Arthritis drug REVERSES baldness stimulating regrowth of hair after 10 years – and it takes just two months

IS THIS THE CURE?

The drug tofacitinib triggered hair regrowth in patients diagnosed with alopecia - a first step towards tackling pattern baldness, the most common cause of baldness in men

A CURE for baldness is one step closer, after scientists discovered a drug that can stimulate the regrowth of hair after a decade.

The breakthrough, in patients suffering alopecia, raises hopes for millions with pattern baldness – the leading cause of hair loss.

Annals of Internal Medicine

A new study has revealed the arthritis drug tofacitinib stimulated hair regrowth in just two months, left before and right after. The patient had suffered from alopecia for 10 years

Scientists in Brazil found the arthritis drug, tofacitinib, helped alopecia sufferers regrow hair on their head, eyebrows and under their arms, in just two months.

The autoimmune disease causes patchy and, in some cases, total hair loss.

But, experts hope this new treatment could help reverse the condition.

And the discovery builds on other research, raising hopes of a cure for pattern baldness.

Researchers at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil tested various drugs on two alopecia sufferers.

They discovered one, the drug tofacitinib typically used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, showed dramatic results.

Both patients had been entirely bald for ten years, having lost all the hair on their body to alopecia.

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Yet, after taking tofacitinib every day for two months, researchers noted the patients' hair began to grow back.

And, nine months into the experiment, the researchers said they found no evidence of serious side effects.

They hope their findings will pave the way for a larger clinical trial of the drug's effectiveness.

The authors of the study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, said: "Successful treatment can improve patients' lives dramatically, as it did for out patients," LiveScience reported.

Columbia University Medical Centre

The new results come after another study found a similar drug, ruxolitinib, stimulated regrowth of a full head of hair in four months, pictured before

Columbia University Medical Centre

Pictured four months into the trial, the patient with alopecia had a full head of hair

The new findings come months after another study showed similar promising results.

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center reported in September that 75 per cent of patients with moderate to severe alopecia showed "significant hair regrowth" after taking the drug ruxolitinib – approved to treat bone marrow malignancies.

By the end of the treatment period the average hair regrowth among patients was 92 per cent.

WHAT IS ALOPECIA?

Alopecia is a common autoimmune disease, that causes hair loss on the scalp, face and sometimes other areas of the body.People of all ages, both sexes and all ethnic groups can develop the condition.Typically it is diagnosed in childhood, but can be different for every sufferer.While an alopecia sufferer will likely lose a lot of their hair, their hair follicles remain alive.As a result, hair can regrow at any time.There are three main types of alopecia:– Alopecia areata, the most common form with one or more coin-sized hairless patches on the scalp or other parts of the body– Alopecia totalis, the total loss of hair on the scalp– Alopecia universalis, the complete loss of hair on the scalp, face and bodyCurrently there is no cure for alopecia areata.Scientists believe many factors contribute to this complex condition, including the possibility that a infection can trigger it, as well as something in a person's surroundings.It is an autoimmune disease, which means the immu ne system mistakes the normal cells in the body as foreign invaders and attacks them.

Dr Julian Mackay-Wiggan, associate professor at the university and a dermatologist at New York-Presbyterian said: "Although our study was small, it provides crucial evidence that JAK inhibitors may constitute the first effective treatment for people with alopecia areata.

"This is encouraging news for patients who are coping with the physical and emotional effects of this disfiguring autoimmune disease."

Both tofacitinib and ruxolitinib are known as JAK inhibitors.

They block the Janus kinase (JAK) family of enzymes, and in doing so help to reawaken dormant hair follicles.

They do so by blocking the inflammatory signalling that stops the hair from growing.

The findings pave the way for new treatments and the team at Columbia University said their next step is to explore the effect of the drugs on pattern baldness – the most common cause of baldness.

Source: Arthritis drug REVERSES baldness stimulating regrowth of hair after 10 years – and it takes just two months