Brett King, MD, PhD

Addressing the Psychosocial Aspect of Alopecia Areata Treatment

How do you address the psychosocial aspects of alopecia areata when treating your patients?

Videos

A panelist discusses how they address the psychosocial aspects of alopecia areata by establishing a supportive doctor-patient relationship, validating emotional distress, providing counseling resources or support group referrals, involving mental health professionals when needed, educating about coping strategies, and acknowledging the significant impact hair loss can have on a patient's self-image, relationships, and quality of life.

Monitoring and Setting Treatment Expectations With JAK Inhibitors in Alopecia Areata

How do you decide whether a JAK inhibitor is an appropriate treatment option for a patient?

A panelist discusses how they determine the appropriateness of a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor for patients by evaluating disease severity, duration, prior treatment failures, patient comorbidities, risk factors, and laboratory results and engaging in detailed benefit-risk discussions while setting realistic expectations about treatment outcomes and potential adverse effects.

Personalizing Treatment in Alopecia Areata

A panelist discusses how determining whether a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor is the appropriate treatment for alopecia areata patients, which involves carefully evaluating disease severity, duration, and extent of hair loss, considering previous treatment failures, assessing patient comorbidities and risk factors, reviewing comprehensive laboratory results, discussing potential benefits vs risks of JAK therapy, and establishing realistic expectations about treatment timeline and potential adverse effects.

Treatment of Severe Alopecia Areata with JAK Inhibitors

For patients diagnosed with severe alopecia areata, what has traditionally been your treatment approach?

In your experience, how did these traditional approaches work for managing alopecia areata?

A panelist discusses how their traditional treatment approach for severe alopecia areata typically involved a stepped care pathway beginning with topical and intralesional steroids before progressing to systemic immunosuppressants or immunotherapy, which often yielded inconsistent, temporary, or incomplete hair regrowth results, leaving significant unmet needs for treatments that could provide sustained efficacy, acceptable safety profiles, and therapies specifically developed for this condition rather than repurposed from other dermatologic disorders.

Brett King, MD, PhD

Articles