London: Vampire therapy, the latest beauty treatment for younger skin – which involves injecting patients with their own blood – may also provide a cure for baldness, scientists say.
Researchers have successfully regrown hair on the bald patches on people’s heads by injecting them with a solution derived from their own blood.
The ‘vampire’ treatment involves taking blood from the patient and processing it in a machine that extracts ‘platelet-rich plasma’ (PRP), which is then injected back into the head.
The solution is believed to stimulate new stem cells below the skin which can aid the regrowth of hair, The Telegraph reported.
Such ‘vampire’ treatments are already used in some cosmetic procedures, where injections of PRP are used in an effort to reduce the effects of ageing on the face and hands.
The research, published in the British Journal of Dermatology, was conducted among a group of people suffering from alopecia areata, a condition in which hair is lost from some or all areas of the body, usually from the scalp.
However, the scientists believe it could also help those suffering more common varieties, such as male-pattern baldness.
“We think it can help to regrow hair on people with androgenic alopecia (male-pattern baldness). We believe it is the best treatment available, apart from surgery,” researcher Dr Fabio Rinaldi said.
The study involved 45 patients, who received the injections on just one half of their head. Some were given the PRP, some were given a more traditional steroid treatment, while others received a placebo.
A total of three treatments were given to each patient, once a month. Hair growth was assessed by measuring the area where new hair grew on the bald scalp.
The PRP was found to lead to significant hair regrowth in the bald patches, compared with both the placebo and the steroid treatment.
The scientists, based at the International Hair Research Foundation and University of Brescia in Italy and the Hebrew University Medical Centre in Israel, are carrying out further research.
They hope to be able to develop the treatment as a cream, to avoid the need for needles.
