What Is DUPA?

Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia (DUPA) is a form of genetic hair loss characterized by diffuse thinning over the entire scalp. Unlike Diffuse Patterned Alopecia (DPA), DUPA lacks the stable permanent zone associated with other forms of alopecia.

Dr. O'tar Norwood defined DUPA in his 1975 seminole publication "Male Pattern Baldness: Classification and Incidence" as:

Diffuse, Unpatterened Alopecia (DUPA). In this type, there is a general decrease in the density of hair without any definite pattern, although it is usually more marked over the top and front. This type is common in women.

Identifying DUPA

Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia patients have a similar pattern of hair loss to DPA patients but the balding tends to occur more rapidly. DUPA patients are also more likely to achieve the “horseshoe” pattern commonly associated with Norwood class VII baldness. However, unlike other forms of alopecia hair loss, the DUPA “horseshoe” takes on a thin and transparent appearance.

It is important that patients suffering from diffuse hair loss are properly diagnosed. While DPA patients are often good candidates for surgical hair restoration, DUPA patients typically make poor hair transplant patients due to the lack of a stable zone in which to harvest donor grafts.

Treatment for Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia

Not a lot is known about the cause and treatment of DUPA. However, about half of males who suffer from this form of balding benefit from Propecia (finasteride). Unfortunately, DUPA is about 10 times more common in females for whom Propecia is not a treatment option.

Conclusion

Anyone suffering from diffuse hair loss should consult with a dermatologist or hair restoration physician for a proper diagnosis. This is especially true for balding men and women considering hair transplant surgery.

Procerin is one of the top selling “all natural” hair loss products on the market today and is often an attractive alternative to drugs like Propecia (finasteride)and Rogaine (minoxidil). Procerin comes in both a tablet and topical form that can be ordered together or separately depending on your hair restoration goals.

Men and women suffering from androgenic alopecia (genetic female hair loss / male pattern baldness) have elevated levels of the hormone DHT (dihydrotestosterone) in their body.   Procerin’s claim to fame is that it naturally blocks this DHT without reacting with testosterone like the drugs Propeciaand Avodart (dutasteride).  This allegedly allows Procerin to stop hair loss and stimulate hair regrowth without unwanted sexual side effects.   Procerin is so convinced their product works, that they offer a 90 day money back guarantee if you don’t receive your desired hair growth results.  But how many balding men and women have successfully restored their hair with Procerin?

In order to fully evaluate the efficacy of this product, we must further explore each ingredient to determine whether or not this hair loss treatment delivers what it promises.  Below you will find a list of ingredients and information that will help you determine whether or not Procerin is right for you.

Oral Ingredients:

The Procerin tablet includes a number of alleged “all natural” DHT blockers including saw palmetto for hair loss, zinc sulfate, pyroxidine, magnesium, and a proprietary blend of gotu kola, nettles, pumpkin seed, eleuthero root, muira puma root, and uva ursi.  Many, but not all of these ingredients are also found in the highly popular hair loss treatment Provillus.

Oral saw palmettoand nettle root extracthave been used as “all natural” alternatives to treat benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) or enlarged prostates.  Theories have thus been produced that they might also effectively treat baldness and alopecia.

Some studies suggest that Zinc when combined with Vitamin B6 may be able to inhibit the conversion of testosterone to DHT in the skin.

Pumpkin seed oils contain the ingredient delta-7-sterine that has been said to protect the prostate by competing with DHT.  Therefore, it’s suggested that this ingredient might help reduce the risk of genetic hair loss.

Eleuthero, uva-ursi, muria puma, and horsetail are said to promote healthy hair growth, hair expansion, and a clean scalp.  However, promoting healthy hair growth is not the same as stimulating new hair growth, hair regrowth, nor does it indicate they’re effective hair loss treatments.

Topical Ingredients

The Procerin topical solution contains saw palmetto extract, gamma linolenic acid, grape seed extract, azelaic acid, avocado oil, and nettle extract.

Azelaic acid when applied topically has been conjectured to inhibit DHT.  Some anecdotal evidence suggests oral saw palmettomay inhibit DHT however; no such evidence exists for topical use.  Though nettles are typically consumed orally, some speculate nettle root extract may help fight alopecia areata when applied topically.

Possible Side Effects

One false assumption is that “all natural” hair loss products don’t have potential side effects.  Procerin reports directly on their website that reported side effects include mild stomach discomfort and from the topical formula, skin irritation.  Additionally, be sure to research each ingredient carefully as some side effects are possible in larger quantities.

Dosage

Currently there are no standards on dosages of herbal medications in the United States.  In addition, no formal clinical studies have been performed on them for treating baldness.  Therefore, the suggested daily value listed on the ingredient package is based on something other than government regulation and scientific study.

Costs

The discounted cost of the combined formula for a 1 month supply of Procerin is about $50 and is discounted when you buy in bulk.  It is also cheaper when you buy in bulk.

Conclusions and Our Opinion

Though we can appreciate the aspiration for balding men and women to use herbal products as an “all-natural” replacement for Propecia to treat androgenic alopecia, we’ve seen no third party clinical studies that support the ingredients in Procerin can successfully stop hair loss or stimulate hair regrowth.  Due to the lack of compelling evidence in these other conjectured hair loss solutions, it may be more beneficial and cost effective to spend your money on Propecia (finasteride) for men only and Rogaine (minoxidil) that has helped balding men and women worldwide for years.  For men who have experienced sexual side effects with Propecia, Procerin may at the very least, be worth trying as an adjunct treatment to Rogaine.

As patients, we know that the physician you choose is the most critical decision in restoring your hair is the physician you choose. Hair restoration physicians' skills, experience, and talent vary widely, as do the end results, vary widely.

