Yale scientists successfully use arthritis drug to regrow completely bald man's hair!

[locke999]

Who cares. Why are you so insecure about what some idiot thinks.

Your negativity tells me that if you weren't balding, you would treat us balding guys like shit too.

[burtandernie]

I really dont think this means anything for normal MPB. Its a nice thing they did, but its a small amount of people that have this form of hair loss.

[Mugwump]

Yikes... Yea, I doubt Xeljanz would do anything for regular run of the mill hereditary hairloss. I have RA (male -- psoriatic) and get yearly infusions of rituximab that put my RA into complete remission. I've also had to take prednisone off and on and I swear my hair gets a bit darker and curlier after a course of prednisone or methylprednisolone. Not sure it really gets thicker. The side effects are awful.

This person's hairloss was obviously almost completely caused by immune deficiency. There are sooo many immune deficiency treatments (orencia, humira, remicade, enbrel, methotrexate, plaquenil, sulfa drugs, hell - even gold, etc. etc.) because immune deficiencies manifest in so many different ways. I suspect hairloss will be found to be similar, thus why some get diffuse vs. frontal, slow, fast, etc. etc. In the end, I doubt there will be one silver bullet drug for everyone but more likely multiple drugs, therapies, ****tails.

There is just soooooo much we don't know about the human body. We have really only scratched the surface. This is also why I'm not holding my breath for anything groundbreaking too soon. Expect the worst and hope for the best.

[Mugwump]

Also, if I remember right Xeljanz (the drug used in the study) was denied approval in the EU because they thought the benefits did not outweigh possible side effects. And when I asked my Rheumy doctor about it last year he said its a riskier drug due to side effects. Its definitely a last resort drug in treatment of autoimmune diseases.

[Atum]

Have you guys read this? It's about fasting for 3 days, apparently it regenerates the imume system. In a nutshell, your body disposes faulty cells and produces new ones during this process.

http://www.universityherald.com/articles/9814/20140608/fasting-for-at-least-3-days-could-rejuvenate-immune-system.htm

Who knows? Maybe we can fast for 3 days and our hair starts to grow again.

[sascha]

Have you guys read this? It's about fasting for 3 days, apparently it regenerates the imume system. In a nutshell, your body disposes faulty cells and produces new ones during this process.

http://www.universityherald.com/articles/9814/20140608/fasting-for-at-least-3-days-could-rejuvenate-immune-system.htm

Who knows? Maybe we can fast for 3 days and our hair starts to grow again.

That sounds so stupid.... I am going to try it!!!! have to lose some weight anyway

[Taco sauce]

Doesn't the immune system attack the hair follicle? Don't we want a weak immune system?

[Andrew Vernon]

Well folks ...It seems to good to be true . Time will tell .

[sdsurfin]

dumb

I don't know what's more stupid, the media coverage on this or the people on this forum. This does not have implications for MPB. Lots of bald guys with arthritis have taken this drug and not been cured. Not only that, but I doubt this will be a miracle cure for people with alopecia totalis. This is one case of one very young patient, and we don't know if he'll lose his hair again, especially as people with this disease can suddenly regain or lose their hair at any point. Thirdly the drug is not a particularly safe one, and taking that stuff your whole life will probably mess you up.

If anything positive can be gained, it's that maybe researchers will look into the role of the immune system in balding a bit more and figure something out. The pathways in normal balding are very different than in this disease. Good for the kid though, I hope that this ends up being a solution for him and others in his condition.

[burtandernie]

I dont really get why people are even talking about this. Its not for MPB its for those very rare forms of hair loss caused by the immune system so why would it help MPB? I dont think there is any proof it does anything for MPB yet and suppressing your immune system is crazy

[Molten]

AA is affected by an immune system response, while MPB is DHT unleashing an onslaught on our hair follicles. As far as the medical community knows, DHT is completely independent of the immune system. Thus, this drug will not have any affect on the regrowth of hair of someone suffering from mpb. But, who knows? Further studies need to be done on this, to be sure, as it could be the needed breakthrough in reviving dead hair follicles.

[JZA70]

Similar story in the news:

"An alopecia sufferer who lost all the hair on her body has miraculously regrown a full head of hair after taking steroid medication for a chest infection."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2721297/Cured-accident-Alopecia-sufferer-s-hair-regrows-given-drugs-help-treat-chest-infection.html

[hellouser]

I emailed Dr. Brett King, the dude that prescribed Kyle Rhodes the tofacitinib asking if he's trying this for male pattern baldness.

NO ANSWER.

Isn't it amazing how neglected male pattern baldness is? NOBODY..... NOBODY gives a shit about us.

[NeedHairASAP]

I emailed Dr. Brett King, the dude that prescribed Kyle Rhodes the tofacitinib. I asked him why he ignored the largest percentage of hair loss sufferers and if he's running a case study for male pattern baldness. I asked if he isnt, why he isnt.

NO ANSWER.

Isn't it amazing how neglected male pattern baldness is? NOBODY..... NOBODY gives a fck about us.

maybe you should have avoided embedding the assumption he is "ignoring" people in your question.... he probably wrote you off as a disgruntled crazy.

That said, it sucks.

[burtandernie]

Any guy with all his hair probably hopes it doesnt get cured that much less competition for them. Not to mention if you dont have the problem its hard to really understand what its like just like lots of other conditions.