"RICHARD PADUDA an athletic man with a dark spiky coiffure does not look like your typical user of Latisse the prescription eyelashenhancing solution that has been endorsed by Brooke Shields and Claire Danes. Thats because he has used it not on his eyelashes which are fairly lush but on his hairline which he noticed last year was beginning to recede. I just put three or four drops on each side of my temple once a day said Mr. Paduda  an insurance worker from Boca Raton Fla. The hair in that area which was real thin and wispy  all those hairs got thick again dark. Mr. Paduda is one of a growing number of men experimenting with Latisse as an antidote to encroaching baldness httphealth.nytimes.comhealthguidessymptomshairlossoverview.htmlinlinenytclassifier. Made by Allergan the drug has already won a following among women for helping them grow long fluttery eyelashes. It was only a matter of time before it made the leap to denuded pates. Indeed dermatologists offices and Web forums for bald men yes they exist baldtruthtalk.com httpbaldtruthtalk.com began buzzing with excitement over Latisse nearly the moment the Food and Drug Administration gave it the thumbsup in December . First question everyone was asking was Gosh if it grows eyelashes what is it going to do on the scalp  said Dr. Alan Bauman the dermatologist and hairrestoration specialist who prescribed the drug to Mr. Paduda as part of an informal study. While the F.D.A. has not approved Latisse as a hairloss treatment  only two drugs have that designation minoxidil Rogaine also a topical medication and finasteride Propecia which is administered in pill form  there are no laws preventing doctors from prescribing it for that purpose. Dr. Bauman said he has been prescribing a generic form of bimatoprost the active ingredient in Latisse to combat hair loss since  and that it has worked for about  percent of his patients. What we found is that where patients were applying Latisse especially in areas where the hair was thinner and wispier and less pigmented the hair grew thicker stronger and healthier he said. Though some users of Latisse have experienced skin discoloration Dr. Bauman said he had never seen any such reaction on the scalp of his patients. Certainly Mr. Paduda who used Latisse daily from November through February is a happy customer. By the third week he said both he and friends he asked for reactions were seeing results. I even busted out the old before and after pictures he said. It was a noticeable difference. But Latisse does not appear to be a silver bullet for hair loss. Instead it appears to work in much the same way as Rogaine or Propecia All three can strengthen and darken hair that grows from a dying follicle but none can bring a dead one back to life. The result is an enhanced refortified hairline rather than a brand new head of hair. Aside from hair transplants which can cost about  each and do not always look natural the only current hope for complete replacement is hair cloning the act of producing entirely new hair from the DNA of an existing one which researchers have been attempting unsuccessfully for years. A pair of researchers last year claimed to grow new hair by combining plucked hair with a woundhealing powder made by ACell a regenerativemedicine company in Columbia Md. Though the claim was met with some skepticism by other clinicians the idea that ACells powder which has been approved by the government could facilitate new hair growth has breathed new life into the race to clone hair. Dr. Robert M. Bernstein clinical professor of dermatology at Columbia University is now one of several researchers experimenting with the product. Its just a question of time now before hair cloning becomes a reality Dr. Bernstein said. We keep on moving back that time but I think theres absolutely no doubt that its going to be done. He believes hair cloning will be commercially available within  years. This may sound like a long time to wait but its important to remember that baldness is unlike other conditions where you can progress past the point of being helped Dr. Bernstein said. Once we have a cure for hair loss everyone will be able to benefit. It has been been  years since the F.D.A. approved a new hairloss remedy Propecia in  so it is understandable that anticipation for a new one might be running high. One advantage of Latisse is that it needs to be applied only once a day Rogaine needs to be applied twice Propecia is taken once daily and does not seem to cause reactions in people who are allergic to minoxidil. It is however expensive a months supply of Latisse can cost up to  and that is in amounts appropriate for use merely on the eyelashes. Rogaine which is also available over the counter now costs about  a month and a months supply of Propecia runs about . Even Mr. Paduda has now switched to Propecia citing cost. The potential for Latisse is not lost on Allergan. The company initiated a Phase  clinical study in August to determine whether bimatoprost can be used as a treatment in men and women suffering from hair loss alopecia. There is a great deal of interest in developing other uses of bimatoprost Heather Katt a spokeswoman for Allergan wrote in an email message and Allergan is exploring ways to pursue that pathway through the F.D.A. approval process. For those too impatient to wait there is also the bold and fashionable solution of shaving ones head. But the fact is that many men  and women  simply do not accept baldness easily. Hair has been an evolutionary sign of health and sexuality and youth and that doesnt change Dr. Bernstein said. Shaved heads look cool but not everyone wants one and not everyone looks good with one. Mr. Paduda concurs. I have really dark eyebrows he said. I would look like a psycho if I shaved my head."