Alopecia Areata: A Cause For Baldness

There are different types of causes for the dreaded hair loss. Some can be genetic, some can be brought about by natural causes like aging or some might be due to diseases.  One of those diseases is alopecia areata.

Defining Alopecia Areata

Alopecia areata is a very common skin disease which causes hair fall. It is characterized by localized areas of non- scarring hair loss. There is a rule though this disease is rarely associated with any other external or internal medical problems. Sometimes, they randomly regrow hair again in those bald areas. The disease usually comes after a person reaches the age of 3. Alopecia areata occurring before that age is very rare. This disease is usually inherited from a person’s ancestors.

A Cause for Alopecia Areata

A current result in study shows that alopecia areata might happen due to an abnormality in the immune system. This abnormality will then cause autoimmunity, an immune system gone wrong which attacks the body it is housed in. The results end up in attacking some tissues in the body. There is a strange thing about this though, for unknown reasons the alopecia areata will make the immune system attack the hair follicles and disrupts normal hair growth or formation. There have been biopsies of those skins that have been affected that it shows the immune lymphocytes penetrating into the hair bulb of the hair follicles attached to the skin. This disease can also be associated with other autoimmune conditions like allergic disorders, thyroid disease, vitiligo, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis. The problem is that when you diagnose or treat these diseases or conditions, they will not affect alopecia areata. The most evident cause though is genetics, as this can be acquired from parents.

People affected by the disease

The age bracket in which people are affected with this disease ranges from 30-60 years old. Alopecia is also common on children and also young adults.

Treatment for Alopecia Areata

There are a variety of treatments available for this problem. This includes creams, shampoos, steroid injections, and solutions like in Hair Transplants Tampa which makes use of surgery and implanting hair on bald areas.