What is Alopecia Areata?

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Alopecia Areata, Questions, Treatment | Dr Dhanraj Chavan | July 5, 2021

Alopecia Areata is an autoimmune disease in which our immune system attacks our own hair follicles and it causes patchy hair loss mainly on the scalp and sometimes in other areas of the body, prominently beard area.

Are you experiencing hair loss? Get in touch with the best of our hair specialists in Pune to understand your hair condition. For a hair treatment or to get hair transplant, book an appointment with our dermatologists near you, call +919584584111.

What is an autoimmune disease?

To understand alopecia areata you need to understand what is an autoimmune disease first. our immune system is the defense mechanism of our body. this system attacks any foreign body comes into our body which is harmful to our body like bacteria, viruses and destroy them. But in autoimmune disease, this immune system gets confused and start considering our own body cells as a foreign body and attack them to destroy. This is what happens in alopecia areata, the immune system attacks our own hair follicles and causes patchy hair loss. The exact cause of alopecia areata is not yet known but it is observed that its very predominant in patients who has a family history of other autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes Mellitus or rheumatoid arthritis.


Why Patchy Hair Loss?


Here is the video by our eminent dermatologist Dr. Manali Shah on the causes of alopecia areata

What are the symptoms of alopecia areata?

The only symptom which is associated with the alopecia areata is localized hair loss either on scalp or beard, it shows a bald patch of centimeters it usually shows the sudden onset, one day we will suddenly notice a lot of hairs on your pillow.

Sometimes this goes pretty aggressive and causes loss of whole hairs from the scalp called Alopecia Totalis and sometimes from the whole body called Alopecia Universalis. but alone hair loss can’t be the definitive factor in diagnosing Alopecia areata.

How to diagnose alopecia areata?

Usually, very experienced dermatologists like Dr. Dhananjay Chavan can diagnose this alopecia areata just by examination but in few confusing cases, he also performs few tests to diagnose alopecia areata perfectly.

  1. Microscopic examination of your extent of hair loss.
  2. Scalp/Skin biopsy to rule out other similar conditions like fungal infection or tinea capitis.
  3. Blood test to detect the presence of autoimmune antibodies
  4. Other blood tests as stated below.
    • C- reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate.
    • Anti-nuclear antibody test
    • Iron level
    • Free testosterone level

What is the treatment for alopecia areata?

Our most eminent dermatologist Dr. Manali Shah gives an answer to this

Unfortunately, there is no complete cure for alopecia areata as medical science doesn’t know the actual cause of hair loss due to alopecia areata. But we can control the condition and regrow hairs which you have lost but there are high chances that you will lose that hair again.


Alopecia-areata-female-scalp-before-after-result-17-300x235

(Click on the image to see more positive results)


So, if you see any of these symptoms or observe similar kind of hair loss, then see your nearest dermatologist. Don’t worry, alopecia areata is controllable & treatable.

Are you looking for hair fall solution? Get in touch with the best of our hair doctors in Pune to cure your hair loss. To book an appointment for a hair treatment or hair transplantation, contact our dermatologists near you, call +919584584111.

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