Verteporfin HAIR REGENERATION HUMAN TRIAL Dr. Barghouthi *OFFICIAL THREAD

[Square1]

9 hours ago, Jay Dunman said:

You're talking to the wrong people on this forum lol pretty sure 98% of us would donate our time and money to a doctor willing to use verteporforin on us. Hence the eagerness of most of us. We're desperately waiting for a green light to go do it ourself. But why 2 years to see a micro trial again? This is beyond rationale and like I said, fundraising is a thing whether you want to believe it or not. Having a trial and passing it off as successful can be manipulated into huge sums of money 

Who exactly needs to give a "green light" to perform this on ourselves? If you want, you can already do it right now, like Kilian did. 

[Jonathan]

On 4/10/2024 at 9:32 AM, Fox243 said:

lol people are never happy. A few months ago, people were complaining that a second trial wasn't being done. Now people are complaining that a full FUE wasn't done. People should be extremely grateful for what is being done, and if they want to see more, they need to either volunteer their own scalps or their own money.

This is one guy complaining and stating that, where multiple people were complaining about Dr B taking long. That’s typical when you give certain dates and don’t follow them. I get Dr B is amazing and everyone is grateful for him but don’t act like he’s perfect and deserves to be treated as such.

[Dragonsphere]

11 hours ago, Jonathan said:

This is one guy complaining and stating that, where multiple people were complaining about Dr B taking long. That’s typical when you give certain dates and don’t follow them. I get Dr B is amazing and everyone is grateful for him but don’t act like he’s perfect and deserves to be treated as such.

Without Dr Barghouthi's initial experiment the surrounding hype would not exist. There would be no upcoming trials, no existing trials and we would all likely be awaiting news on whatever the next Topical AA is. 

There is a very possible chance that we are on the verge of a cure and it's down to the the efforts of several people on this forum, primarily the aforementioned Doctor. 

Unless you were one of the original backers who donated a substantial amount to fund this trial, then you can hardly complain if feedback isn't as expeditious as you would like it to be. 

If Dr Barghouthi wants to be assiduous to ensure this test is done in the best possible way and mitigate any chance of failure, that is entirely his prerogative. It also makes complete sense and we should prefer it so. 

Edited April 12 by Dragonsphere

[hairmonk]

23 hours ago, Square1 said:

Who exactly needs to give a "green light" to perform this on ourselves? If you want, you can already do it right now, like Kilian did. 

Exactly, I've recently used it on a small scar revision on my stomach. No permission needed, just cooperation from a doctor and they like money too

If it's healed well in a year my plan is to use the before and after pictures to convince a transplant surgeon to let me use it with a FUE

Edited April 12 by hairmonk

[Nikoni]

7 minutes ago, hairmonk said:

Exactly, I've recently used it on a small scar revision on my stomach. No permission needed, just cooperation from a doctor and they like money too

can we hope for updates ?

[DrTBarghouthi]

Hi guys,

Just to clarify a couple of things to some respected members of this group:

1. The Full FUE patient’s wish was to remain anonymous. He shares videos and photos with me and we both are pleased with how his donor looks. Nonetheless, these are photos and videos shared by him and have no scientific basis that I can use as validation or proof. At this stage, we want to provide as much objective evidence as possible. Sharing videos and photos of the full  FUE (even if patient allows) based on patient photos isn’t scientific and could be seen as feeding the hype for monetary reasons and to encourage more patients to do it. He could simply be having great donor healing with or without Verteporfin.

2. Furthermore, as we are trying to gain more momentum and doctor involvement, I thought that a more detailed trial using better photography and site marking would give us a more scientific approach than the first trial. It also allowed me to increase the doses used without having to cover large areas. 
3. My current intention is to get scientific trials to go ahead and advance. This takes time and takes on a scientific approach rather than just feeding the hype. If the intention behind this was to raise money only, then the way I’m approaching this would be completely different. In our industry, we make money by attracting patients. I’m currently trying to attract Doctors. 

