Six recent developments in hair loss

In observation of National Hair Loss Awareness Month, Healio.com/Dermatology takes a look back at recently reported developments in alopecia and hair loss.

Widely read articles included study results finding that patients with alopecia areata had a decreased risk for stroke, and results of a survey of almost 6,000 black women, in which almost half reported hair loss on the crown or top of scalp:

Early androgenetic alopecia in men considered phenotypic equivalent of PCOS in women

Men with early androgenic alopecia, or patterned hair loss before age 30, could be considered phenotypic equivalents to women with polycystic ovarian syndrome and may have the same health risks, according to study results recently published in JAMA Dermatology.

The researchers conducted a case-control study of 57 men aged 19 to 30 years (mean age, 24.7 years) with androgenic alopecia who presented between Jan. 1, 2014, and March 31, 2015 to a tertiary care government hospital in New Delhi, India. Read more

Patients with alopecia areata had decreased risk for stroke

Patients with alopecia areata had a decreased risk for stroke, and a trend toward decreased risk for myocardial infarction, although not statistically significant, according to recently published study results.

Researchers conducted a propensity-matched retrospective analysis of patients in the Partners Healthcare Research Patient Data Repository between Jan. 1, 2000 and Jan. 1, 2010, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Read more

Laser treatments not associated with increased hair count in alopecia

Treatment for alopecia areata with a neodymium:yttrium aluminum garnet laser or a fractional carbon dioxide laser did not increase hair count when compared with a control patch, according to recently published study results.

Researchers in Turkey studied 32 patients (19 men, mean age, 24.22 years) with alopecia areata including the scalp. The patients had a median disease duration of 36 months, and were refractory to at least two different convention alopecia areata treatments. Read more

Platelet-rich plasma shows positive effect on androgenetic alopecia

Patients who received a half-head treatment of platelet-rich plasma to treat androgenetic alopecia showed a clinical benefit at 6-month follow-up, according to recent research.

“This clinical research provides support that the application of [platelet-rich plasma] may have a therapeutic effect on [androgenetic alopecia] and can be used as a safe complementary treatment option,” Rubina Alves, MD, from the department of dermatology at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain and colleagues wrote in their study. Read more

Investigational drug for androgenetic alopecia safe, tolerable

Phase 2 trial results for SM04554, an investigational drug for androgenetic alopecia, were presented at the 74thAnnual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, the drug’s manufacturer, Samumed, announced in a press release.

The multicenter, randomized, double-masked, vehicle-controlled trial included 302 patients. Read more

Survey finds almost half of black women have experienced hair loss

WASHINGTON — In a survey of almost 6,000 black women, almost half reported hair loss on the crown or top of scalp, according to a presentation at the American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting.

“We recently partnered with the Black Women’s Health Study at Boston University to explore prevalence of hair loss in African-American women, and of the [5,594] women who have completed the survey so far, 47% of them have hair loss,” Yolanda M. Lenzy, MD, FAAD, clinical associate, University of Connecticut, Farmingham, and medical director of Lenzy Dermatology & Hair Loss Center, Chicopee, Massachusetts, told Healio.com/Dermatology. Read more