Monthly Archives: May 2016

Takashi Tsuji

Interview with Dr. Takashi Tsuji (Kind of)

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In early April 2016, the renowned Dr. Takashi Tsuji from Japan was yet again involved in groundbreaking new hair (and skin) related research.  On April 3, I e-mailed him the following, hoping that he would grant my request for an interview:

Hello Dr. Tsuji,

I recently covered your two new partnerships (with Meiji Seika and with Adjuvant Cosmetics) as well as your paper regarding bioengineered skin.

Is there any way you would be willing to do an interview with me for my blog?

Admin

His almost immediate response:

Dear Admin,

Thank you so much for your interests to our study.

We collaborate with Adjuvant cosmetics to study on the development of a novel hair promoting agents by using our developed screening system. The collaboration with Meiji Seika pharma and other companies plan to develop a novel bioengineered skin in vitro with skin appendages including hair follicle and sebaceous gland. This bio-skin will contribute the developments to cosmetics, quasi drugs and anti-allergic agents.

Unfortunately, I would like to answer only by e-mail.

Thank you for your contact.

Sincerely,

Takashi

I was surprised that he replied (and mentioned both the companies that I mentioned in my e-mail), since he must have been extremely busy being bombarded with interview requests from around the world so soon after his latest groundbreaking paper was published. It also seemed like the ending of his above e-mail response implied that he would be willing to grant me an e-mail interview.  So I sent him a list of detailed questions. Unfortunately this time, no luck:-(  Dr. Tsuji sent me a generic reply that he was sending to all journalists (I do not blame him at all of course). Below is his reply and the pasted contents of his attachment for journalists.

His second response:

Dear Admin,

Thank you for your contact regarding our recent work.

I am grateful that you have great interests to our recent bioengineered skin study. Unfortunately, I enclosed FAQ, which was asked from many reporters in world-wide. I also enclosed the figure, which demonstrated successful transplantation of the bioengineered 3D integumentary system derived from GFP-expressed iPS cells. Green fluorescence indicates the bioengineered skin including iPS-derived hair shafts.

Regards,

Takashi

Here is the FAQ document from Dr. Takashi Tsuji.

Lots of interesting information in there and hopefully you can download it ok (should be in Word format).

The image below that he included is of “bioengineered skin with iPS-derived hair shafts”:

Bioengineered skin, including iPS-derived hair shafts.

 

Jerry Cooley, Jeffrey Rapaport, Joe Tillman, Platelet-Rich Plasma, PRP

PRP Treatment Updates

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There have been a number of important developments in the platelet-rich plasma world during the past several months, warranting a new post on the subject.

— In late March, the famous patient advocate Joe Tillman published a very interesting video on his first ever PRP treatment with Dr. Jerry Cooley. Joe told me that he will give us an update on his results in the near future. Below is his first highly instructive video. I like the centrifuge part:

— In the April issue of Dermatologic Surgery, a new favorable study from Spain on PRP treatment for hair loss was published. It seems like no ACell was added into the mix. I did not find the full study via Google Scholar, but the abstract concludes that “PRP showed a positive effect on AGA and could be regarded as an adjuvant therapy for AGA.”

I still do not think that PRP will usually grow brand new hair, as has also been verified by some hair transplant surgeons. However, it can often prevent baldness from progressing as rapidly, and it can without a doubt make existing hair thicker. Why do I say this? Because at this point I have seen favorable studies from way too many countries to dismiss this oftentimes still controversial subject. Make sure to see a list of these studies in my post on how PRP works for hair loss, which I update every couple of years.

— Dr. Jeffry Rapaport has a knack for frequently appearing in various respected US TV shows. The below video (now taken away it seems) is from just a few days ago. Unlike many other US physicians who just go on TV for publicity, I feel like Dr. Rapaport comes across as much more sincere. Moreover, he only charges $500 per PRP treatment. Much more ethical than physicians who often charge over $2,000 for a treatment that is far from guaranteed to work.

— Finally, although not related to hair loss, currently injured NBA MVP Stephen Curry got PRP treatment on his right knee in order to try to speed up recovery. Kobe Bryant did the same thing in the past before his achilles tendon rupture. As more superstar athletes get PRP treatment, it can indirectly benefit hair loss sufferers via more research money flowing into this field.