[Nikoni]

2 hours ago, DrTBarghouthi said:

Hi guys,

Just to clarify a couple of things to some respected members of this group:

1. The Full FUE patient’s wish was to remain anonymous. He shares videos and photos with me and we both are pleased with how his donor looks. Nonetheless, these are photos and videos shared by him and have no scientific basis that I can use as validation or proof. At this stage, we want to provide as much objective evidence as possible. Sharing videos and photos of the full  FUE (even if patient allows) based on patient photos isn’t scientific and could be seen as feeding the hype for monetary reasons and to encourage more patients to do it. He could simply be having great donor healing with or without Verteporfin.

2. Furthermore, as we are trying to gain more momentum and doctor involvement, I thought that a more detailed trial using better photography and site marking would give us a more scientific approach than the first trial. It also allowed me to increase the doses used without having to cover large areas. 
3. My current intention is to get scientific trials to go ahead and advance. This takes time and takes on a scientific approach rather than just feeding the hype. If the intention behind this was to raise money only, then the way I’m approaching this would be completely different. In our industry, we make money by attracting patients. I’m currently trying to attract Doctors. 

I am really sorry you face such negativity Doctor especially after all the efforts.

I guess some people will always complain, but the majority here appreciate what you do are grateful .

[Tonyyy]

Thank you @DrTBarghouthi for the new update, but can you answer my only question, former FUE scars be repaired at this time? or at least did you intend to do it for those who requested it?

[Im actually here for scars]

On 4/12/2024 at 5:55 PM, hairmonk said:

Exactly, I've recently used it on a small scar revision on my stomach. No permission needed, just cooperation from a doctor and they like money too

If it's healed well in a year my plan is to use the before and after pictures to convince a transplant surgeon to let me use it with a FUE

You have used verteporfin for a scar revision? Would you like to join our telegram where lots of members are Interested in this? There are a small number of people there who have also used it for scar revision. Link can be found here: https://x.com/f74308786540/status/1734620392939995612

[Berba11]

On 4/11/2024 at 8:56 AM, Jay Dunman said:

You're talking to the wrong people on this forum lol pretty sure 98% of us would donate our time and money to a doctor willing to use verteporforin on us. Hence the eagerness of most of us. We're desperately waiting for a green light to go do it ourself. But why 2 years to see a micro trial again? This is beyond rationale and like I said, fundraising is a thing whether you want to believe it or not. Having a trial and passing it off as successful can be manipulated into huge sums of money 

Cutting edge science is almost always by definition very slow, cautious and careful, with lots of hurdles and barriers to overcome that lay people watching from the sidelines will not be privy to. This level of impatience serves no one. If verteporfin actually works to either reduce visible scarring or regenerate a portion of previously extracted follicles (or both!), then it needs to be demonstrated in a testable, repeatable, robust way before it will become adopted at all, let alone widely.

Dr B's "micro trial" as you put it is perfectly in accordance with scientific study in all the major disciplines. You don't do experiments in biology by looking out the window at the trees and insects and try to figure out what's going on. You get down a cellular level and work upwards. Same in physics, chemistry etc (atoms, molecules, matter etc).

Dr B is just one man, doing his best to do this the right way. It will take time. Ideally a few more interested surgeons can participate and help to speed up the learning curve to see if vert can actually offer benefits of any kind to HT patients in the future.

For now I wouldn't putting much stock in having this used commonly for a good few years.

[CureSeeker]

On the topic of microneedling+verteporfin, here's a case where it regrew hair

[sansi]

@DrTBarghouthi I hope you are safe and pray for the peace in your region.

May I ask what's the plan for the followups ? Is it going to be on monthly basis to evaluate the progress ?

Edited April 14 by sansi

[bigmistake]

On 4/13/2024 at 2:10 AM, DrTBarghouthi said:

Hi guys,

Just to clarify a couple of things to some respected members of this group:

1. The Full FUE patient’s wish was to remain anonymous. He shares videos and photos with me and we both are pleased with how his donor looks. Nonetheless, these are photos and videos shared by him and have no scientific basis that I can use as validation or proof. At this stage, we want to provide as much objective evidence as possible. Sharing videos and photos of the full  FUE (even if patient allows) based on patient photos isn’t scientific and could be seen as feeding the hype for monetary reasons and to encourage more patients to do it. He could simply be having great donor healing with or without Verteporfin.

