Hair comes a solution

Unhealthy lifestyles and stressful lives are the culprit behind many young folks hair loss problems today. And that’s probably why there’s a growing demand for hair loss treatments. Earlier, it was middle aged men facing male pattern baldness who would seek such help. Today, the age for this problem has reduced and young men in their 20s and women too, face hair loss problems. Typical methods of treatment involve scalp solutions, supplements of vitamins and protein, antioxidants and homeopathy, which take some time to see good improvements. US researchers are now looking at a more sophisticated technique to cure hair loss and have conducted a trial at New York University for the same. We asked experts if this method holds promise.

Research shows...
US researchers are testing a new method to tackle hair loss that involves making a gel from a patient’s blood and then injecting it into the scalp. This gel contains platelet-rich plasma (PRP), which is a concentrated mix of components in the blood that aid cell growth and healing. A small amount of blood is taken from a patient’s arm and then processed in a machine to obtain PRP. The process spins the blood at high speed until it splits into its various components like plasma, white cells, red cells and platelets. Platelet-rich plasma is sometimes used for treating tendon injuries as well as burns. Now the researchers are testing this method for androgenetic alopecia (known in men as male pattern baldness), which affects more than half of all men aged over 50 and half of women over 65 to some degree, causing hair thinning.

Expert speak
Could this be the next big thing where a gel made of one’s blood is injected into the scalp to cure hair loss? Dr Vinod Vij, senior cosmetic surgeon, Fortis Hospital, says, “Yes, it is promising enough because the effect is seen from the first sitting itself. So patients can feel the difference of less hair fall. Majorly it has three sittings, with an interval of 10 days.” Is this treatment available locally? Dr Vij informs that since 2011, they have been providing this treatment in India, and this treatment is called PRP Therapy. “We mainly come across three to four patients a week. So the response is high,” says. Those patients who are young like below 25 especially females,and facing tremendous hair fall would come for this treatment. Patients above 40 years of age, who are not willing to go for transplantation, opt for this PRP therapy, says Dr Vij.

Going a step further
In fact, around 10-12 years ago, a company had come up with PRP treatment in India. However, at that time, PRP was being used to treating wounds and in surgical procedures. Later, PRP was being used to treat hair loss. Rather than just using PRP Therapy, a step ahead is a treatment called PRP with GFC. “About 75 cc of blood is withdrawn from the patient and processed. We do not use just plain Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), rather we activate these separated platelets to release GFC (Growth Factor Concentrate) that help in the stimulation of the hair roots which have been lost recently. PRP as the gel form cannot stimulate the sleeping hair follicles. A highly sophisticated and patented procedure as used by us can release the growth factors from your blood which are very important to awaken the sleeping hair roots,” informs Dr Mohan Thomas, Senior Cosmetic Surgeon, Cosmetic Surgery Institute and Breach Candy Hospital, who has been using this line of treatment since the past three years in the country. Usually, three sessions, one month apart is recommended and the cost of each session varies from Rs 8,000 to Rs 15,000. This procedure in a combination with laser hair treatment and oral medications has given significant improvement in people who have generalised hair thinning as well as who have early stages of androgenic alopecia, he adds. 

The Cosmetic Surgery Institute has done this procedure on many patients with a success rate of a high 95 per cent. The improvement seen is in the range of 30 to 70 per cent. The success depends on the presence or absence of GFC (Growth Factor Concentrate) in the PRP. The results are seen in three months and continue to improve. Maintenance with medical treatment is a necessity. Earlier, patients with male pattern baldness above the ages of 30 and 40 would opt for this procedure. But these days, males from the age of 18 to 20 onwards are suffering from baldness due to unhealthy lifestyle and stressful lives, are coming for this procedure. As for women, those who are going through menopause and go through hormone imbalance undergo this treatment. Usually, a battery of tests are done to before starting this treatment. A very small percentage of people are advised against it like individuals with bleeding disorders like haemophilia and who are on anticoagulants/ blood thinners, adds Dr Thomas.