Overview Of Alopecia Areata Disease
Around the world there is a colossal amount of different bacterias, viruses, parasites, fungi that are able to invade the body and limit its ability to function properly and prone to disadvantages. Although there is also such thing as an autoimmune disease. Many people around the world face various kinds of autoimmune diseases, where the healthy cells in the body are mistakenly attacked by the immune system.
Alopecia Areata, is a complex autoimmune disease known for its excessive attacks on the human body’s hair follicles from both environmental and genetic conditions. Some of the physical features it is known for is non scarring hair loss, exemplified by smooth, separated circular patches of baldness on the body. It can start as a minimal amount of round or oval bald patches but can eventually lead to complete baldness. Evidentially, it may result in disability and anxiety for the patient, as massive amounts of unexpected hair loss, does not demonstrate an ideal situation for the patient. Although, the patient should have education from their clinician about hair pieces, and wigs to make the hair loss less noticeable and increase their confidence.
Alopecia Areata does not possess a specific target and can effect any age, gender or ethnic background and is the leading cause of hair loss in children who seem healthy otherwise. There are three different types alopecia totalis, alopecia universalis and alopecia in a ophiasis pattern. Alopecia totalis is the complete hair loss leading to baldness of the entire scalp. Alopecia universalis is complete hair loss over the entire body, inlcluding eyebrows, eyelashes, facial hair, hair on the scalp, and the rest of the body. Alopecia in ab ophiasis pattern is characterized by loss of hair around the circumference of the head in the frontoparietotemporal area, in a wave pattern.
Clinical diagnosis can be assisted by a positive hair test and triscopy. In Triscopy diagnosis active hair loss can be shown through black dots and/or exclamation mark hairs. The exclamation mark hairs is characterized by an appearance of thickness of the hair at the bottom and very thing where the hair impales the scalp. These hairs and black spots illustrates active hair loss that shows weakness causing split ends from cell division being restricted in the hair matrix. Patients with excessive hair loss over a long period of time may appear to have yellow dots on the parts of the scalp with no hair or places containing thin vellum hair. These dots are caused by sebaceous and keratinous material that can be found in enlarged follicular infundibula.
