Alopecia impacts up to 1.5 million Americans—and now relief may finally be on the way for some patients suffering from hair loss. According to The Boston Globe, a new drug from Concert Pharmaceuticals may restore nearly full heads of hair for 30% to 40% of alopecia patients. In a study of 700 alopecia patients, all of whom had less than half of their hair remaining in the start of the trial (with half of those people being completely bald), 29.6% of the patients given a medium dose of a twice-daily pill called CTP-543 regrew enough hair to cover at least 80% of their scalp over the course of 24 weeks. The results were even more impressive in patients in the study who received a high dose of the medication over 24 weeks, 41.5% of whom grew enough hair to cover 80% of their scalp. The picture below speaks a thousand words: Dr. William Yates, MD, FACS, board-certified hair loss surgeon and founder & owner of Yates Enterprises, explained what makes CTP-543 different from other alopecia treatments currently available. “It seems to be a more directed treatment that’s directly to the immune system to stop the immune system from destroying its own hair. Current treatment modalities are typically steroid injections or topical steroid treatments to help reduce the inflammation,” he told Parade.com. “These have not been as targeted.”’ CTP-543 is a JAK inhibitor, which Dr. Neda Mehr, MD, board-certified dermatologist and founder of Pure Dermatology Cosmetic & Hair Center, says works best for autoimmune types of alopecia. “These medications are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, an auto-immune disease of the joints, similar to the auto-immune hair loss seen in alopecia areata,” Dr. Mehr told Parade.com. “When we approach hair loss, we first need to decide the type of hair loss. Is it a scarring or non-scarring alopecia? Is it auto-immune alopecia or related to stress or genetic hair thinning? Each of these forms of hair loss has different treatment options since the science of the disease differs.” “JAK inhibitors, like CPT-543, calm down your immune system and help to ease the severity of some auto-immune diseases by working to block the effect of cytokines—inflammatory proteins that stimulate immune cells,” Dr. Mehr continued. As for which types of alopecia may respond best to the treatment, Dr. Mehr says that autoimmune alopecia would likely benefit the most from CPT-543. These types include alopecia areata (hair loss in circular patches), alopecia totalis (completely balding scalp) and alopecia universalis (complete lack of scalp and body hair, including eyelashes and eyebrows). Of course, like any drug, CTP-543 had some side effects in the study, with reports of headaches and acne in some patients, the exact numbers of which haven’t been reported, as well as two cases of shingles and five “serious adverse events,” which the company didn’t specify. While CTP-543 is promising, there are other treatments currently available that have exhibited some success for patients as well, and those may likely be what doctors recommend first.Dr. Debra Jaliman, MD, board-certified NYC dermatologist, Assistant Professor of Dermatology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and author Skin Rules: Trade Secrets from a Top New York Dermatologist, noted of CTP-543, “I think it would be reserved for extensive alopecia areata that was unresponsive to other treatments.” “In regards to alopecia areata, or the autoimmune form of hair loss, the most common treatments are intralesional corticosteroids,” Dr. Mehr says. “On average, 60% of patients will benefit from the steroid injections to the scalp, but the effects are best for people who have lost less than 50% of their hair. Other popular treatment options include injections of Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), which has both hair growth activity as well as anti-inflammatory effects. Studies show that PRP and intralesional steroids have similar efficacy of around 60% regrowth of hair loss.” As with anything else, your smartest course of action would be to speak with your own doctor about what’s best for you and your specific health needs, because everybody—and every body and every scalp—is unique. Next, find out expert tips to make your hair grow faster.
Sources
Dr. William Yates, MD, FACS, board-certified hair loss surgeon and founder & owner of Yates EnterprisesDr. Neda Mehr, MD, board-certified dermatologist and founder of Pure Dermatology Cosmetic & Hair CenterDr. Debra Jaliman, MD, board-certified NYC dermatologist, Assistant Professor of Dermatology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
