Alopecia

Alopecia areata is a hair loss condition in which there is rapid loss of hair in round patches from some areas of the body. This is mostly experienced in the scalp. Though the cause of alopecia areata is unknown, it has often been linked with autoimmune diseases.
People who suffer from this condition are usually in good health. Of about one-fifth of people who develop alopecia areata, there is a family history of such a condition.

Causes of Alopecia Areata:
There are several different hypotheses as to what causes alopecia areata.
1. Alopecia areata seems to have an autoimmune factor causing the patient to develop antibodies to different hair follicle structures.
2. Genetic factors play an important role as there is a higher frequency of a family history of alopecia areata in people who suffer from this condition.
3. cytokines, which are chemicals part of the immune system, may have a role to play in causing alopecia areata by inhibiting hair follicle growth.
4. Other studies show that emotional stress may also be the cause alopecia areata.

Why does hair loss occur in alopecia areata?
The reason why this happens is because the hair follicles telogen or late catagen stage of hair growth in a particular area. The hair follicles stop growing in the catagen stage and fall out on the telogen stage. In normal life, hair go through these stages randomly and the new hair growth outnumbers the hair that fall. But in this particular condition, all the hair in a particular area enter the catagen or telogen stage at the same time.

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