Hair Loss Treatment (by Dr. JB Lim)

I have briefly read through the exchanges of opinions and comments about treatment for alopecia (baldness) by this doctor. I think people are just advertising his service.

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First of all, be informed that alopecia comes in many forms and characteristics such as male pattern baldness, and androgenic alopecia and their causes are varied.

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It can be caused by anything from nutritional disorders, fungal infection, effects of drugs especially cytotoxic drugs, stress, hormonal deficiencies, stress and trauma, to genetic disorders.

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It is not true to say that alopecia is caused solely by hormonal imbalance or excessive of male testosterone as claimed in this article. I quote:  

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“In the normal ageing process, it is a result of hormone imbalance where certain parts of the head become sensitive to the male hormone testosterone and there is a build up of Dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is higher than that of the average man. This hormone builds up in the hair follicles and over time will finally kill them and one becomes more and more botak”.

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Biotin deficiency and alopecia: 

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Neither is it true that baldness is due to biotin deficiency as this doctor claims to justify the use of biotin in his prescription.  Nor is alopecia, whether total or partial, in males or females due solely to zinc deficiency.

Alopecia probably may also partially be due to genetics. But it is more likely a combination of all these causative factors and no single factor contribute to its cause(s).

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Let me very briefly give you an example of biotin which this doctor claims.

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Biotin is a water soluble vitamin belonging to the B-group, code name inappropriately as vitamin B7.

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This vitamin is essential for cellular growth through the metabolism of fatty acids and amino acids especially within the hair follicles.

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However, I need to point out that the amount of biotin needed for this is so minute that it has never been demonstrated through scientific data that baldness in humans was due to a deficiency of biotin.

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Moreover, biotin deficiency in humans is so rare that there is no scientific justification in prescribing biotin for alopecia. It is so rare because this particular vitamin can easily be synthesized by the microorganisms in the human intestines; in fact so much of biotin is produced naturally in the intestines that they are far in excess than what our body need. Hence no daily dietary recommendations have ever been suggested.

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Avidin in raw white of eggs:

However, there is only one exception. If several raw white of eggs are consumed daily over several months, a protein called avidin in raw white of eggs will powerfully block the bioavailability of biotin by binding with it.  But for that, you will need to take several raw white of eggs over several months to induce biotin deficiency in humans. 

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Even then, loss of hair in humans associated with biotin deficiency has never been demonstrated in humans who eat a lot of raw white of eggs every day.

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Furthermore, this avidin being a protein, is easily destroyed (denatured) just by cooking the eggs. In short, avidin is heat-labile.

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Clinical experience:

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I have never come across a single case of biotin deficiency in humans admitted into London hospitals where I did part of my training on nutritional disorders.  

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I have only come across a few other clinical and sub-clinical cases of other types of vitamin deficiencies mainly among migrants, homeless and geriatric patients at the Royal Brompton Hospital and in St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London.

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Nor have I seen any case of this particular vitamin deficiency in my entire life during nutritional surveys involving hundreds of thousands of people living in poverty rural areas across the length and breadth of this country.

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I have also seen a few cases of very severe malnutrition admitted to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital. But none of them involved biotin deficiency or alopecia associated with this particular vitamin.

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Medical experiments on rats:

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Biotin deficiency was first demonstrated in rats that were fed raw egg white.  The rats fed on this protein in raw white of eggs were found to develop skin inflammation, eczema, dermatitis, and they lost their fur (alopecia) as well as developing neuromuscular dysfunction.  

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This syndrome is called “egg white injury”. It was later discovered to be caused by a glycoprotein called avidin in white of eggs.

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Clinical presentations:

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However, it was reported in the medical literature that symptoms of biotin deficiency is characterized by loss of hair, conjunctivitis,  red rashes around the eyes, nose, mouth and genital areas (orogenital syndrome), other forms of dermatitis and skin lesions.   

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But these clinical features are also common among those with riboflavin (vitamin B2) and niacin deficiencies. They may also be neurological presentations like depression, paraesthesia (numbness and tingling sensation of the extremities), hallucination, and lethargy. The face may also be affected by rashes – maybe “butterfly lesion” especially if exposed to the sun as in pellagra (niacin deficiency).

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Biotin deficiency may compromise the immunological surveillance, and expose a person to bacterial and fungal infections. This is far, far more serious than losing their hair 

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In my professional opinion and experience, there is just no justification in prescribing biotin as this doctor claims for those with baldness.

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On another point, allow me to quote:

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“Most of them asked me to give them a tablet so that they can send it to their chemist friends for clinical tests. That included a senior medical officer in Miri Hospital, a student doctor, a doctor currently serving in Batu Pahat Hospital and many doctors and pharmacists who are also curious about the hair growth medicines his prescribed!! All failed to identify the contents of the medicine!!!!”

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A Secret Formula!   

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This is not true at all. All drugs and chemical substances can easily be analyzed using high-end analytical procedures. Of course you don’t except a doctor no matter how qualified or senior he is, or how many doctors were trying to do this. Neither do you expect a pharmacist to know if the name of the drug is not disclosed, let alone expect a medical student to know anything.

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They are not trained or qualified to do this. Analysis and identification of a drug is the sole job of a highly trained and qualified analytical pharmaceutical chemist.

