Potential Cure for Baldness
Posted on: 27/Oct/2015 5:03:52 PM
Here is a potential cure for baldness as found by scientists. A new drug is identified by scientists which can stimulate fast and robust hair growth which will serve as a way to throw back baldness.
The drug performs its role by inhibiting a family of enzymes inside hair follicles which are left suspended in a state of rest, and the hair growth will then get restored, say researchers.
The experiment was conducted on mouse and human hair follicles. Angela M Christiano from Columbia University Medical Center and colleagues have identified that drugs that inhibit the Janus kinase (JAK) family of enzymes also promote hair growth in a rapid and robust manner when it is directly applied on the scalp.
According to the study, drugs which are JAK inhibitors can be used to restore hair growth in various kinds of hair loss conditions. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved two JAK inhibitors. While one of these is approved for treating blood diseases (ruxolitinib), the other is proven to treat rheumatoid arthritis (tofacitinib).
Both these are tested in clinical trials for treating plaque psoriasis and alopecia areata – autoimmune disease that results in hair loss.
Speaking about this, Christiano says this is a promising finding. However, we have not yet shown its effectiveness in treating male pattern baldness.
She added that more work need to be done for testing these JAK inhibitors that are exclusively made for the scalp and possibilities of hair growth need to be determined. These inhibitors were tested for studying a type of hair loss called alopecia areata that arises as a result of autoimmune attack on hair follicles.
They add that the JAK inhibitor stops signals that induces autoimmune attack. Oral form of this drug can be of help in restoring hair growth in few people who suffer with this disorder.
