My son has autism

[MADem]

8. Sheila, I don't know if you've seen this study out of Yale but it might be worth looking into.

I don't know where they're at on the clinical trials, but if your child is interested they should be able to tell you if/where they're firing them up.

http://news.yale.edu/2014/06/19/hairless-man-arthritis-drug-spurs-hair-growth-lots-it

The patient had previously been diagnosed with both alopecia universalis, a disease that results in loss of all body hair, and plaque psoriasis, a condition characterized by scaly red areas of skin. The only hair on his body was within the psoriasis plaques on his head. He was referred to Yale Dermatology for treatment of the psoriasis. The alopecia universalis had never been treated.

King believed it might be possible to address both diseases simultaneously using an existing FDA-approved drug for rheumatoid arthritis called tofacitinib citrate. The drug had been used successfully for treatingpsoriasis in humans. It had also reversed alopecia areata, a less extreme form of alopecia, in mice.

“There are no good options for long-term treatment of alopecia universalis,” said King, a clinician interested in the treatment of rare but devastating skin diseases. “The best available science suggested this might work, and it has.”

After two months on tofacitinib at 10 mg daily, the patient’s psoriasis showed some improvement, and the man had grown scalp and facial hair — the first hair he’d grown there in seven years. After three more months of therapy at 15 mg daily, the patient had completely regrown scalp hair and also had clearly visible eyebrows, eyelashes, and facial hair, as well as armpit and other hair, the doctors said.

“By eight months there was full regrowth of hair,” ... King has submitted a proposal for a clinical trial involving a cream form of tofacitinib as a treatment for alopecia areata.