After Chris Rock received a slap from Will Smith at this year’s Academy Awards because of a G.I. Jane joke he made concerning Jada Pinkett Smith’s new look, people are undoubtedly more aware of the condition of alopecia.
What is alopecia?
For those who haven’t looked it up yet, alopecia aerate is an autoimmune disorder that causes rapid hair loss of scalp hair and can also affect the eyebrows and eyelashes. It can also cause comorbidities, which means it’s not just a “cosmetic” issue and can have serious effects on health. For instance, the research observed multiple connections between alopecia and cardiovascular disease. Alopecia can also negatively impact someone’s confidence and self-image, affecting their mental health.
A new treatment for alopecia
Dr. Brett King, an associate professor of dermatology at the Yale School of Medicine led a new study that led to a potential treatment for alopecia, that would help patients regrow hair.
As of now, there is no current FDA-approved treatment for alopecia aerate, despite the fact that approximately 200,000 cases of this autoimmune disorder are diagnosed annually in the US alone. However, King and his team discovered a medication that is already in common use as a treatment for arthritis: baricitinib.
Out of the 1,200 participants in King’s study, a third of them who received a larger dose of baricitinib were able to regrow some of their hair.
“This is so exciting because the data clearly shows how effective baricitinib is,” King told the university’s Yale News. “These large, controlled trials tell us that we can alleviate some of the suffering from this awful disease.”
