Your Health: New weapon in war on baldness
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
Patients fighting the war against baldness have a new weapon, thanks to a local hair surgeon.
After spending years working to keep his hair, 42-year-old Ken Hanson enlisted the help of Dr. Daniel McGrath and a new treatment designed by the doctor.
“I started losing my hair in my mid-20s,” Hanson said. “I’ve had two treatments before, hair transplants.”
Dr. McGrath's treatment includes something called ACell, a compound which comes from a pig bladder, which basically wakes up stem cells, according to the doctor.
The ACell is mixed with plasma from the patient’s own blood and injected into the scalp. Dr. McGrath then needles the scalp to kick start the process.
“It sort of stimulates the tissue to react like wildfire,” Dr. McGrath said. “Patients were getting a lot of regrowth with their original hair, strengthening of their original hair, and in some cases, some rejuvenation of new hair.”
Dr. McGrath says this is not a cure for baldness, but a newer tool in the arsenal against thinning hair.
For Hanson, it’s a chance to fill in the thin areas and get a shot of self-esteem.
“It’s a lot of confidence,” Hanson said. “There’s no downtime.”
Dr. McGrath said the results may work differently for different people. The treatment costs between $2,500 and $3,500.
For more on the procedure, click here.