Way to go Emmitt!

Yet another piece of the genetic puzzle related to hair loss is being unlocked. A Russian-American research team led by Evgeny I. Rogaev has identified a mutation in gene LIPH that causes an unusual form of hair loss. “Very little was known about this gene, and what was known was not related to hair growth,” Rogaev said. The individuals, both male and female, who possessed the mutation experienced abnormally slow hair growth during childhood, and they eventually lost most of the hair on both their heads and their bodies.

source - Forbes.com

Here’s a nice little story by Norman Miller about Trevor Sorbie, a UK hair stylist who counts a number of celebrities among his clientèle. Last September, Sorbie launched an initiative, My New Hair, which both offers free wig customization for women who are experiencing medical hair loss and trains other hairdressers to do the same.

“I have a lot of experience in cutting wigs, and any hairdresser can learn to provide this invaluable service to clients. Coping with illness is very traumatic, and to have the added stress of hair loss can be devastating. Hairdressers are very involved with their clients image, and providing this service is an additional way to enrich a client’s life during this sensitive time.”

Sorbie’s mission began when his own sister-in-law lost her hair during chemotherapy. Her wig was quite unflattering, so she turned to her brother for help. “At the end of the cut, she just burst out crying.“

Young Charlie Villanueva, the Inaugural Bald Man of the Week and Official Favorite NBA Player of Baldiness.com, is settling into his new digs. The Gary D’Amato of the Mercury News has done a real nice write up on on him.

The players who can make transitions, who can adapt to different teammates and environments and situations, are usually successful.

Charlie Villanueva knows all about transitions. He grew seven inches between his freshman and sophomore years in high school. He left Queens in New York City to attend $35,000-a-year Blair Academy, a prep school in Blairstown, N.J. He played two years for Jim Calhoun at the University of Connecticut. He was selected by the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the 2005 NBA draft. After his rookie season, he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Eight years, five teams, four levels of competition.

That’s transition.

Villanueva says he’ll continue both his work with the National Alopecia Areata Foundation and the “Charlie’s Angels Meet & Greet Program” he began last year. Through the program, Villanueva partners with local NAAF chapters to meet with children suffering alopecia areata in each city he visits during the year.

Villanueva was traded at the end of last season from the Toronto Raptors to the Milwaukee Bucks.

It truly is a global economy…

The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, a division of the Ministry of Science & Technology, has recently “recognized” the In-House R&D Centre at Panacea Biotec located in New Delhi. This doesn’t mean the Indian government figured out where they met. (”Were you at the Carlson’s Christmas party?”) Rather, this is an official designation that gives the company certain advantages, such as the ability to import research equipment duty-free.

So, what is Pancea Biotec in to? Well, among other things they are pursuing a “peptide-based technology for alopecia management.” While Hsien and others might call this an over-simplification, peptides are basically protein pieces.

source - MoneyControl.com

“A man can be short and dumpy and getting bald but if he has fire, women will like him.”
~Mae West

The UK Motley Fool site has a review of Intercytex, the British Biotech that recently secured a federal grant to continue development of hair replacement robots.

One of my very first articles was on A. Glenn Braswell, purveyor of sundry snake oil including hair loss remedies. Well, Mr. Braswell was found dead yesterday in his condo on Miami’s South Beach. At the moment no cause of death has been issued by authorities. Mr. Braswell was 63.

96% of Caucasian men will lose some hair.

That’s the figure quoted by Sara Schrock of the Indiana Daily Student. 96% of Caucasian men will experience some degree of genetic, pattern hair loss. That’s a lot of hair loss.

Is it any wonder then that so much energy and money is put into combating male pattern baldness. From drugs to toupees to surgeries. Nearly every one of us white guys is in the target market.

But should we care? 96% is a pretty big majority, big enough to be described as normal.

h/t: New Hair Loss Treatment.com

Is it just me or did October fly by? Autumn is quickly slipping through my fingers, and it’s nearly time to dig out the skull cap.

It’s also time for another Science & Health Channel Topic du Jour! November is for sharing noogies with my fellow Bald netizens. I could be wrong, but I think I’m among the first bald bloggers. Don’t get me wrong. Lots of us are bald. It’s probably got something to do with monitor irradiation. (I’m also sterile; how about you?) But, I think I’m among the first to be openly bald - to celebrate baldness - to revel in the warm glow of a sun-burned scalp - to announce proudly, loudly, in a most rambling sort of way: One - Five - Eleven - Two. I am Bald; How ’bout You? Up with Baldness!

Sorry… where was I?

Oh yeah, noogies. When I started late last winter there were a couple websites, the granddaddies of baldness. Bald R Us has been around since 2002, and the Let’s Talk About Hair dates back to 2000… though they’re not a strictly bald domain. Here and there you could find a few personal homepages with shaving tips and such, but that’s about it.

No blogs that I can think of.

Now… I’ve got company.

Hair Loss Buddy was the first to join me, though he’s been mighty quiet the last month or so. Chris, are you still out there?

Tyler over at Sly Bald Guys and Seth at Battle Against Bald have also come along.

We’ve also got real, live doctors, like Dr. Bernstein… who is remarkably bald for a hair transplant physician.

So, I’m not so lonely anymore. Thanks… and noogies all around.

Who’d I miss? Leave your Bald Links in the comments…