ISHRS — International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery.
Every year, the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) hosts its annual World Congress events. I have covered every one of them since this blog started in 2013. These events attract 100s of hair transplant surgeon members as well as numerous renowned hair loss researchers.
ISHRS 32nd World Congress in Denver, Colorado
The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS)’s 32nd Annual World Congress runs from October 17-October 19, 2024. The location is Denver, Colorado (US).
The majority of the topics and sessions at these meetings focus on hair transplants. However, many other subjects are thoroughly covered, including hair loss medications, regenerative medicine, stem cells, PRP and LLLT.
The Norwood Lecture is titled: “Artificial Intelligence in Cosmetic Surgery”.
The Stough Lecture is titled: “Psychological Effects of Hair Loss”.
Of more interest to us is the “Advances in Hair Biology” lecture where Dr. Pankaj Karande will talk about 3D bioprinting in relation to hair follicles. I covered him and his team from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (US) in my November 2023 update on 3D bioprinting of hair follicles within skin.
As usual, there is significant coverage of exosomes, low-level laser therapy, newer versions of platelet-rich plasma, and stem cells. For once, there is nothing on adipose-derived stem cells.
I am surprised that there is absolutely no session on: hair cloning; hair multiplication; all the new androgen receptor targeting products in the pipeline (Breezula always seemed to be covered in the past); Shiseido’s new DSC technology; and the recent hair loss cosmetic product releases (before clinical trials are completed).
In any event, for those who are thinking of getting a hair transplant, this Congress is a treasure trove of information. It may also help you narrow down a list of surgeons that you would want working on your head.
ISHRS Social Media Pages
Make sure to check out the official ISHRS social media pages for the most important updates. Also check out #ISHRS2024 for reports from Congress attendees.
Anti-aging entrepreneur Bryan Johnson has been in the news every week over the past year. Mr. Johnson is the founder and CEO of Kernel and the founder and ex-CEO of Braintree. He also runs the OS Fund and most recently created his anti-aging algorithm Project Blueprint. Mr. Johnson has become famous due to his highly detailed and expensive ($2 million per year) Protocol to fight aging.
Update: October 11, 2024
Bryan Johnson’s Latest Hair Loss Protocol
Recently, reader “Kyle” sent me an e-mail from Bryan Johnson’s mailing list that updates us on his latest hair loss and grey hair reversal regimen. Bryan claims the following:
“Genetically, I should be bald. I started to lose my hair and go gray in my late 20s. Now, at 46, I’ve got a full head of hair and ~50% of my gray is gone.”
Then he elaborates on his current regimen, which is a bit different from what I discussed when I originally wrote this post:
He discusses the need for proper nutrition. In my opinion, this is not a factor in 99% of hair loss cases. Moreover, those who are severely deficient in various vitamins and minerals tend to never lose their beard or body hair. And we have read many times in the comments on this site and on hair loss forums about homeless alcoholics and drug addicts with tremendous scalp hair. In extremely rare circumstances, severe vitamin deficiencies such as for biotin (vitamin B-7) or cobalamin (vitamin B-12) could cause temporary hair loss.
He uses a prescribed topical hair loss formulation that contains: Minoxidil (7%); Cetirizine HCl (1%); Latanoprost (0.004%); Dutasteride (0.25%); Melatonin (0.1%); Caffeine (0.2%); Tretinoin (0.0125%); Vitamin D3 (1,000IU/ML); and Vitamin E (10 IU/ML).
He credits a product called “GR-7 Professional” for reducing his grey hair significantly. However, he does note that other people have told him that it didn’t do anything for their grey hair.
He went through time consuming and expensive platelet-rich-plasma (PRP) and platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) therapies for 12 months, but saw little benefit. Now his team is working on another “Blueprint hair treatment” method that will be released later in the year. I assume this will also entail scalp injections since he mentions it in the PRP and PRF section.
Update: Jan 9, 2024
Interesting new video from Bryan Johnson about how he reversed his hair loss and grey hair. For his hair loss, he uses a laser cap, does microneedling, and applies an interesting proprietary topical lotion.
The latter’s ingredients include caffeine, finasteride, minoxidil, azelaic acid, diclofenac, tea tree oil, rosemary oil, ginkgo biloba, biotin and melatonin. He thinks that the microneedling enhances the efficacy of the topical. Of most interest to me, Bryan just started exosome treatment for hair loss. He mentions PRP, but does not mention dutasteride mesotherapy like he did in his past videos.
For his grey hair reversal, he uses relatively less well known products from Mayraki and GR-7. The latter seem to be a natural dye rather than a permanent grey hair cure.
Jan 4, 2024
Bryan Johnson’s Hair Loss and Grey Hair Reversal
Most of the comments seems to be critical of the 46-year old Mr. Johnson’s before and after transformation. However, I am impressed at his tremendous efforts and transformation. His 2,250 calories per day diet and supplement regimen seems to be very effective.
Having said that, the marketing and media publicity that he gets and thrives for is ridiculous. Is he a narcissist only there for the money and Insta fame? Or is he really trying to improve humanity? I am leaning towards the latter, which in the modern world can only be achieved through viral publicity it seems. You can follow Bryan on Twitter if you have no Instagram.
As soon as I saw Bryan’s before and after transformation, the first two things that I thought of were:
Bryan Johnson’s beard hair has entirely disappeared. No-one seemed to point this out at all.
Bryan Johnson’s scalp hair has become lengthier and thicker.
I also started to wonder if Bryan got on a male-to-female transgender type hormone regimen that allowed him to lost his facial hair? Or did he get electrolysis or laser hair removal?
Bryan Johnson before his Blueprint anti-aging protocol.
Upon further research, right away I stumbled on to Reddit threads about his hair loss regimen that includes minoxidil, platelet-rich plasma (PRP), red light laser cap therapy, microneedling, vitamins and dutasteride injections. I am impressed that he picked dutasteride over finasteride, something that very few hair loss sufferers in the US prefer.
An even bigger surprise for me was that Bryan discussed his hair loss and hair regrowth regimen in a detailed November 2023 video interview. I entirely missed this YouTube video before. He started losing his hair in his early 30s, but clearly has no obvious hair loss at the moment.
Bryan Johnson’s hair loss regimen includes:
Platelet-rich plasma plus ACell plus dutasteride injected into his scalp every 30-60 days. A total of 13-15 ml per injection.
Daily red light therapy via a laser cap for 6 minutes.