What Exactly is Alopecia Areata?

There are few things that are more readily disheartening than hair fall. Finding a hair in your shower drain and your brush is not welcome for any woman or man. Imagine finding clumps of hair  dropping off your body from various places. This may not be a problem till it reaches the head. Alopecia Areata is a condition that makes hair fall off, in patches, leaving smooth bald patches on the scalp or  in the body. The hair loss is usually permanent and these patches may spread or get bigger. It can be a nightmarish in the sense that it can appear out of nowhere and start dropping . 

Alopecia Areata

This has been described as an auto- immune disease, they are those that attack healthy living cells in the body thinking that they are a threat, it can be compared to a programing error in the system. This particular kind of disease attacks only hair bearing cells and makes them weak. It does not scar the skin in any way, but leaves a smooth hairless surface where the hair once was. While not strictly hereditary, Alopecia Areata, can affect members of the same family. It is also not contagious in any way. 

Patterns

There are several patterns that this disease follows. You will usually find spots of baldness on the scalp. This is the most common form. There is also a slightly more severe form of the condition known as diffused Alopecia Areata, in this case the hair loss is more spread out and larger portions of the scalp are affected. Rare cases of total hair loss in the body is called Alopecia Areata totalis. 

Treatment 

Alopecia Areata, like most other auto- immune diseases is hard to both diagnose and come up with a definitive prognosis. It can appear once and go into complete remission or may keep on attacking the body. There is also no way to know when the body will be attacked nor is there any known treatment for this condition. The effects are also only centered around hair fall. There is no other marked effect of this condition apart from the severe emotional distress that it causes. The hair that is lost as a result of  Alopecia Areata may not always be permanent. If the condition goes into remission, the hair will grow back, but the color and texture of the hair may be different.