Hair loss affects many people of different ages. There are many reasons why sufferers would want to minimize hair loss and hopefully restore hair regrowth.
There are a few proven remedies already available on the market.
However, due to the rapid consumer expansion of the hair loss market, new and innovative remedies are constantly being developed.
A Swiss-based company, Regen Lab SA, is currently involved with proving the value of Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) in the hair loss condition of androgenetic alopecia.
Androgenetic alopecia is an inherited condition affecting a large percentage of the population, both men and women.
The innovative Swiss company plans on launching a clinical trial with 50 participants to prove that their advanced technology of PRP is superior to any other on the market currently.
What is PRP?
Platelet Rich Plasma involves removing a small amount of the patient’s blood and using a centrifuge to spin and thus separate the different components of blood.
It is expected that the concentrated portion of the blood is rich in various valuable components like growth factor.
The trial will involve applying this ‘concentrated blood portion’ to areas where hair growth is required.
What will the clinical trial involve?
The trial will use a product that the Swiss company calls RegenKit.
Fifty participants are expected to be recruited in a double-blind study to investigate if application of the PRP makes a difference to the thickness of the hair on the scalp.
Participants will be both males and females between the ages of 18-60 years old.
Men will only qualify to participate if they score between a 3 and 5 on the Norwood Hamilton scale whilst women will qualify if they score between 1 and 2 on the Ludwig scale.
Exclusion criteria will include people on any alternative treatments like Minoxidil or Finasteride used in the last 3 months, prior to the start of the trial.
Participants also should not have had a hair transplant.
The clinical study is expected to start in October 2016.
The company’s expectation is that this innovative therapy using the regenerative components in the concentrated blood will have multiple medical applications like improved wound healing, skin rejuvenation etc. This is in addition to regeneration of hair growth.
Some experts believe that the results of the PRP clinical trial will show that it has to be used in combination with other hair loss drugs to be fully beneficial rather than replace the conventional hair loss medicines.
