Arthritis drug helps bald man grow full head of hair

[Hum]

There is no cure or treatment for alopecia universalis, an uncommon autoimmune disease that causes loss of hair over the entire scalp and body. Now doctors at Yale University in New Haven, CT, report how they successfully restored hair on the head and other parts of the body in a 25-year- old man with the disease that had left him nearly completely hairless all over.

They write about the treatment and the results in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology and say it is the first reported case of a successfully targeted treatment for this rare form of alopecia areata, which occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the hair follicles.

After the treatment, which uses an FDA-approved drug for rheumatoid arthritis called tofacitinib citrate, the patient regained a full head of hair, eyebrows and eyelashes, plus facial, armpit, groin and other hair, none of which he had when he first sought medical help.

Senior author Brett A. King, assistant professor of dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine, says the results were exactly what they hoped for, and represent a "huge step forward" in treating patients with the condition.

Tofacitinib had already been used successfully in humans to treat psoriasis - and in lab mice, it has been shown to reverse a less extreme form of alopecia called alopecia areata. So it made sense, the researchers thought, to see if the drug could tackle the alopecia universalis as well as the psoriasis.

After 8 months of treatment, all his hair had regrown, say the researchers, adding that they saw no lab abnormalities and the patient reported feeling no side effects.

Prof. King suggests the drug - which is designed to treat the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis - stops the immune system attacking the hair follicles.

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[neufuse Veteran]

ugh arthritis drugs can be BAD... don't know much about this one, but some of them you have to have blood testing all the time for and can cause more harm then good...

[simplezz]

I'd rather be bald than take big pharma drugs. As Neufuse said, a lot of their drugs can damage the liver, kidneys, alter enzyme levels and all sorts of things. Sometimes the treatment really is worse than the disease, and in the case of big pharma that axiom often holds true.

 

Sulphur (MSM) + megadoses of Vitamin C can cure most skin issues, as well as easing arthritis and other inflammatory diseases. Animals that naturally produce Ascorbic Acid make 10 grams, and even more when ill. We only get a couple hundred milligrams if we're lucky through our diets.

[Hum]

I believe fruit juices can do the same thing, as this drug.

 

I'd be interested in knowing the man's typical diet.