Alopecia Areata, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

Alopecia areata is a medical disorder that produces round patches of baldness.
It can result in total hair loss( alopecia totalis).
In some patients, total baldness develops.
In many patients, the hair re-grows, normally after several months.
In some patients, the hair loss is permanent.
Alopecia means loss of hair or baldness.
Alopecia areata is one form of hair loss.
Alopecia areata can happen at any age but most patients first get it as teenagers and children.
At least 50% of the people with alopecia areata form their first patch of hair loss before they are 21.
Males and females are identically affected.
The disorder tends to be milder when it first forms at an older age.
Causes
Alopecia areata is believed to be an autoimmune disorder.
This happens when the immune system falsely attacks and destroys healthy body tissue.
In people with alopecia areata, many white blood cells get together around the affected hair roots (hair follicles) which are mistaken as foreign.
This causes some mild inflammation.
The inflammation results in hairs becoming weak and falling out to produce the bald patches.
It is not known why it is frequent for only certain areas of the scalp to be affected.
Also, the involved hair follicles are not damaged.
The involved hair follicles are capable of producing normal hair again if the immune reaction goes away and the disorder returns to normal.
It is not known why alopecia areata or other autoimmune diseases happen.
It is believed that something stimulates the immune system to react against one or more of the body's own tissues.
Possible stimuli are viruses, infection, medicines or other environmental factors.
There is also a genetic factor which makes some people more vulnerable to autoimmune diseases.
Hair loss is normally the only symptom.

The normal pattern is for one or more bald patches to occur on the scalp.
These tend to be round in shape and can be about the size of a large coin.
They form quite rapidly.
A relative, friend or hairdresser may be the first person to observe the bald patch or patches.
Besides the bald patch or patches, the scalp normally looks healthy and there is no scarring.
Sometimes, there is some mild redness, mild scaling, mild burning or a slightly itchy feeling on the bald patches.
Diagnosis
The doctor will examine the patient and ask about the symptoms, focusing on areas where the patient has hair loss.
A scalp biopsy may be performed.
Blood tests may also be done to check for autoimmune disorders and thyroid problems.
Treatment
If hair loss is not serious, the hair will often re-grow in a few months without treatment.
For more serious hair loss, it is not known how treatment can help alter the course of the disorder.
Frequent treatments may be:
1. Steroid injection under the skin surface
2. Medicines applied to the skin
3. Ultraviolet light therapy
4. The wig may be used to hide areas of hair loss.
Watchful waiting or not treating is a frequent initial method.
Alopecia areata is normally a very non-predictable disorder.
In many patients, bald patches may re-grow by themselves without treatment.
Any re-growth normally does not start within three months of hair loss.
An alteration in hairstyle may perhaps hide one or two small bald patches.
If the hair loss becomes more extensive then the decision on whether to treat may be re-assessed.
But even with extensive hair loss, there is still a possibility that hair will re-grow without treatment.
Alopecia areata itself will not injure the general health and so not treating will not result in any general health disorders.
Steroid injections (about 1 cm apart) are believed to be the most effective treatment for patches of alopecia areata that are not too big
TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Alopecia Areata

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Jul 3, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370968480

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

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