Good news for those suffering with baldness and hair loss ! Researchers at Columbia University Medical Centre (CUMC) have identified the immune cells responsible for destroying hair follicles in people with alopecia areata, a common autoimmune disease that causes hair loss. In a breakthrough, apparently the scientists discovered a cure for baldness after they found a drug which restored the hair of three patients within five months.Alopecia areata is a common autoimmune disease that causes disfiguring hair loss. The disease can occur at any age and affects men and women equally.

They report initial results from an ongoing clinical trial of an FDA-approved drug, which has produced complete hair re growth in several patients with moderate-to-severe alopecia areata. Three of the participants experienced total hair regrowth within five months of the start of treatment.

In the current research, the team first studied mice with the disease, then tracked backward from the danger signal to identify the specific set of T cells responsible for attacking the hair follicles. In mice with extensive hair loss from the disease, both drugs completely restored the animals' hair within 12 weeks. Each drug's effect was also long-lasting, as the new hair persisted for several months after stopping treatment. "We've only begun testing the drug in patients, but if the drug continues to be successful and safe, it will have a dramatic positive impact on the lives of people with this disease," said Raphael Clynes, who led the research, along with Angela M Christiano, professor in the Departments of Dermatology and of Genetics and Development at CUMC.