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Review Article Volume 2 Issue 5
Alopecia-reason and possible treatments
Monesh Likhitkar, Adil Ali Shakur, Kuldeep K Bansal, Milind Pande
Pharmacovigilance Associate, Department of Pharmacology, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, India
Senior Resident, Department of Pharmacology, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, India
Pharmaceutical Sciences Laboratory, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Abo Akademi University, 20520 Turku, Finland
Professor, Department of Pharmacy, National Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) University, Jaipur, India
Received: August 30, 2018 | Published: October 9, 2018
Citation: Likhitkar M, Shakur AA, Bansal KK, et al. Alopecia-reason and possible treatments. MOJ Drug Des Develop Ther. 2018;2(5):198-208. DOI: 10.15406/mojddt.2018.02.00062
Abstract
Alopecia (Hair loss) is a very common problem in recent scenario. Alopecia, which is associated with progressive thinning of the scalp hair, follows a defined pattern. Genetic involvement is pronounced but still poorly understood, however, advances have been achieved in understanding principle elements involve in alopecia. Alopecia can be classified in two category i.e. scarring (cicatricial) alopecia and non?scarring (non?cicatricial) alopecia. In cicatrical alopecia, hair loss accompanied with scars that destroy the hair follicle, which resulted into permanent hair loss. In case of non?cicatrical alopecia, permanent hair loss is not usually observed. The types, classification, clinical, therapeutic (herbal and synthetic drug treatment) and future therapies are discussed are reviewed in this paper giving emphasize on the diagnostic tests that are important in identifying type of alopecia in non?cicatrical (Androgen alopecia, alopecia areata, anagen effluvium and telogen effluvium) and cicatrical case (syphilitic alopecia, lupus erythematous alopecia etc.). Recently, alopecia is considered as an autoimmune disease with genetic factors. Synthetic compounds used for treatment of alopecia are associated with the numerous side effects including dermatitis, itching, erythema, scaling, pruritus etc. Thus, considering the advantages of natural therapy, treatment options based on natural products are also discussed. Aromatherapy, Nutritional supplement, 5?dihydrotestosterone (DHT) blockers and 5?α?Reductase (enzyme) inhibitor are the proposed approaches for the treatment of alopecia. These approached offers advantages like low side effects and cost, improved patient compliance, easy availability and possibilities of multiple mode of action due to presence of phytoconstituents in natural product. We have also discussed the significance of available recent therapies in the pharmacological management of hair loss, which demands rational strategies for alopecia treatment.
Keywords: alopecia, hair loss, types of alopecia, classification of alopecia, natural therapy of alopecia, treatment of alopecia, alopecia universalis, alopecia totalis, etiology
©2018 Likhitkar, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.