2. Furthermore, as we are trying to gain more momentum and doctor involvement, I thought that a more detailed trial using better photography and site marking would give us a more scientific approach than the first trial. It also allowed me to increase the doses used without having to cover large areas. 
3. My current intention is to get scientific trials to go ahead and advance. This takes time and takes on a scientific approach rather than just feeding the hype. If the intention behind this was to raise money only, then the way I’m approaching this would be completely different. In our industry, we make money by attracting patients. I’m currently trying to attract Doctors. 

Dr Barghouthi, we really appreciate all you have done for us. Please don't be disheartened by all the negative comments. I understand scientific clinical research takes time, patience, and money. 

We are all very thankful for your efforts. 

We hope to see further progress in verteporfin, also is there any chance that a very small FUE scar repair can be attempted with verteporfin ? It can be a very small trial similar to what was done in the last trial, just 10-20 FUE scar punch outs injected with verteporfin. The goal won't be to grow hair but to minimize scaring.

[Nikoni]

5 hours ago, bigmistake said:

Dr Barghouthi, we really appreciate all you have done for us. Please don't be disheartened by all the negative comments. I understand scientific clinical research takes time, patience, and money. 

We are all very thankful for your efforts. 

We hope to see further progress in verteporfin, also is there any chance that a very small FUE scar repair can be attempted with verteporfin ? It can be a very small trial similar to what was done in the last trial, just 10-20 FUE scar punch outs injected with verteporfin. The goal won't be to grow hair but to minimize scaring.

@DrTBarghouthi you already have gone above and beyond and gave us hope and of course don't have to continue the trials.

But if our requests mean anything, many of us here would be very grateful if you do older FUE revision trial.

[Dragonsphere]

39 minutes ago, Nikoni said:

@DrTBarghouthi you already have gone above and beyond and gave us hope and of course don't have to continue the trials.

But if our requests mean anything, many of us here would be very grateful if you do older FUE revision trial.

6 hours ago, bigmistake said:

Dr Barghouthi, we really appreciate all you have done for us. Please don't be disheartened by all the negative comments. I understand scientific clinical research takes time, patience, and money. 

We are all very thankful for your efforts. 

We hope to see further progress in verteporfin, also is there any chance that a very small FUE scar repair can be attempted with verteporfin ? It can be a very small trial similar to what was done in the last trial, just 10-20 FUE scar punch outs injected with verteporfin. The goal won't be to grow hair but to minimize scaring.

 

This would be the most pertinent experiment as it would confirm it Verteporfin would result in unlimited donor hair. 

Lets be extremely pessimistic for a minute and say the 0.4 dose patient was an extremely good responder and the average regeneration rate is around 20%. If you could do revision in the the areas void of growth and that 20% regeneration rate is consistent, this would still result in a unlimited donor area.  It would likely mean multiple rounds of revision spread across several years but still, unlimited grafts. 

Edited April 14 by Dragonsphere

[Jonathan]

On 4/12/2024 at 7:15 AM, Dragonsphere said:

Without Dr Barghouthi's initial experiment the surrounding hype would not exist. There would be no upcoming trials, no existing trials and we would all likely be awaiting news on whatever the next Topical AA is. 

There is a very possible chance that we are on the verge of a cure and it's down to the the efforts of several people on this forum, primarily the aforementioned Doctor. 

Unless you were one of the original backers who donated a substantial amount to fund this trial, then you can hardly complain if feedback isn't as expeditious as you would like it to be. 

If Dr Barghouthi wants to be assiduous to ensure this test is done in the best possible way and mitigate any chance of failure, that is entirely his prerogative. It also makes complete sense and we should prefer it so. 

