By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHA man with baldness is seen in Seville, southern Spain(photo credit: REUTERS)
There is hope at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center for those going bald.A new service is being offered in which blood cells are taken from the patient and injected into his scalp. The treatment, which is being introduced and become popular around the world, is considered safe for both men and women and produces good results.Rambam is one of the few places in Israel that offers the service.Prof. Amos Gilhar, a veteran dermatology researcher, is working on it together with Dr. Aviad Keren of Rambam and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.The treatment involves the injection into the scalp of plasma rich in platelets (PRP or platelet-rich plasma) for the treatment of androgenic alopecia (pattern hair loss). The procedure is carried out without surgery; a local anesthetic is used to numb the areas where the superficial injections are made.The substance has been used for years in dentistry and for orthopedic problems, taking advantage of cells naturally found in the body. A small amount of blood is taken from the patient, isolated in the serum that is rich in proteins and growth factors. The serum is then injected back into the skin, encouraging the body to repair the tissues that were damaged and caused balding.Since the cells are taken from the patient and not from a foreign donor, they are completely safe. The procedure is being widely used in the US, Britain, France, Italy, Japan and other countries. If is, of course, not covered by health funds