The Good and Bad News About New Drugs for Treating Alopecia Areata
January 2018
in “
Actas dermo-sifiliográficas/Actas dermo-sifiliográficas
”
TLDR JAK inhibitors show promise for treating Alopecia Areata, while statins are not recommended.
The document discussed the effectiveness of new drugs for treating Alopecia Areata (AA). A 2015 study on 29 patients with moderate AA showed promising results with simvastatin and ezetimibe, but a similar study on 20 patients with severe AA showed minimal effects and some adverse reactions. In contrast, recent studies on Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, such as ruxolitinib and tofacitinib, showed significant hair regrowth in patients with moderate to severe AA, with ruxolitinib showing a 75% response rate and tofacitinib showing a 79% response rate. These findings suggested that JAK inhibitors could revolutionize AA treatment, while the use of statins was not recommended.
