I started losing my hair at 19 and I had a hair transplant when I was 25.
So technically I look like 5a on the Norwood scale. I Wonder if it is feasible to
have a new hair transplant with good aesthetic results or should I quit since I am 30
and my baldness may progress?

The decision to have a hair transplant as a young man is a complex one.
Once you’ve taken the step, however, it seems an easy decision to try keep your scalp as natural-appearing as possible.This may require additional hair transplant procedure(s). In general more hair mass is better than less hair mass so another important component of your long term plan would be using finasteride (1/4 of a 5mg tablet daily) and
minoxidil 5%. These medicines have a high likelihood of stopping the progression of hair loss and of regrowing hair in over half of us.

(Study periods regarding this have only been for 5 years but informal data on these patients suggests the benefits are still present at 9 years and theoretically the benefits should continue for longer term.)

So in summary, I think you should shift your focus to the long term plan instead of the short term one that may have precipitated your initial decision to have the surgery. This long term perspective would include careful consideration of where to place the limited donor hair that you have remaining in a position that will produce a natural-appearing result if you discover that your balding progresses despite using hair loss medicines. In general this means a higher hairline, few grafts into the crown and the greatest density in the central aspect of the pattern.

Sincerely,

William Reed, MD - Coalition Member

Recent research from New England (a study of 12,000 people) shows that when your friends get fatter it's likely that you will too.

It's not just a general trend in the population towards putting on weight - if your friends keep themselves in trim you're more likely to stay slim as well.

It makes sense in a lot of ways - after all if you are always eating out with your friends and they all have dessert and multiple drinks - what do you do? You'll likely go with the trend. And you don't feel too conspicuous putting on weight if everyone in your social group is carrying extra pounds too. There's safety in numbers.

Of course if your friends socialize at the gym and eat a light lunch together that's what you're going to do too. And you'll feel more ashamed if you're the only one who can't squeeze into a regular pair of jeans and have to go into the size for larger folk than when others in your group of friends are looking at the plus size rails too.

But the question is, do you choose your friends subconsciously so that you can eat too much or do you eat too much because of who your friends are? And do your friends sabotage (subconsciously or not) your attempts to lose weight so that they still have the comfort of being surrounded by equally large buddies? It could go very deep this one ...

The latest diet advice: don't hang around with fat people - Independent Online Edition > Health

Many consumers find that they are wasting their hard-earned money and that many of the supplements have no effect on their waistline, and the only thing that is slimming down is the wallet. Physicians warn that many unscrupulous marketers will make impossible claims in order to get buyers to walk through the virtual doors of their marketplace.

Do you know which the best dietary supplements are?
Chances are, you do not know. What some consumers may consider the best weight loss supplements will have little or no effect for other consumers who try them. After all, there are so many weight loss pills on the market right now, that it is hard to understand how each of them works, and what their claims to fame are. Similarly, it is hard to know what the risks of the individual supplements are, especially since many of them are formulated quite differently from one another.

If you are trying to lose some weight, the odds are pretty good that suddenly you are paying much more attention to the television ads that tout the benefits of a host of dietary supplements. It may appear as though the floodgates have opened, because when you open your newspaper, you cannot help but see the ads for dietary supplements are there as well. Of course, the same can also be said of your email inbox.

As a matter of fact, between ephedra diet pills, ephedra free pills, and the latecomer to the bunch – Hoodia – it is not surprising for many dieters to simply purchase the newest addition to the market, and hope for the best. According to doctors, the best weight loss supplements are the ones that not only work, but that also will not have any counterproductive effect on medications you may already be taking, and that will also not add stress to your heart. So before taking any dietary supplements, please be safe and visit your doctor!

Everyone knows, diet is crucial to losing weight. What everyone doesn't know is that diet includes what you drink. This, of course, can be taken to mean avoid sugary sodas, but there's something more, and most people miss it...

Just drink more water. Most people, period, don't drink nearly enough water. Drinking 8 eight-ounce glasses of water a day, or around two quarts, can be the missing key to success in your fat loss diet. Here's why:

1.) Water Quenches Appetite

Can't stay away from the fridge? Our runaway appetites are often the biggest obstacles to a sustained fat loss diet. After all, if we're going to cut the pounds, we've got to cut some calories. But did you know that when the brain tells us we're hungry, it may be instead signaling thirst? Physiologically, our brains do not truly differentiate between hunger and thirst. So if we find ourselves picking up a snack right after a meal, fill up a glass of water instead. Just wait a few minutes and see what it does to your appetite... More often than not, you'll walk away without eating a bite.

2.) Boil Away the Fat

Our kidneys are designed to process all the water we consume. However, if we don't drink enough, they can't handle the small amounts - there's a sort of minimum requirement. The job is then delegated to the liver that, while able to deal with small amounts of water, also hosts a number of other duties - like converting fat into energy. Yet, if it's too occupied with processing water, that fat doesn't turn into energy. It turns into body fat. The kidneys can take one for the liver here, and you can help by just drinking enough water. Try giving your fat loss diet another leg up.

3.) Evaporate the Water Pudge

You gain weight if you don't drink enough water. Sound contradictory? This is how it works. Our body adapts to our daily water intake, and in ideal circumstances, does not retain water. This happens only if we provide it with enough hydration. If we don't drink enough, water gets stored in something very much like fat.

This is a safety mechanism, guarding against the impending "drought". But if we're at home or at work, there's no reason to enter into survival mode. Once we begin hydrating our bodies again, this water fat disappears, as our bodies no longer deem it necessary to survive. Several pounds can be lost by this alone. Not bad.

There is a legitimate concern here - if I drink so much water, won't I constantly be in transit to and from the bathroom? Well, at first, there will be more trips to the bathroom, but only at first. When you reach ideal hydration levels, your body dumps all the water fat it has been retaining - and when you go the bathroom, you're effectually losing weight. But once the water fat is gone, the bathroom visits return to normal. With all the benefits to be had, it's worth a few days of getting up and down a little more.

Adding water to your weight loss diet can be key in dropping pounds. After all, if it's free, easy, and convenient, why not soak up the skinny?

i am only 25 years of age and I am noticing some hair loss along my hair
lines. This makes me feel very bad about myself anytime i look at myself in
the mirror. I am only a student and do not have money for any hair loss medications.
Please, what should i do to stop the hair loss and regrow back my hair?

I was about 24 when I first started to really notice my hair loss. It really “sucked” and I felt like I was being cheated out of my youth. There really weren’t any decent hair loss treatments at the time either.

The good news is 20 years later there are decent hair loss treatments that actually work like Propecia and Rogaine. I suggest you consult with a doctor and get a prescription for Proscar (which has the same active ingredient “Finasteride” as Propecia but at 1/3 the cost). It shouldn’t cost you more than $20 a month to stop or perhaps even reverse your hair loss. Now that’s good news.

Cheer up and get on Proscar and get on with enjoying being young.

Best wishes,

Pat Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center