Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy | Dr. Joseph Greco Ph.D. Answers Your Questions

[geminidb8]

Will PNP Therapy Help Scarred HT Patients?

Dear Dr Greco: First off congratulations on your work with P.N.P. Therapy. I believe that your efforts are to be commended. My question is Will this type of treatment help those who have been scarred in the donor areas (Strip method) of Previous hair transplants? Also will it help in cases of Scalp Reduction scars? Thanks and again congratulations in your progress of this type of treatment. Sincerely : David.

[Dr Joseph F. Greco]

Dr. Greco,

Incredible results for treating injuries. Thank you for your research in PRP therapy and sharing it with the hairloss community. And what a pleasant surprise to see that you are treating Dr. Cooley for a tennis elbow injury. I have a similiar situation in my left shoulder as I injured it last September. Very slow to heal, it's the tendons and/or ligaments that I injured. Chronic pain and now more a nerve sensation down the arm.

Back to hairloss and PRP therapy.

1) Since MPB is a genetic disposition and not an injury, how can PRP reverse "the progression" aspect of the disease?

2) Does PRP reduce the production levels of DHT?

3) Does PRP enhance the hair follicle's resistance to DHT?

4) And just to confirm, this therapy would be ongoing for a lifetime since the disorder is progressive over a lifetime?

5) How many partcipants are in your ongoing study and any distinctions that we need to be aware of? How many females are in the trial group?

6) Will you be treating other forms of alopecia with PRP?

7) How frequent will you be releasing your clinical findings for treating MPB and where will you be publishing them?

8) Just out of curiosity, do you have MPB or does it exist in your family history? And if so, do you plan on doing PRP therapy yourself or possibly are already doing it?

9) How practical is it for this therapy to get into HT practices and clinics?

10) Here's my biggie question. Does your theory suggest that if the young men who are diagnosed with MPB early, and they get on PRP therapy, that they may never need surgical hair restoration?

Thank you for your great questions. Regarding, “does PRP reduce DHT”? We do not know this. Do other approved FDA non DHT blockers like Rogaine reduce DHT? We do not know this. Does Low level light therapy reduce DHT? We do not know this. Basically, medicines and other therapies have different mechanisms of action other than lowering levels of DHT, but are approved because they have demonstrated some positive results.

First, this study was prompted after utilizing PRP in hair restoration to determine if traumatizing (inducing Stat-3) and infusing high concentration of growth factors would have any effect on non transplanted hairs. The study was never intended to create a procedure or replace any traditional FDA approved therapies, but the study created even more intriguing questions.

Why did hair in the treatment group reverse for up to eight months? What turned on the dormant follicular stem cells in the Alopecia Areata patient whose condition was getting worse?

Was creating Stat-3 along with infusion of highly concentrated growth factors inhibiting DHT? Honestly, we do not know. We are only observing and trying to understand.

Knowing that PDGF promotes angiogenesis and mitogenesis and based upon previous independent research by (Takakura et al, 1996) who demonstrated that PDGF signals are involved in both epidermis-follicle interaction and the dermal mesenchyme interaction required for hair canal formation and the growth of dermal mesenchyme, respectively.

In 2001,Yano et al identified VEGF as a major mediator of hair follicle growth and cycling providing the first direct evidence that the improved follicle revascularization a) promotes hair growth and b) increases follicle and hair size. It was these excellent independent studies that we based our study upon.

What we do know is that first generation PRP is safe and has a wide variety of applications in medicine. The next generation of autologus platelet rich plasma is the addition of an extra cellular “matrix” (ECM) and independent studies conclude that, “GF–ECM complexes may well be the most effective and efficient method to stimulate cell proliferation, as well as tissue healing or regeneration”. (Clark et al, 2008)

A great deal of further study is warranted in cellular therapy to fully understand what is going on. We are in the process of investigation a large study with a highly respected scientific research hospital that will include hundreds of patients.

I have no problem utilizing in PRP in a surgical hair procedure or in a younger patient just beginning to miniaturize in the crown or vertex that cannot take traditional therapy because of side effects or in combination with FDA approved therapies because it is safe.

