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Vladimir Putin reportedly bathes in blood from deer antlers - a treatment dubbed "natural Viagra."
The Russian head of state, who turns 70 in October, is said to have been introduced to the macabre practice by his defense chief Sergei Shoigu during a wellness vacation in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia in the mid-2000s.
There has been no official comment on the claims since Russian journalists recently broke the news, but stories about guesthouses in the region offering deer blood baths have long circulated.
In an interview in 2015, an Altai inn owner said: "You feel euphoric after the first bath, as if you are flying. After a second bath, the symptoms of some chronic diseases become stronger, only to be cured."
There is no scientific evidence to support the health claims of bathing in deer blood, but now mainstream medicine has recently become interested in the potential of substances found in growing antlers (stock photo)
There is no scientific evidence to support the health claims of bathing in deer blood, but now mainstream medicine has recently become interested in the potential of substances found in growing antlers.
Deer horns fall off and grow back every year - in the spring they lengthen at a rate of about an inch per day.
They are the only part of the mammalian body that regenerates each year and are among the fastest growing living tissues in nature.
During their growth period, antlers are flexible, rounded and covered with soft, velvet-like skin that is supplied with nutrients by a network of blood vessels.
As the antlers mature and turn into bone, the circulation tapers and eventually the skin is shed, revealing the horns.
Doctors in China and Korea prescribe deer antler slices that are dried and brewed into a tea.
Vladimir Putin reportedly bathes in blood from deer antlers - a treatment dubbed "natural Viagra." The Russian head of state, who turns 70 in October, is said to have been introduced to the macabre practice by his defense chief Sergei Shoigu in the mid-2000s
They claim it can do just about anything, from fighting viruses and bacterial infections to relieving allergies, improving heart health and rejuvenating skin - as well as increasing sexual performance in middle-aged men.
But animal rights groups have fought the practice, in which deer are tied down while their soft antlers are sawed off. Online videos of the trial show the distressed animals screaming throughout.
In some horrific clips, incisions are made into the deer's carotid artery to drain more blood. But the animals are not killed, but have to endure the torture year after year.
One compound found in antler development that has drawn particular interest is a hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1, or IGF-1.
In concentrated form, IGF-1 is used as a performance-enhancing drug that is injected by athletes and is intended to promote muscle growth and repair.
It was banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency and Fijian champion golfer Vijay Singh faced sanctions in 2013 for admitting to using deer antler spray, although these were later dropped.
There are also supplements available online that contain “deer velvet IGF-1.”
But there is little evidence that they work because the amounts of the hormone they contain are minimal.
However, recent studies have found that deer antlers may hold clues to new ways to fight cancer.
Antler development is controlled by specific genes that turn rapid tissue growth on and off. Cancer is also characterized by rapid tissue growth – leading to the formation of tumors.
In cancer this is not controlled – the cells simply continue to grow. But researchers studying the DNA of deer antlers have discovered the genetic switch that stops rapid cell growth.
They now hope that this could help in the development of anti-tumor therapies.
Laboratory studies have also found that powdered antler extracts suppress the growth of cancer cells, although this has not been shown in human studies.
Professor Hendrik-Tobias Arkenau, consultant oncologist and medical director of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute UK in London, said: “It is not unreasonable to believe that substances found in deer antlers, which are made up of a unique type of tissue, could hold promise as a cancer treatment.
"It's absolutely worth studying. But it's nonsense to think that bathing in blood will benefit your health."