Dr Ourian said he was treating his mother for migraines, which arose as a result of chemotherapy. The latter had also caused hair loss. He said he injected Botox into her scalp to get rid of the migraines, but was surprised to see her hair growing back.

He added that for three years, he tested Botox injections mixed with several vitamins on volunteers. "With my patients these Botox vitamin injections for baldness have been very safe and more effective than anything I have seen before," The Daily Telegraph quoted Dr Ourian as saying. "I decided to share the discovery with several of my regular patients. Because hair loss is a significant source of insecurity for many people, both men and women, there was no shortage of volunteers with thinning hair.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, Botox is a drug made from a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum; the same toxin that also causes fatal food poisoning called botulism. "Botox injections work by weakening or paralyzing certain muscles or by blocking certain nerves. The effects last about three to four months," the NIH said, adding that pregnant or breast feeding women must not use the product.

Botox is used as an anti-wrinkle treatment in older individuals as it paralyses facial muscles. It now appears to have another important use.

If Dr Ourian's findings are replicated in larger, scientific trials, then people will no longer have to worry about hair loss, which is the single most unwanted effect of aging.