Watch CBS News

New Pill 'Purpurex' Claims To Help With Age-Related Bruising

MIAMI (CBSMiami) --- Age-related bruising affects millions of people. There's no cure, no treatment, and no prevention -- until now. There is a new pill called Purpura.

Embarrassing dark purple bruising forced Phyllis Susser into long sleeves and long pants for years. Her deep, dark purple spots started a few years ago.

I would put a watch on, when I took the watch off at the end of the day, I was completely bruised," explained Susser.

"As you get older, your normal capillary walls begin to weaken and blood starts leaking out under the skin creating these really horrible purple marks and they can be quite disfiguring to people," said Dr. Joshua Berlin.

Phyllis went to see Dr. Berlin in Boynton Beach, who offered to put her in a double-blind study for Purpurex -- the new supplement that claims to target bruising. 'Double blind' means one group got a placebo, the other got Purpurex.

"They compared the two groups and they found that a 50-percent decrease in lesions within 6 weeks of taking the medicine," said Dr. Berlin.

Phyllis was in the Purpurex group and noticed a huge difference right away.

"The response is anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks, everyone responds differently. We've had some patients respond as quickly as a week but over time I've noticed the lesions essentially melt away, it's almost like we took an eraser to their skin," said Dr. Berlin.

"Because I'm on the medicine, it starts clearing up in a couple of days and clears up within a couple of weeks," said Susser.

One bruise she had was three weeks old. Before Purpurex, Phyllis said it would have taken forever to heal.

Like Phyllis, Shellie Berlin went to see Dr. Berlin -- no relation to the doctor -- for severe bruising, but was skeptical when he brought up the double blind study.

"I was thinking, what is he talking about I've been all over, I've been to every doctor, he doesn't know what he's talking about, he's just using me as a guinea pig. Well, it turns out, God bless him, it really works," said Shellie.

Both women take two Purpurex pills a day, one with breakfast and one with dinner, and are thrilled with the results.

"I even wear my bathing suit now because I do a lot of exercise and I can show you my legs because they're not terrible anymore," Shellie said proudly.

Dr. Berlin said this is the first and only treatment shown effective to treat this condition. It's a natural supplement that doesn't interact with any other medicines.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.