FDA-approved drug restores hair in patients with Alopecia Areata

(Columbia University Medical Center) Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have identified the immune cells responsible for destroying hair follicles in people with alopecia areata, a common autoimmune disease that causes hair loss, and have tested an FDA-approved drug that eliminated these immune cells and restored hair growth in a small number of patients.The results appear in today's online issue of Nature Medicine.