Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disorder that leads to unpredictable hair loss. It has affected around 6.8 million people across the United States. In many cases, hair fall comes in small patches in the small size of the head. For many people, hair loss is just a few patches or in some cases, it is very extreme. It also results in complete hair loss on the scalp called alopecia. This problem can occur to anyone regardless of age and gender. In this article, we are sharing some key reasons and symptoms of alopecia areata and its treatment.
There is presently no cure for alopecia areata, although doctors can recommend treatments to help hair regrow more quickly. Corticosteroids are potent anti-inflammatory medicines that can suppress the immune system and are used as effective alopecia areata treatment. Local injections, topical ointment application, and oral administration are the most prevalent methods of administration. Minoxidil, Anthralin, SADBE, and DPCP are some of the medicines prescribed to increase hair growth. Although some of them may aid in hair regrowth, they will not prevent new bald patches from forming.
Alopecia will not make people make sick but it is difficult to accept this situation emotionally. In some cases, it is a traumatic disease where emotional aspects of hair loss need to accept by the patient.
Key facts of alopecia areata
Some of the key facts about alopecia areata are:-
- Alopecia areata usually appears unexpectedly and lasts only a few days.
- There is minimal scientific evidence that stress causes alopecia areata.
- People with alopecia areata who just have a few patches of hair loss sometimes recover completely without any treatment.
- There is no cure for it
Reason of causing alopecia
This problem develops when white blood cells in the body attack your hair follicles cells and leads to shrink and drop the hair production substantially. It’s unclear what triggers the immune system to attack hair follicles in this manner.
While scientists are unknown why these changes take place but it seems that it appears due to genetic reasons. The alopecia areata is more likely to occur in someone whose close family member has the same disease. A family member with alopecia areata affects one out of every five patients with the illness.
In some research, it has been found that many people who have a family history of alopecia areata or other autoimmune disorders like atopy are characterized by a tendency to be vitiligo, hyperallergic, and thyroiditis.
Apart from this, according to scientific evidence stress is another reason causing alopecia areata. In many cases, stress is responsible for triggering these conditions but recent research considers genetic reason the main cause.
How is it diagnosed? Doctors diagnose the alopecia areata by examining its symptoms. The degree of hair loss and the affected area is examined under a microscope. If in initial examination the doctor is unable to diagnose then they will conduct the skin biopsy. If they want to check for autoimmune diseases that can lead to this issue then they might perform a blood test.
