While alopecia, an unrecognized autoimmune disease, emerged from the shadows at the last Oscars ceremony, now a new drug to treat it has entered the scene. Good news for people suffering from this pathology which causes total or partial loss of body hair and hair.
Lalopecia is once again at the heart of the newsbut good news, this time it’s not related to a misogynistic joke and masculinist behavior, but for talk about drug advances. A few days ago the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), body authorizing the marketing of drugs, gave its green light to market a new treatment for alopecia, “autoimmune disease that causes loss of hair on the scalp, face and sometimes other parts of the body,” says the American organization. For now, it is only available in the United States, where more than 300,000 people are affected by this disease, according to the FDA.
On the same topic ⋙ “They ripped off my hat or my wig”: Pauline has suffered from alopecia since she was 13
The name of this new treatment? Barictinib, one tablet taken by mouth to fight against the immune system which attacks the hair follicles and causes the loss of hair or hair on certain parts of the body, usually prescribed for another autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis. Manufactured by the American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, this treatment belongs to a category of drugs that block inflammation. The FDA still warns about possible side effects, such as headaches, acne, urinary tract infections and nausea. Some treatments are already on the market, in topical or oral form. The choice of treatment also differs according to the origin of the alopecia. : if the latter comes from a hormonal dysfunction, it will be necessary to call upon treatment making it possible to regulate the hormones.
A disease (finally) in the spotlight
If Oscars presenter Chris Rock’s misogynistic joke didn’t make everyone laugh and send the people with alopecia to their trauma and emotional distress, alopecia appeared on the front of the stage, the one which was however unknown to the general public. And this is a good thing ! Talking openly about this disease helps people to accept their difference. Like Jada Smith, several stars suffer from alopecia. “I’ve struggled with hair loss my entire adult life. It’s been embarrassing, painful, depressing, lonely. There were a few times I even had suicidal thoughts“, writes on her Instagram account the actress Ricci Lake.
Or : “It’s not glamorous, but it’s realI have to take long showers so I can pick up the hair that falls out and throw it away so it doesn’t clog up the tub,” Selma Blair told the magazine. People in 2011, as reported The Dispatch. Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis has also admitted to suffering from alopecia. “I had a wig that I wore at home, one that I wore to events, one that I wore for sports. I never showed my natural hair. I desperately wanted people to think I was beautiful“, she testified.
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