A bald man has regrown a full head of hair with the help of an arthritis drug, helping him overcome his long-standing diagnosis of alopecia.
"The results are exactly what we hoped for," Dr. Brett A. King, assistant professor of dermatology at Yale University,
told CBS Boston. King published his findings in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology last week.
The study, which prescribed the arthritis drug to a 25-year-old man named Kyle Rhodes, found that after eight months of treatment with Xeljanz (tofacitinib citrate), he also regrew eyebrows, eyelashes, facial, armpit, and other hair — which he had lost due to the alopecia. He also suffered no side effects while taking the drug.
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"This is a huge step forward in the treatment of patients with this condition," King explained. "While it's one case, we anticipated the successful treatment of this man based on our current understanding of the disease and the drug. We believe the same results will be duplicated in other patients, and we plan to try."
The study proves yet another use for Xeljanz, which has also been used to treat people with psoriasis and to treat alopecia in mice,
CNN affiliate WTKR Virginia reported.
Nearly 6.5 million people have been diagnosed with alopecia in the U.S., and King is optimistic the drug could regrow hair on a good swath of them. It does need more time for study, however.
"This drug really can have some nasty side effects," said Dr. George Cotsarelis, chairman of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania. "You really have to decide how much risk you want to [take]."
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