You must research and choose your physician wisely. After all, who you choose will determine how natural and complete, your new hair will be for the rest of your life. The surgeons selected and approved by our community have been scouted and vetted by the forum's highly esteemed senior valued contributors of the Hair Restoration Network. Our valued contributors have all spent years researching hair transplantation, and they have all had hair transplants. To ensure there is no conflict of interest, none of our valued contributors receive any compensation. They are volunteers who have shared their experiences and contributed for years to our community. Each surgeon has been approved based on their ethics, surgical techniques, results, and reviews. To support the costs of operating and promoting our community, the approved physician contributes a monthly fee to sponsor our community.

Their recommendation is continued as long as they continue to show evidence of excellent patient results and satisfaction. If a patient expresses concerns, physicians are expected to resolve their concerns. We ask that patients first contact a physician with any concerns so that they can resolve them before publicly posting.

Note - The hair restoration physicians recommended on this site are not a definitive list of all excellent hair transplant doctors. Nor do we warrant or guarantee the results of any of the physicians presented on this site. As always, we encourage you to do your due diligence in evaluating these and all hair loss physicians.

We offer the following suggestions for researching a hair restoration physician:

• Does the physician take a holistic approach to hair restoration? Your physician should help you evaluate all your options, surgical and non-surgical.
• Have they invested time and resources in large micro follicular unit hair transplantation sessions? Outstanding work requires a staff dedicated to and trained to use high-powered magnification to produce more than 2,000 carefully trimmed grafts per surgical session.
• Choose a hair restoration clinic that is patient-focused rather than commercially focused. Some clinics emphasize revenue, speed, and volume rather than dedicating the time and individual care needed to produce optimal results. These commercial operations typically rely on heavy advertising rather than satisfied patient or doctor referrals.
• Is hair restoration the primary focus of their practice? Outstanding results require a physician and staff to perform hair restoration surgery regularly. Doing hair restoration as a sideline and other cosmetic procedures may hinder their ability to do large sessions of highly refined follicular unit transplantation.
• How many patients has this physician produced excellent results for? Like any skill, experience over time is critical to acquiring the skill and judgment required to produce excellent results.
• Can the physician provide detailed patient before and after photographs? Do they also have patients who are willing to speak with you and meet with you in person?

What do their hair transplant patients think?

Ultimately, the most critical measure of a hair transplant surgeon's work is their patient's level of satisfaction. Find out what patients think of their physician's work by visiting our discussion forum or viewing hair loss blogs created by patients. View our standards for recommending hair transplant surgeons.

Find an excellent hair restoration physician in your area.

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Brilliant Hair Loss Treatment, or is it a Scam?

ElectroTrichoGenesis (ETG), also known as Cosmetic TrichoGenesis (CTG), is a little known hair loss treatment that makes some very lofty hair growth claims. How does ETG work and is it really clinically proven to treat androgenic alopecia(genetic balding)?

How ElectroTrichoGenesis (ETG) Works

ETG is promoted as a safe, painless and non-intrusive. Treatment is administered via an “ergonomically shaped couch with a semi spherical hood” manufactured by Current Technology Corporation in Vancouver, Canada.

The patient reclines on the chair and the hood (with disposable liner) is placed over the head but does not make contact with the scalp. This special hood contains electrodes that deliver “specified pulsed electrostatic energy” delivered passively to the scalp by the low-level electric field generated within it.

ETG is believed to stimulate the regrowth of hair through the positive influence of the pulsed electrostatic field it generates. This field is said to stimulate “changes within the hair bulge and the follicle, stabilizing hair loss and stimulating new hair growth”. Patients receive a single 12 minute session weekly.

Is ETG Clinically Proven?

The following three studies on the efficacy of ElectroTrichoGenesis (ETG) as a treatment for thinning hair have been published in peer-reviewed journals:

Maddin, W. Stuart; Bell, Peter W.; James, John H. M. (1990).
"The Biological Effects of a Pulsed Electrostatic Field with Specific Reference to Hair Electrotrichogenesis". International Journal of Dermatology29(6): 446–450.

Benjamin, Benji; Ziginskas, Danute; Harman, John; Meakin, Timothy (2002).
"Pulsed electrostatic fields (ETG) to reduce hair loss in women undergoing chemotherapy for breast carcinoma: A pilot study". Psycho-Oncology11(3): 244–248

Maddin, WS; Amara, I; Sollecito, WA (1992).
"Electrotrichogenesis: further evidence of efficacy and safety on extended use". International Journal of Dermatology31(12): 878–80

According to the 36-week comparative, controlled study conducted on male subjects at the University of British Columbia and published in The International Journal of Dermatology, 96.7% of those treated experienced cessation of hair loss and/or hair regrowth. Decreased hair loss was seen as early as 4 to 6 weeks but many patients required more time for results.

The pilot study conducted on women undergoing chemotherapy for breast carcinoma and published in  Psycho-Oncology,showed that twelve out of 13 participants had good hair retention throughout the chemotherapy period and afterwards with no reported side effects.

As with the clinically proven medical hair loss treatments Rogaine (minoxidil) and Propecia (finasteride), ETG is said to be most effective in the early stages of balding.

Conclusion

Although the data put forth in this article seems to paint ETG as a clinically proven and highly effective hair loss treatment, it’s important to note that the procedure is not new. The studies referenced above were published more than 13 years ago. If ETG truly works to stimulate hair growth and suppress the advancement of hair loss, why has it not become a fixture in the world’s leading hair restoration clinics? Where are all the glowing, unbiased reviews?

With no reported side effects, there may be no harm in giving ETG a try if there is a provider in your area and the fees are reasonable. However, balding men and women are encouraged to consult with an experienced and reputable hair restoration physicianin order to diagnose the cause of their thinning hair and learn about the outstanding medical and surgical options available today.