New test offers a smooth heads-up

Even if your parents have thinning hair, you may not experience hair loss

May 2010

Certain folk - think Patrick Stewart and Natalie Portman in V For Vendetta - look great even with bare domes.

For most of us, however, a thinning head of hair spells aged rather than edgy.

Hair and scalp care company Svenson now offers a simple test to spot balding even before the process starts.

Launched in Singapore this month, in collaboration with American hair therapy specialists HairDX, the first-of-its-kind test reveals one's genetic risk for androgenetic alopecia - more commonly known as hereditary hair loss.

Dr Sharon Keene, hair restoration surgeon and HairDX chief medical officer, explained that androgenetic alopecia is the most common cause of hair loss in both men and women.

She said: "Personal risk is very individual. Even if your parents have thinning hair, you may not experience hair loss. But if you wait until hair loss is visible (before seeking help), you would have lost about 50 per cent of your hair."

Dr Keene added: "The test predicts your genetic risk on a scale of low, mid and high risk, so you can be more proactive. Hair therapies are good at preserving your hair, but not for re-growing it. The best thing is to prevent the loss of hair in the first place."

The test is relatively fuss-free: A therapist swabs the gums at the corners of one's mouth, and the test samples are thereafter sent to a HairDX laboratory located in the United States for analysis. The results are typically returned in a fortnight.

Those whose test results show a higher risk for hereditary hair loss can choose to undergo a video microscope examination at Svenson.

If hair loss or hair miniaturisation - where hair that grows back as part of the natural hair cycle is finer and shorter - is observed to be underway, customers may want to undergo regular treatments targeted at the androgen receptors. These are the hormones responsible for hair loss in androgenetic alopecia.

The HairDX genetic test is available at Svenson outlets, and costs $240 (inclusive of three customised hair and scalp treatments). Visit www.svensonhair.com.sg for more information.

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