Your Health: Drug Latisse can increase eyelash length

Glaucoma drug now used to grow longer eyelashes

Q:Can a drug really help me grow longer eyelashes?

Answer: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Allergan Inc.'s plan to market the drug Latisse for growing longer eyelashes in December.

Allergan's other products include Botox, various facial fillers, and prescription drugs used to treat dry eye and glaucoma.

Like other drugs for which new uses are found, Latisse came about almost by accident.

Latisse is a version of the drug bimatoprost, used to treat glaucoma, a disorder in which fluid pressure builds in the eye and damages the optic nerve. If left untreated, it cause blindness.

It was noticed in glaucoma patients using bimatoprost eye drops that their eyelashes grew longer, said Dr. Joseph Niamtu, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon in the Richmond area.

"Simultaneously there were some companies out using this medication in eyeliner," Niamtu said.

Allergan submitted a new drug application to the FDA last June asking permission to market Latisse for increasing length, thickness and darkness of eyelashes.

"It certainly makes your lashes grow, no doubt about it," said Dr. William Bearden, an ophthalmologic plastic surgeon at Virginia Eye Institute. "Sometimes the growth can be excessive or too long."

Some additional cautions: The drug may change your eye color and darken skin around the eyes.

Changes to the color of the eye's iris are likely to be permanent, according to the FDA documents.

"Patients, particularly if they have light-colored eyes, can notice darkening," said Dr. Amy Whitaker, an assistant professor at the VCU School of Pharmacy. "It's not something where you are going to go from baby blue to chocolate brown."

The changes to the skin color around the eye may be reversible if you stop using the drug.

It's also possible that stray hairs could pop up around the treatment area, so you want to blot excess runoff from around your eyes.

Niamtu said it takes about 90 days of use to see results. Instructions call for the solution to be applied nightly across the upper eyelid with a single-use, disposable applicator.

It won't re-grow hair where there are no follicles, he said. And when you stop using it, eyelashes will return to the regular length. He has used it on all types of skin.

"In the FDA studies it was difficult to measure the growth on African-American lashes because they curl up," Niamtu said.

As part of the FDA approval, Allergan is required to do a randomized, controlled trial of Latisse with at least 50 African-Americans.

Dr. Yvonne Knight, a dermatologist in the Richmond area, said she has had patients ask for Latisse even though there hasn't been a big marketing blitz.

"We are using it," said Knight, adding that it's too soon to see results in her patients.

The most common Latisse side effects, based on a study of 278 people treated for four months, include itchy eyes, skin discoloration, eye redness, eye irritation and dry eyes. In that study, 79 percent of the treatment group showed eyelash growth at 20 weeks compared with 21 percent of the nontreated, or control, group.

You can see the FDA approval documents along with links to other resources on the Your Health blog on TimesDispatch.com.

Contact Tammie Smith at (804) 649-6572 or .