuations associated with this process may cause significant hair loss. The rise in hormones during pregnancy keeps a woman from losing her hair, but after delivery the normal hair loss that was delayed during pregnancy occurs in a short period of time. Postpartum hair loss, called telogen effluvium, is a temporary condition that normally spans 3-4 months. Once hormones stabilize, new mothers can expect their hair to re-grow over another span of 3-4 months. Telogen effluvium does not cause permanent hair loss. If,

Having just returned from the hair restoration workshop I recently co-chaired in Rome, Italy, I am excited to share some information on one of the most widely discussed topics of the week – hair cloning. Though some thought they’d never see the day, the latest results of a clinical study show that in as few as eight years, hair restoration surgery using cloned hair follicle cells may be a viable option for those grappling with hair loss. As I discussed with fellow leading hair replacement surgeons during a press conference in Rome, follicular cell implantation uses cloned hair follicle cells to create new hair on balding areas of the scalp. The process utilizes a patient’s own hair follicles harvested from a donor area on the back of the head. Cells from these follicles are then multiplied through a cloning process and injected back into the scalp, resulting in new hair follicles. A journalist who attended the conference covered our discussion in a London Times artic