Alopecia: Experimental treatment promotes hair regrowth

a cure for alopecia Successful in phase 3 studies The new study shows that the use of baricitinib, an arthritis drug, can stimulate hair growth in one in three patients.

This skin condition has garnered a lot of media attention in recent days after the actor. Will Smith While slapped comedian Chris Rock was live at the 2020 Oscars ceremony, the comedian joked about the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, in this situation.

Alopecia areata is an autoimmune condition that causes inflammation and even destruction of hair follicles. It can cause scarring and permanent hair loss and mainly affects people over the age of 40.

Phase 3 clinical trials are the final step towards approval of a treatment in the United States. In this assessment, the researchers evaluated a total of 1,200 adults, all with severe conditions and significant baldness.

For six months, participants were given a daily dose of 4 or 2 milligrams of baricitinib. One group also took a placebo to check for the actual effects of the treatment. The results were impressive.

One-third of the patients who took the drug improved their hair. Researchers believe this is proof that the drug works by reversing the disease, cutting off the communication of immune cells with hair follicles.

hope for patients

Up to two hundred thousand people are expected to benefit once the treatment is approved in the United States. To date, no cure exists for this health problem.

“This is very exciting because the data clearly demonstrate the efficacy of baricitinib,” says Professor Brett King, Yale University School of Medicine, and lead author of the new study, in a note.

“These large controlled experiments tell us we can alleviate some of the suffering of this terrible disease,” he adds. The study was published in the scientific journal. New England Journal of Medicine.

ARTICLE New England Journal of Medicine: doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2110343