Personally, I have had three hair transplants and have been on Propecia for 8 years. I have had cellular therapy and in twenty five years of being in medicine have never seen some of the things I have seen with this therapy.

Regenerative medicine is the future of medicine and we are only beginning to understand how it works. PRP is only the first generation and the future of hair multiplication will include some combination of GF/ECM complex, stem cells and cultured hair cells.

[Dante666]

Hello dr. Greco, I have another question for you. You said that you have no problem utilizing in PRP in a younger patient just beginning to miniaturize in the crown or vertex. But could you do it in someone who is beginning to miniaturize in the hairline (like me)? I just want to slow down my hairloss, which is just at the beginning.

Btw, can you tell us the cost of the treatment?

Thanks.

[gillenator]

Dr. Greco,

Thank you for your comprehensive reply even though most of it is subjective and obviously so because of it's beginning stages in treating hairloss. I am still pleasantly surprised by the results of stimulated re-growth in the patient with alopecia areata. As you and I both know, there has been little to no resolve for that disorder even though the hair follicles do eventually respond in many of the areata cases.

Well, as you say, we will know more in time. And for many patients suffering from MPB, it's also a safe auxiliary treatment that can be used in conjunction with the other FDA approved medciations.

So very possibly my last question is one in which you will be better able to reply at a later date. Understood.

Can hardly wait for future data releases by you. Keep up the awesome work.

[gillenator]

Dr. Greco,

One other thing. I had no idea you were the recipient of three HT procedures. Congrats! How many total grafts did you have done?

[Dr Joseph F. Greco]

Dr. Greco,

One other thing. I had no idea you were the recipient of three HT procedures. Congrats! How many total grafts did you have done?

I have had a total of 3500 grafts. One session in the hairline and two in the posterior crown. Dr Ron Shapiro did two.

[Dr Joseph F. Greco]

If this reverses miniturization for 8 months and you take Propecia, wouldn't it help slow down the hair loss even more? Also, if the effects only last 8 months (as what I keep reading in the blog), couldn't you just go again and again every 8 months to a year and still have the benefits?

Thanks
Destin

You could because there are no side effects as nothing but your cells are used.

[iwannakeephair1674]

How soon can we expect this to be available, as for me and others, I would like to get this treatment done as soon as possible, by of course someone who knows what they are doing.

[brando1]

Dr. Greco,

I was just wondering if I can get this done in California? My hair seems even when I shave it with no guard on an electric shaver but when it grows it look really uneven and thin. So maybe this could help me?

[Costanza]

Dr Greco,

Can you reveal the GF-ECM components that have been added to the enhanced PRP?
Are there any plans to add mesenchymal stem cells or cells that have been reverted to their embryonic state to the injection? If so, when do you anticipate trials may begin?

[Dr Joseph F. Greco]

How soon can we expect this to be available, as for me and others, I would like to get this treatment done as soon as possible, by of course someone who knows what they are doing.

Sorry for the delay in answering. Fill out an on line consultation from my web site and send photos of your hair "wet"... we will contact you as to our evaluation.

[Dr Joseph F. Greco]

Dr. Greco,

I was just wondering if I can get this done in California? My hair seems even when I shave it with no guard on an electric shaver but when it grows it look really uneven and thin. So maybe this could help me?

I am not aware of anyone yet but can keep you posted.

[Dr Joseph F. Greco]

Dr Greco,

Can you reveal the GF-ECM components that have been added to the enhanced PRP?

The ECM is created in a certain way the plasma protein is processed. The ECM is concentrated protein...and all yours!


Are there any plans to add mesenchymal stem cells or cells that have been reverted to their embryonic state to the injection? If so, when do you anticipate trials may begin?

We already have pending patients and we are woking diligently daily.

[Costanza]

We already have pending patients and we are woking diligently daily.

Can you estimate roughly when you may be offering MSC + PRP/GF injections should the results from the MSC patients prove successful? Are we talking about a year or so or several years?

Thanks!

[Dr Joseph F. Greco]

Can you estimate roughly when you may be offering MSC + PRP/GF injections should the results from the MSC patients prove successful? Are we talking about a year or so or several years?

Thanks!

Difficult to say at this point and I don't want to speculate to be honest.