I didn’t donate much but $10-$15 I don’t expect perfection but I do expect someone to be a man of their word, maybe that’s a crazy standard to have now a days. I’ve always and will continue to give Dr Barghouthi his praise, but if someone doesn’t update you for months after they said they were going to update you, typically you lose a little bit of trust. Do this 3-4x in a row and see how people’s admiration turns into mistrust and annoyance. But if your argument is that the amount of money you donated to this cause makes your opinion matter I guess mine matters more than yours.

Edited April 15 by Jonathan

[Jay Dunman]

On 4/12/2024 at 4:40 PM, DrTBarghouthi said:

Hi guys,

Just to clarify a couple of things to some respected members of this group:

1. The Full FUE patient’s wish was to remain anonymous. He shares videos and photos with me and we both are pleased with how his donor looks. Nonetheless, these are photos and videos shared by him and have no scientific basis that I can use as validation or proof. At this stage, we want to provide as much objective evidence as possible. Sharing videos and photos of the full  FUE (even if patient allows) based on patient photos isn’t scientific and could be seen as feeding the hype for monetary reasons and to encourage more patients to do it. He could simply be having great donor healing with or without Verteporfin.

2. Furthermore, as we are trying to gain more momentum and doctor involvement, I thought that a more detailed trial using better photography and site marking would give us a more scientific approach than the first trial. It also allowed me to increase the doses used without having to cover large areas. 
3. My current intention is to get scientific trials to go ahead and advance. This takes time and takes on a scientific approach rather than just feeding the hype. If the intention behind this was to raise money only, then the way I’m approaching this would be completely different. In our industry, we make money by attracting patients. I’m currently trying to attract Doctors. 

Thank you for clarifying. This answered many questions. 

I know you can't commit to scientific factual statements regarding the full fue patient since he doesn't want to come forward and do proper analysis but did he have any side effects or any unusual complains regarding healing/etc? Or do you think Verteporforin is too safe to cause any side effects at such low doses? 

[Jay Dunman]

22 hours ago, CureSeeker said:

On the topic of microneedling+verteporfin, here's a case where it regrew hair

Why didn't you take pictures so we can clearly see its the same place on the leg. This is just close ups of a "patient" in Greece by some "doctor." This can't be taken to heart. It could be true but it doesn't prove anything to anyone 

[Tonyyy]

@DrTBarghouthiCan't wait for your next update, Doctor.

Edited April 16 by Tonyyy

[DrTBarghouthi]

On 4/15/2024 at 6:14 AM, Jay Dunman said:

Thank you for clarifying. This answered many questions. 

I know you can't commit to scientific factual statements regarding the full fue patient since he doesn't want to come forward and do proper analysis but did he have any side effects or any unusual complains regarding healing/etc? Or do you think Verteporforin is too safe to cause any side effects at such low doses? 

No complaints or side effects with all the patients who had it injected. 

[DrTBarghouthi]

2 hours ago, Tonyyy said:

@DrTBarghouthiCan't wait for your next update, Doctor.

I will update following the one month follow up which is sometime next week. 🙏🏻

[DrTBarghouthi]

On 4/14/2024 at 9:16 AM, sansi said:

@DrTBarghouthi I hope you are safe and pray for the peace in your region.

May I ask what's the plan for the followups ? Is it going to be on monthly basis to evaluate the progress ?

Yes. The one month is due next week. We will do 1-2 month follow ups most likely. 

[Nikoni]

@DrTBarghouthi thank you, we are blessed to have you

As you want to continue trials, is there old FUE scars revision planned ? That would be huge for so many people who already had a FUE.
 

[DrTBarghouthi]

2 minutes ago, Nikoni said:

@DrTBarghouthi thank you, we are blessed to have you

As you want to continue trials, is there old FUE scars revision planned ? That would be huge for so many people who already had a FUE.
 

Yes I believe this is worth looking at. 

[Dragonsphere]

2 hours ago, DrTBarghouthi said:

I will update following the one month follow up which is sometime next week. 🙏🏻

Hi Dr Barghouthi as a point of interest, it will very valuable to make note of any growth in the early stages. In the initial experiment, the most promising dose (0.4) showed the best early growth followed by lower doses in sequential order. We could within 2 months from now have a good indication as to which dose is most effective. 

Edited April 16 by Dragonsphere