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He is aided by a battery of sophisticated analytical instrumentation at his disposal.

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How do you expect a senior medical officer or even a pharmacist know how to analyze an unknown drug? This is outside their area of expertise. They are not trained for this.

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Chemical Analysis:

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At Dynapharm Pharmaceutical Group where I work as their Special Medical and Science Adviser, we have a number of analytical laboratories where we can literally analyze and identify any drug (including this doctor’s secret formula).  

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It is done by our team of highly qualified scientists consisting of analytical chemists, microbiologists, pharmacists, quality controller, R & D scientists, supported by hordes of laboratory technicians. This is not a problem for us.

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Our scientists use many high-end analytical instrumentation and analytical procedures for identification and quality control of any drug.  

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Some examples of analytical instrumentations and procedures our R & D team and other quality control scientists use are:

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High-performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry,

Reversed-phase chromatography

Partition chromatography

Rapid Resolution Liquid Chromatography (RRLC)

Gas Chromatography (GC)

UV-VIS Spectrophotometer

Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) with Hydride Generator (HG) 3000 System

Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectrometer (FTIR)

Far-infra red spectrophotometry

Etc, etc.

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How can this doctor or teams of many other doctors and pharmacists say they do not know what it is?  

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No person can hide any formula from the analytical skills of highly trained professional analysts who specializes in food and drug analysis.

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Give me a sample of this doctor’s prescription, and I will ask my team to analyze it. It is not a problem for us.

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Illegal if not approved: 

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On another point, it is illegal for any doctor to prescribe any medicine that has not been approved by the National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau of the Ministry of Health of Malaysia.

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All drugs sold in this country have to be approved by them before it can be put into the market or for clinical use by a doctor. All drugs, and medicinal herbs sold or used for treatment in this country must be registered and must carry a KKM (Ministry of Health) registration number on the packet.

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It is also illegal for any doctor to deviate from an approved standard treatment for any disease, or by using something else that is not approved by the National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau.  

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It is also illegal for any doctor or any person to claim a “cure” for certain diseases. The list of diseases where no one can claim a cure is very long.

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Some examples are a common cold, diabetes, hypertension, hepatitis, autoimmune disorders, cancers, asthma, etc, etc.  No one in this country can claim they can “cure” these diseases. This is law.

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Drugs do not cure:

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In any case, drugs do not ‘cure” especially those chronic and degenerative diseases.  It is only lifestyle changes and dietary modifications that can do this.

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“Let Food be Your Medicine” (Hippocrates, Father of Medicine).

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“Cure” means you need only give the medication once, and no further treatment needed.

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It is the body that rectifies and cures itself – not any drug or medication. If the body refuses to cooperate there is nothing a doctor or any drug can do. Drugs generally only modify the chemistries of a pathology, but if a person requires medication daily for life to modify this chemistry, this is definitely not a cure.  

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Pharmacologically, drugs normally suppress, block, substitute, or inhibit the action of a chemical pathology. This is to control the signs and symptoms of a disease especially those chronic and degenerative disorders.

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Body’s patho-physiological chemistries:

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The chemistry of the body including its pathology is a continuous on-going, online process, and no drug can block forever something that is ongoing all the time inside a living body.

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It is like a life wire, where a current is flowing all the time. How is it possible to block forever a live current? The only way is to switch off the current.

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In similar vein the only way is to “cure” a disease is to switch it off - the on-going chemical pathophysiology. But by switching them off permanently it means you are also dead. There is no cure.

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Natural Cure: 

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The only way is to continue talking the drug for life as in the case of Minoxidil prescribed for alopecia. This doctor’s treatment is not different from Minoxidil.

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A doctor practicing naturopathic medicine once told me the most effective treatment for alopecia is to drink the ashes of a burnt coconut husk.

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I asked him the pharmacodynamics (mode of action) of this modality? He told me alopecia is due to mineral deficiencies, and the ashes of coconut husk contain all the minerals of the right proportions.

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If that is the case, then taking mineral supplementation should do the job. But I cannot be certain even with zinc supplementation. Zinc along with other trace elements are touted to be effective for alopecia?

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However there is an alternative system of medicine called mineral therapy touted to be effective for many illnesses. I have a short training in this area of medicine in Sydney and Melbourne a few years before I retired, but I am still not sure if it works for lack of clinical experience in this area of medicine.

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For the moment I do not think there is a permanent cure for those whose hair follicles are already dead with no active cells in them anymore.

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They may temporary sprout out a few hairs, but will die again if no nourishment or drug is given to support a continuous cellular program.  
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Please note:  



Dr. JB Lim posing as Albert Einstein

If there are mistakes, additions or omissions in this article I shall correct them later as it is now nearly 4:30 am. Need to get to sleep; else I will go from white hair to no hair from stress and deficiency of sleep (not biotin or minerals from coconut shell).  It took me all night to write this comment. 

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Good Morning to you gentle readers!

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Jagan Bohon Dr Einstein Lim

(Written by a BOGUS Dr Einstein with lots of ruffed white hair on his genius head, but with no biotin deficiency or low testosterone in his head. E = mc²)

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Sent: Saturday, 2 November 2013 4:26 AM