Yesterday Radar ran a story about Bradley Cooper using the popular hair loss drug Propecia. The online magazine claims that a source close to the star of American Hustle and The Hangover has said "Bradley is determined not to go bald and lose his leading man looks."
My first thought whilst reading this story was 'why don't more men do this!?"
There seems to be at least one story a month in the press about a celebrity that has opted for a hair transplant, but many of them don't need to. The craze started when Wayne Rooney tweeted about his transplant procedure in June 2011. Reports suggest that the procedure cost Wayne somewhere in the region of £30,000.
Being a football follower and an avid Manchester United fan myself, I had followed Wayne Rooney since he netted that magical first goal for Everton in 2003 (you know the one). Unfortunately, as the years went by the coverage of his hair went in the opposite direction to his form on the pitch and he rapidly acquired a receding hairline as he approached his mid-twenties.
We published numerous stories on the Belgravia Blog in the years approaching Wayne's transplant, advising that he should be acting early and preventing his hair loss by using regrowth medications including Propecia, but unfortunately it seems he didn't pick up on the stories and instead opted to continue losing his hair. Had Wayne, like Bradley Cooper, have opted to use an effective treatment programme to prevent his hair loss and regrow hair, he would not have needed a hair transplant, so hats off to Bradley Cooper for making the right decision at the right time - I am sure it is something that he won't regret.
A little more about Propecia
Propecia is one of only two clinically proven treatments for the prevention (and regrowth) of hair loss. The other is minoxidil. The medication (generic name 'finasteride') was originally used for benign prostate hyperplasia (an enlarged prostate) but it was discovered that many patients using the drug stopped losing their hair and some experienced an increase in hair density. An extensive study by Merck followed and Propecia became the most effective known medication on the market for hair loss.
My advice to Bradley would be continue as you are doing, but if you see any further loss down the line don't hesitate to add a high strength minoxidil cream to your treatment regime. I have no doubt that Bradley Cooper has the money to fund a top-notch hair transplant, but why should he if he doesn't have to?