Alopecia areata

It happens that in pursuit of fashion, guys and girls partially or completely shave off their eyebrows or get rid of hair on their heads. But, in some cases, baldness is not a tribute to fashion trends, but a consequence of an unpleasant disease - alopecia areata.

Causes

Both the occurrence and development of this disease are deeply rooted in the cellular level of the immune system, just like the causes of madarosis. A malfunction in its functioning causes immune cells to constantly attack the resulting follicles, simply preventing them from developing. Over time, such unreasonable erroneous attacks of one's own immunity can lead to partial or complete baldness of the scalp.

In the most severe cases, when patients are diagnosed with one of the most severe varieties of this disease - Alopecia Totalis, hair loss can be absolute. Vegetation completely disappears with:

• heads;
• eyebrows;
• eyelashes;
• Legs and hands.

With all this, self-healing of hair follicles is possible in extremely rare cases. Despite the fact that this disease has already affected almost 2% of the world's population, sufficiently effective ways to combat it, taking into account prevention and treatment, have not yet been developed. Everything is complicated primarily by the fact that the initial stages of the disease are almost invisible - mild itching and increased skin sensitivity are attributed by many to an allergic reaction or the consequences of a possible nervous stress.

Types and symptoms

Against the background of congenital alopecia, doctors diagnose the form provoked by external and internal factors. The course of the disease is somewhat different, and in contrast to the sex of the patient - in men, a total form of baldness is more common, and in women - partial hair loss.

Medicine does not imply a strict classification of the various forms of alopecia. Based on the root causes of the disease, it differs:

• Androgenic;
• symptomatic;
• seborrheic;
• premature;
• Nested.

Based on the form of loss, the disease can be:

• Total - complete baldness;
• Diffuse - thinning hair over the entire surface of the body;
• Focal - hair is absent in strictly limited areas.

Brief description of the various forms

The congenital form of alopecia is the least common. In most cases, it is accompanied by concomitant diseases - nail or tooth dystrophy and other ectodermal disorders. Even more rarely, it is diagnosed as an independent disease of a hereditary nature. Total alopecia almost never occurs, and partial alopecia with short, heterogeneous sparse hairs is considered a consequence of a violation of the synthesis of amino acids, which, accordingly, leads to a violation of the functions of keratinization. If the disease is genetic in nature, it is impossible to achieve natural hair restoration.

The most common is deservedly called premature. It is also called androgenic or presenile. It is she who causes baldness in almost all men. The primary signs of this disease can be seen already during puberty.

In most cases, the complete formation of the disease is noted at the age of 20 to 25 years, but sometimes the formation is delayed and occurs at the age of 35. Initially, baldness affects the crown or forehead, then, steadily progressing over several years, affects the entire head. True, in some cases, in the extreme parts of the head, the hairline can be preserved.

In females, premature alopecia in most cases is manifested only by partial hair thinning in all parts of the head and body.

How to fight

A temporary effect in the treatment of alopecia is shown by drug therapy and the use of low-frequency laser beams. Unfortunately, the result is short-term and hair loss resumes almost immediately after the end of the course of treatment.

If the course of medical therapy did not lead to positive dynamics at all, hair transplantation can be considered the only way to restore hairline, but this is a topic for a separate story.