Alopecia is focal or complete hair loss at the site of their normal growth. As a rule, this phenomenon is characteristic of the scalp. More than half of men and almost a third of women, after the age of 50, are susceptible to this disease.
Causes of alopecia
With the loss of mature hair, there is a decrease in the density of the hair cover, but complete alopecia does not occur. There are a lot of factors that can provoke the loss of healthy hair – it can be physiological changes in the body of a pregnant woman or after childbirth. With prolonged use of contraceptives and drugs that slow blood clotting, endocrine disorders and regular stressful situations can provoke the development of alopecia.
Risk factors include:
lack of zinc and iron in the human body,
a violation of the balance of nutrition, as it has an adverse effect on the density of the hair cover.
The disease begins gradually, with the appearance of bald patches in the frontal or parietal part of the head. The skin has a glossy sheen, hair follicles atrophy occurs, although single hairs may still occur in the center of the bald spots, which, according to external signs, have not undergone pathological changes.
If alopecia has occurred due to the loss of growing hair, then complete hair loss may occur over time. This disease is caused by antitumor therapy using cytostatics, poisoning with boric acid, thallium, gold, arsenic, radiation therapy, mycoses.
As a rule, androgenic allopecia is characteristic of men. The beginning of its appearance coincides with the end of puberty. It causes an increased content of sex androgen hormones (which is inherited). In clinical androgenic alopecia, long hair is replaced by fluffy, which gradually lose pigment and shorten. The disease begins with symmetrical bald patches in the temporal areas, which gradually move to the parietal zone. Gradually, the receding hairline merges due to peripheral growth.
The cause of scar alopecia is defects of hair follicles, congenital abnormality, the presence of infectious diseases (leprosy, syphilis).
With changes in the pituitary gland and ovaries, the presence of basal cell carcinoma, prolonged use of steroid drugs, frostbite, burns, exposure to aggressive chemicals, scar alopecia may also manifest.
Symptoms
The main clinical symptom of this pathological condition is hair loss.
The symptoms of such a loss completely depend on the form of the disease. With focal alopecia, the hair falls out in the form of round or oval-shaped foci.
Traumatic alopecia is expressed in the form of separate lesions. Hereditary alopecia is most often found in children’s patients and is expressed by atrophy of the hair follicles over the entire area of the hair areas.
Androgenic alopecia most often begins from the forehead and spreads to the parietal region, bearing a pronounced progressive course.
Diagnosis of alopecia
The patient visually records a decrease in the density of the hair cover or areas where there is no hair at all. But it is much more difficult to establish the cause of this disease. To do this, a consultation with a trichologist is appointed, who prescribes a comprehensive examination of the patient. It necessarily includes research:
the level of male hormones;
thyroid gland;
activity of the immune system of the human body;
the presence of infectious diseases (leprosy, syphilis);
biopsy of the scalp;
spectral analysis of hair;
Treatment of alopecia
It is prescribed the use of non-aggressive detergents for washing the head, promoting hair growth, the use of vitamin complexes, correction of the diet in the direction of increasing the content of copper and zinc (cereals, seafood, liver, etc.). It is necessary to exclude products that negatively affect the functioning of the autonomic nervous system (coffee, alcohol).
Medical treatment includes the use of medicinal solutions, hormonal drugs and drugs to normalize the functioning of the thyroid gland.
