The Food and Medicine Administration has authorized a drug to treat severe alopecia, an autoimmune illness that causes hair loss (FDA).
The illness lately gained attention when Hollywood actress Jada Pinkett Smith and Democratic congressman Ayanna Pressley revealed they had it, affecting more than 300,000 people in the United States each year.
What Is Alopecia?
The FDA authorized baricitinib, the first oral tablet for treating severe alopecia areata, on Monday. Alopecia is characterized by either temporary or permanent patchy hair loss that can affect any hair-bearing region on the body, causing mental discomfort.
The clearance for use in the treatment of alopecia was based on the findings of two randomized, controlled clinical studies involving a total of 1,200 people with severe alopecia. After 36 weeks, over 40% of individuals on the higher dosage had regrown 80 percent of their scalp hair.
According to Pinkett Smith and other celebrities who have spoken out about their hair loss, it is painful, disheartening, and embarrassing. The issue exploded into the public eye after Pinkett Smith's husband, Will Smith, smacked comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars earlier this year for making a joke about her bald head.
In 2018, Pinkett Smith went out for the first time about her diagnosis of alopecia, a medical term for hair loss. Democratic Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, who made her diagnosis public in 2020, has lately spoken out about her experience with the disease. Baricitinib, marketed as Olumiant by the US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, belongs to a family of medications known as Janus kinase inhibitors. It acts by disrupting the biological process that causes inflammation.
Each experiment divided individuals into three groups: a placebo group, a group with a daily dosage of two milligrams, and a group receiving a daily dose of four milligrams. After 36 weeks, over 40% of individuals on the higher dose had grown back 80 percent of their scalp hair, compared to roughly 23% in the lower dose group and 5% in the placebo group, according to Daily Mail.
Jada Pinkett Smith Previously Discussed Alopecia
According to the researchers, in randomized trials, more than a third of patients who took 4 milligrams of the medicine every day raised their scalp hair covering from 50% to 80%. In accordance with authorities, side effects include upper respiratory tract infections, headaches, acne, high cholesterol, weight gain, shingles, and urinary tract infection, among others.
"Access to safe and effective treatment alternatives is critical for the considerable number of Americans impacted by severe alopecia," said Kendall Marcus, M.D., director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research's Division of Dermatology and Dentistry, as per New York Post.
Previously, Jada Pinkett Smith dedicated an episode of her talk program to alopecia on Wednesday, speaking out months after her husband, Will Smith, slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars for making a joke about the illness at her expense.
During the show, Pinkett Smith spoke with patients who had alopecia areata, a medical disorder that causes severe hair loss. Among them is Niki Ball, the mother of Rio Allred, a 12-year-old girl who committed herself in March after being ridiculed for her hair loss. Rio, according to Ball, had attempted several treatments for alopecia without success, prompting her to request that her head be shaved, NBC News reported.
Related Article : Facial Paralysis: Justin Bieber, Angelina Jolie and 3 Other Celebrities Who Suffered the Disorder
