Maybe It'll Grow Hair...

Like Murphy?s Law, the Law of Unintended Consequences is rarely a good thing. Sometimes, however, compounds developed to treat a certain condition turn out to have completely unforeseen positive effects on other conditions. Certainly nobody suspected when it was developed that the blood pressure medicine minoxidil would have a second, more famous life as an OTC hair regrowth product.

Now, the same transformation may be happening with sulfasalazine, a drug often prescribed for psoriasis and RA. A team of researchers led by Charles N. Ellis, MD, of the University of Michi-gan in Ann Arbor has shown that sul-fasalazine can also help people with alopecia areata, a condition characterized by recurrent episodes of patchy hair loss.