VIDEO: Research funding needed for alopecia areata

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The future research for alopecia areata is going to focus on a lot of different areas. It's really important that our government, the NIH, the National Institutes of Health, which is part of the Health and Human Services gets a lot of support from the government. So, we're really, it's really important that our senators and our representatives continue to try to prioritize funding for the National Institutes of Health. And cause they're the ones who fund most of the research that happens in our country. And what's the research on diseases like alopecia areata and in particular, the branch of the NIH that does that, it's called NIAMS, the National Institute of Arthritis, Skin and Musculoskeletal Disease. So, we're really grateful for the funding we get from the NIH and NIAMS and, it's, and there's a lot of important research to do here because there's still areas that need a lot of help. So, the biggest one is finding out how we can cure the disease. So, and this is true for a lot of autoimmune diseases. So, right now we're getting better and better at treating these autoimmune diseases by dialing down the immune system. So, the immune system doesn't fight off, you know, the end organ that's affected, but we're not really solving the problem. We're just kind of putting up a dike, a barrier to like this ocean. And once, once that barrier kind of breaks, the dike breaks, the water will just flood in, and you can get more of that autoimmune disease. So, but finding out how to lower the water, how to lower it, rather than just put up a dike. That's what we need to learn, how to do. And we don't know that. So, we don't know how to cure a lot of autoimmune disease or any, really any autoimmune disease yet we can't cure it. Like once it starts, we don't have cures. And this is something that affects alopecia areata, it cuts across like diabetes, like type one diabetes that affects like children to a whole host of other ones that are a real problem for people living in the world and in the United States. So that's the number one thing that really emphasizes the importance of basic research too research for alopecia areata then isn't just directed at that disease. It's directed at understanding the immune system and understanding how the immune system breaks down. Why does the immune system attack our bodies? How can we prevent that from happening? What are the, what are the arms in the Immune system that are important here, like maybe there's some better targets, like one of the problems with the JAK inhibitors and might explain like, the reason why they're not FDA approved, is they do have some side effects and it is true that some people say alopecia areata doesn't affect internal organs. And so, it doesn't like take a year off of people's lives. So, regulator might say, why should we have any drugs that cause risk, for alopecia areata? If the disease doesn't lower their life lifespan. But I mean, the truth is it causes an amazing amount of stress for patients. Like I've had patients who quit their jobs because of the disease, it's really affecting our patients. And right now, the problem is the JAK inhibitors do have some side effects. And so, and those are considered unfavorable and, and regardless, we'd like to get rid of them, whether they're acceptable, which I would argue, we still there, they're still unfavorable and we'd like to get rid of them. And so, the way to get rid of them is to really understand the immune system better to say, are there new targets that might have less side effects, even just for these dikes, that'll kind of prevent the water from rushing in. But then of course, getting at the bigger question, like I mentioned, like how can we cure the autoimmune disease? And then there's specific questions about alopecia areata that is, that is true. That is, it is important to fund research on alopecia areata itself is, you know, why does this disease attack the hair? You know, we, we have some clues, but nobody knows a hundred percent for sure why it attacks the hair. Are there specific ways we can cure alopecia areata as a, as a specific autoimmune disease, perhaps there's, because it's such a, a disease that affects such a superficial organ, perhaps there's ways we might have new avenues of treatment that not be, might not be available, the more systemic autoimmune diseases. So, it's important also to fund research on alopecia areata, understanding the role of stress. Like, you know, Americans are all are so stressed out and there's so many body stresses. Americans have a, why, why does that trigger autoimmune disease? How can we improve like this neuro-immune skin axis? That's important. Understanding also basic hair biology. Like how is it that this immune attack turns off a hair follicle? Like, what is it about that reaction, those immune cells? Like, is there ways we can stop that particular event? And we can do that by learning more about the normal hair function, the, the microbiome stuff that I mentioned, that's an important research question. What are the, like the environmental factors, like diet that might impact this disease? So, yeah, there's, there's a myriad of different questions that all need answering. And, and it's really important that our representatives in the House of Representatives and our senators and those in the Executive Branch all help continue to support research to help this and all autoimmune diseases.