The idea of using period blood as 'medicine' may be enough to make you squirm. Yet experts claim that menstrual fluids hold the potential to fight various neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's.

Dr Karan Rajan, an NHS surgeon and lecturer at the University of Sunderland, is among them, having spoken of its 'amazing' abilities in a video posted to Instagram. He stressed that stem cells found within the blood are a big part of its appeal, as they can develop into various other cell types in the body.

"Can menstrual blood cure Alzheimer's?", he asked his 1.6 million followers (@drkaranrajan). "Let me give you the bad news and the good news. So, the endometrium, the lining of the womb, is the only part of the adult human body that can heal itself without scarring every month.

Instagram

"And that's down to the amazing regenerative abilities of menstrual blood-derived stem cells. Basically, the biological version of Play-Doh, these stem cells can turn into a number of different cell types - bone, brain, liver, blood, heart and more.

"The issue is, this research is in a very, very early stage - even in mice. Most of the data we have is from cells in a petri dish or from animal models and there is a long way to go before we translate it into human studies."

Among the research on this topic is a study led by China's Zhejiang University from 2018. It saw that use of menstrual blood-derived 'mesenchymal' stem cells held anti-inflammatory effects and 'dramatically improved the spatial learning and memory' in mice.

While these cells are found in numerous parts of the body - including the bone marrow, skin and fat tissue - scientists praised menstrual stem cells specifically for their high proliferation rate. They also acknowledged that they are far easier to obtain without ethical concerns.

And they declared them a 'promising therapeutic candidate' for Alzheimer's. The research comes at a time when Alzheimer's affects around 982,000 people in the UK, according to the Alzheimer's Society.

Right now, it is considered the most common type of dementia - an umbrella term used to describe 'symptoms that occur when there's a decline in brain function'. The NHS summarises: "Dementia is not a single disease. There are different diseases that can cause dementia. Many of these diseases are associated with an abnormal build-up of proteins in the brain.
Menstrual blood-derived stem cells have been praised for their high proliferation rate (
Image:
Getty Images)

Find out about the symptoms you need to watch out for and get health advice with our free health newsletter from the Mirror

"This build-up causes nerve cells to function less well and ultimately die. As the nerve cells die, different areas of the brain shrink." Although it's early days for menstrual stem cell research, Dr Rajan believes that one day this 'knowledge may be revolutionary'.

Concluding his video, he said: "Not just to achieve medical breakthroughs, but to destigmatise periods once and for all. It's a strange poetic justice that society that historically looked down upon menstruating women and labelled period blood as 'unhygienic' will be reliant on the very same thing it's sought to outcast."