MPB is cured using some compound derived from pig's bladder?

Instant 'cure' for baldness offers hope to millions
May 10, 2011, 01.33pm IST

Here's good news for millions of men who suffer the misery of hair loss.

Scientists, including an Indian-origin specialist, are to begin trial, of what they claim is an 'instant' cure for baldness, in the UK.

The breakthrough procedure developed in the US claims to halt, and perhaps reverse, many types of male pattern baldness.

"Later this week, 20 British patients will be offered the chance to sample the new treatment, which takes just 30 minutes," reports the Daily Express.

They will be injected with a mixture of platelet-rich plasma taken from their own blood and Acell, a powder extracted from pig bladders.

Gary Hitzig has successfully treated more than 200 patients in the US.

He is coming to the UK to perform the treatment with Raghu Reddy, a leading hair restoration specialist, at The Private Clinic in London's Harley Street.

Reddy said, "It is as close as we have come to a cure for male baldness."

The treatment first forms a protective barrier around healthy, hair-growing cells to prevent further loss.

Then it duplicates the surrounding tissue which means that if there are any healthy hair-growing stem cells near the treatment area they will be duplicated and hair will return.

abc123 wrote:Ummmm

You guys do realize this article is referring to acell? It is a legitimate cure.

Decro435 wrote:

abc123 wrote:Ummmm

You guys do realize this article is referring to acell? It is a legitimate cure.

You could say the same about Propecia..

I'm assuming that the pigs bladder contains extracellular matrix Wnt proteins, the same stuff that will regrow appendages.

Pig-extracted extracellular matrix is already used by veterinarians to help horses repair torn ligaments. In people, it's used to treat ulcers, closing a hole in the tissue that lines the stomach. It employs an entirely different process than the typical mammalian healing mechanism. Let's take the case of a person who loses the tip of a finger. When the finger is severed, the cells die, and their contents seep into the surrounding tissue. This alerts the immune system to a problem. The immune system's response to cell death is inflammation and scar tissue. The formation of scar tissue prevents any future cellular development in the area. That's why scars last -- cells are prevented from doing a repair job on that skin.

But when extracellular matrix is applied to a wound, it doesn't trigger an immune response. Instead, when it begins to break down into surrounding tissue, it causes the cells in that tissue to start repairing the damage the way they would in a developing fetus (or a salamander that loses a limb) -- they divide and rebuild, creating new, normal tissue, not scar tissue.

Decro435 wrote:Yeah I have, I read about this a good while back when they were able to regrow a man's finger with it. It might have implications for regrowing limbs etc. but for "curing" MPB, not a chance.

It will probably be very expensive as well...

Decro435 wrote:It's not a cure is it though, as the article states above.. It's a treatment.

Until I see actual results, I deem this treatment as every other mainstream treatment. Dr. Jerry Cooley works for Acell, I need some evidence and actual testimonials from people who don't work with the company.