Basic Research on Androgenetic Alopecia (AGA) (Vol. 1) Sex Hormone & Hair Loss

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Basic Research on Androgenetic Alopecia (AGA) (Vol. 1) Sex Hormone & Hair Loss

Hair Loss after the Delivery

After the childbirth, a large number of hairs enter the catagen phase and then the telogen phase. Sometimes, massive hair shedding can be experienced during the first three months after the birth, which is known as telogen effluvium gravidarum.

In addition, some women with a constitution of female AGA may not improve their postpartum hair thinning. Hair thinning may persist thereafter in such patients.

This means that hair loss may not recover and thinning of scalp hair may remain in the pattern of female hair loss in women if they originally have a genetic predisposition to AGA.

Telogen Effluvium Gravidarum

Some women may want to use topical minoxidil to prevent increase in hair shedding after the childbirth.

Is it safe to use minoxidil lotion while breastfeeding?
The use of minoxidil solution during breastfeeding is not recommended.

Topically applied minoxidil is absorbed through the scalp skin. Minoxidil is absorbed fairly well through the skin. Then, minoxidil enters the systemic blood circulation.
Small amounts of minoxidil may be excreted in the breast milk, which may not be safe for a newborn.

Breastfeeding slows down hormonal changes after the childbirth and prevents massive post-partum hair shedding anyway.

After women stop breastfeeding, they can use topical minoxidil as an anagen stimulant, which may help reduce hair shedding and restore hair thickness after the delivery.

Oral Contraceptive Pills

Progesterone is an inhibitor of 5alpha-reductase activity and androgen receptor binding. However, progesterone is quickly metabolized.

Oral contraceptive pills are related to testosterone and estrogen rather than progesterone.
Estrogen reduces the amount of free testosterone.

Oral contraceptives have androgenic and estrogenic effects, or antiestrogenic effects.
Concomitant oral contraceptives affect adrenal steroidogenesis.

Oral contraceptives suppress ovulation and reduce the production of androgens by the ovaries.

Some types of oral contraceptive pills increase the hair thickness in certain patients who react to the drug.

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Kuniyoshi YAGYU, MD

General Manager, Ginza HS Clinic (current position) | Director, Ginza HS Clinic (current position) | Graduated from the University of Tokyo, Medical School.
Doctor of Medicine.

The 24th President of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), a Board of Governors of the Asian Association of Hair Restoration Surgeons (AAHRS), a Fellow of the ISHRS, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS).

He has received many awards for his outstanding achievements in hair transplantation, including “Research Award” and “Special Achievement Award” from the ISHRS, “Mediterranean Award”, “Tiberio Award” and “Caesar Award” from the Italian Society for Hair Science and Restoration, and “Hirayama Award” from the Japan Society of Clinical Hair Restoration.

He is a certified registered physician of the Japan Surgical Society, an Honorary Fellow of cardiovascular surgery of the Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery, a Fellow of the Japanese Circulation Society, and a Fellow of the Japanese Respiratory Society.

He served as a director of cardiovascular surgery at the Japanese Red Cross Medical Center, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo, Medical School. He studied at the Hannover Medical School in the Federal Republic of Germany on a scholarship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Kuniyoshi Yagyu, MD, FISHRS. He served as the President of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery from 2015 to 2016. He is a board member of the Asian Association of Hair Restoration Surgeons. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery and a Winner of the ISHRS Research Award in 2010, and ISHRS Poster Award in 2014. He has authored more than 53 research and clinical publications in books and journals. He had been specialized in cardiac surgery for 22 years. He has been practicing hair transplantation for about 20 years in Tokyo, Japan.