“Alopecia” is the general term for baldness … The original Greek word means “fox”; its English usage alludes to the patchy baldness seen in the animals when they suffer from mange. But this seems a fitting derivation for the name of a condition with a cause that is often mysterious, usually cunning, and always frustrating.
Understanding the way hair grows will help you understand the diagnosis and treatment of your hair loss. It will also serve as a guide for discussing your hair loss with yo,u.r physician as he or she takes steps to diagnose your particular condition.
There are about 150,000 hair follicles on the typical head, and each produces and sheds a single hair in a, cyclic fashion. The most active phase is the growth, or anagen, phase. At any one time, about 85 to 90 percent of the hair on your head is in the anagen phase growing on average about a half-inch each month, or six inches per year, although medical and other factors can affect this growth rate. The anagen stage lasts from six to ten years.
Catagen, the next stage, isa period of transition, affecting about ’2 to 3 percent of scalp follicles at anyone time, During this period of controlled regression, hair stops growing.
Normally, the hairs found in your hairbrush or the sink are there as a result of the telogen stage, because it is during’ this stage that the hair fiber is easily pulled out through combing, brushing, or shampooing. About 10 to 15 percent of your hair is in this resting stage, and it lasts from thirty to ninety days. After the telogen stage, the hair growth cycle begins ,again, returning to the active anagen phase.
Hair loss can occur when a hair’ follicle is prematurely pushed into the telogen phase or when any of the other stages are interrupted for some reason. It is normal to shed about 50 to 15,0 hairs a day, but when the rate of hair fall exceeds the rate of regrowth, ‘or if the new hair shafts are thinner or hair falls out in patches, thinning or baldness occurs, Hair loss may be temporary or permanent.
The signs of hair loss include:
• Decreased ponytail diameter
• More hair than usual in shower drain, on pillow, OF in brush
. Hair on the top of the head is shorter than the rest, or thinning in the center part of the head is widening, or there isa diffuse thinning over the entire top of the head. Diffuse hair loss means that the hair is thinning allover the head, not just in a specific area or areas.
According to many medical experts, by the time there is a visible sign of hair loss, you have probably lost as much, as 40 to 50 percent of your hair, which makes finding the cause of your hair loss sooner rather than later paramount.
Alopecia Areata
Alopecia areata is a type of hair loss that can strike without warning and is marked by round or oval patches completely devoid of hair that may be found on the scalp or ,any hair-bearing part of the body.
It is thought to be an autoimmune disorder caused by lymphocytes surrounding the hair follicle, leading to abnormal differentiation and breakage of the growing hair.
According to, the National Alopecia Arcata Foundation (NAAF) , alopecia arcata is estimated to, affect 2 percent, or four million people in the United States, and while it strikes people of all ages. and both sexes, about 60 percent of the people suffering with the condition are under twenty.
In contrast to patients who suffer from telogen effluvium, which as previously mentioned, may be triggered by an underlying condition, / people who experience alopecia arcata are basically healthy. However, they may be prone to other conditions; they do appear to have an increased incidence of thyroiditis and allergies research shows. Alopecia areata often occurs in families whose members have had asthma hay fever, atopic eczema, or other autoimmune diseases such as thyroid diseases , rheumatic arthritis,
lupus erythematosus vitiligo, perniciolls anemia, or Addison’s disease, according to the NAAF.
In most cases of alopecia arcata, hair will regrow without treatment within one year. However, 7 to 10 percent of patients have a severe chronic form of the condition, with complete (lOSS of hair on the head (alopecia totalis) o:r loss of hair over the entire body (alopecia universalis).
According to the NAAF, it is not known whether something outside the body, such as a virus, triggers the autoimmune response, or whether it is initiated by the body itself. Moreover, Madeleine Duvic, M.D., chief of dermatology at M .. D” Anderson’s Melanoma and Skin Center, who is leading research in, alopecia areata, said that the trigger does not have to be the same in each patient. Our studies have shown that only half of identical twins will have alopecia areata, suggesting an environmental factor is as important as genes, n she told me during an interview.
However, the foundation says recent research suggests some people have genetic markers that appear to, increase their susceptibility to the condition and that determine how severe it MIl be when it strikes, The condition is believed to, be hereditary, with about 20 percent of those with it having someone else in the family who also suffers. from the condition, However, if alopecia areata first strikes after age thirty-five, it is less likely another family member will have it.
Research also suggests that alopecia areata may be triggered by environmental factors, such as viruses, but these differ from person to’ person, Viruses that have been associated with this type of hair loss include cytomegalovirus and hepatitis C. Drugs such as haloperidol, rifampin, and zotepine have also been implicated.
Opeciaareata may be the most cunning and fox-like of all the various forms of hair loss because while the condition strikes people who are otherwise healthy and is not medically disabling, for many, especially the very young; it is a devastating condition. It is sly like a fox in its sudden onset and sometimes equally sudden remission. Even after years of hair loss” the condition can mysteriously disappear, but it can also, just as mysteriously, reappear, which leaves its, sufferers ever wary and anticipating its possible return.
There is no known cure for alopecia arcata, but there are treatments that may help Researchers undertaking a study of alopecia areata and gathering information in a registry sponsored by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a division of the National Institutes of Health. The purpose of the study which is being conducted, at five research centers. across the United States, is to collect patient information and blood samples from people with alopecia arcata for further research.
To register or find out more about the ongoing research, visit www.alopeciaareataregistry.org
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