Category Archives: Histogen

Carlos Wesley, Gynecomastia, Histogen, Hypertrichosis, Sebaceous Gland, Theranos

Sebaceous Glands, Gynecomastia and other Hair News

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Sebaceous Glands and other Hair News

— An interesting human study from Japan about the increase in sebaceous gland area (but not size) in patients suffering from androgenic alopecia.

— Some hair loss sufferers who take Finasteride complain about getting gynecomastia (man boobs) as a side effect. Usually, this side effect is transient or minimal, but in some rare cases, it can be quite bad and lead to major growth in breast size. Several weeks ago, Reddit user Wulfgar1  started an ask me anything (AMA) about his gynecomastia surgery. He included quite impressive before and after photos, and answered almost all of the 100s of questions that were asked of him. Note that Wulfgar1 had gynecomastia since the age of 12, so his man boobs were not due to taking Finasteride.

— Histogen filed form D for equity financing and raised about $10 million in funding. The filing took place on June 29th, but I read about it this week. Nothing too interesting or impressive other than the company name and its significance to us in the hair loss world. Glad to read that Histogen is still kicking. Biotech companies usually sell around three-quarters of their offering, but Histogen managed to sell 100 percent of its offering, which may be a sign of investor trust and confidence.

— I discussed Dr. Carlos Wesley and his  revolutionary PiloFocus  scarless hair transplant surgery last year after he was profiled in an excellent article in Verge magazine. Dr. Wesley has now managed to get detailed coverage in the prestigious BBC website’s future section.

— More favorable feedback on ARTAS, including a video. Dr. Thomas Griffin seems like a sincere doctor. I like his description of the newly added PRP at his practice: “what we’re trying to do is maximize our results for our patients.” Some doctors will delude patients into thinking that PRP means guaranteed hair growth.

And now on to medical items of interest:

— Fascinating article on CRISPR DNA editing.

— A Chinese girl suffering from hypertrichosis (an extreme level of excessive body hair) is raising funds for laser hair removal. A bit unusual that the least hairy race on earth has such cases. Also see the ending to my post from last year on whether Asians are more evolved than other races.

— A good summary of 30 futuristic breakthroughs that happened during the first half of 2015. I like the heavy focus on medical breakthroughs rather than on less interesting breakthroughs that will just give us better, faster, cheaper or newer “stuff”.

— Theranos’ fingerprick blood test gets FDA approval. This company is likely to revolutionize blood testing in the coming years. Also this month, the company obtained FDA approval that will lead to at-home testing. The company’s CEO Elizabeth Holmes is the youngest female billionaire in the US. Theranos is a very secretive privately-held company, and its Board of Directors is filled with retired government officials. Including major ones such as Henry Kissinger and William Perry.

Gail Naughton, Hair Stimulating Complex (HSC), Histogen

Histogen’s Update from the Stem Cell on the Mesa Conference

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Histogen’s excellent presentation from the Stem Cell on the Mesa Conference is finally available online and I have embedded the youtube video at the end of this post (hair loss related presentation is just under 3 minutes long).  Thanks to “Noisette” for letting me know about this in one of the comments under the above linked post, as well as to “the X” for letting me know in the hair loss chat. Also see Histogen’s presentation from last year.

I am not surprised about Histogen’s decision to get their final clinical trial for its male pattern baldness product done in Japan in early 2015, especially after Shiseido (aka Replicel) announced their intention to start trials in Japan during the first half of 2015.  Since starting this blog, I have frequently discussed the high likelihood of hair loss cures becoming approved in heavily populous Asia before anywhere else in the world, but I always thought that experiments, trials and approvals would be spread across the region, especially in developing countries such as China, India and Thailand. It is truly a wonderful surprise to instead see developed technologically advanced Japan dominating this sphere.

Histogen’s Hair Stimulating Complex (HSC) product seems to be significantly better than Replicel’s product as far as increase in long-term terminal hair counts go, although it was not entirely clear to me whether Replicel’s results were based on using a very low dosage or not, and how much better the results would be with higher doses assuming safety was not compromised.  Histogen’s results indicate efficacy in all areas of the scalp as well as on people over the age of 40.

For the female readers of this blog, the below video also shows that this treatment works for women too!  Although Histogen’s clinical trials (in the US) for women’s hair loss are well behind the trials for men’s hair loss, I wonder if women will be able to access the men’s product (administered via injections) as soon as it is approved and comes out?

FYI — US and EU citizens do not need to get visas to travel to Japan…but maybe I am getting ahead of myself here:-)