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  • Hey there!

  • Welcome to Life Noggin.

  • Hair loss can be a sensitive topic for a lot of people.

  • While certain life events and old age can lead to hair loss, sometimes it can be caused

  • by a health condition.

  • One such condition is alopecia areata.

  • Alopecia areata is a condition that can cause your hair to fall out more than normal.

  • The average person can pretty easily lose up to around 100 pieces of hair a day from

  • their scalp, with most of that growing back.

  • Alopecia areata is when that hair loss gets more significant and you have trouble getting

  • that hair to grow back.

  • The amount of hair that falls out varies from person to person, but it can be anything from

  • small, rather unnoticeable patches, to greater amounts of hair loss as the patches increase

  • in size and connect with each other.

  • We often think of this as hair loss relating to what's on top of your head, but this

  • condition can also include hair loss in places like your eyebrows and eyelashes, as well

  • as your face and other parts of your body.

  • According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, this condition is fairly common,

  • affecting as many as 6.8 million Americans with a lifetime risk of 2.1%.

  • While there is no cure, symptoms can come and go.

  • It might develop slowly, then go away for a few years before coming back.

  • Alopecia areata can lead to alopecia totalis, where you lose all of the hair on your scalp,

  • or alopecia universalis, where you have total hair loss.

  • Generally, when and if your hair ever does grow back, it might fall out again later on.

  • It often first shows up with children, but can begin in any age group.

  • So why does any of this happen?

  • To answer that, we gotta take a look at your immune system.

  • Alopecia areata usually develops as a result of your immune system attacking your hair

  • follicles, which ultimately results in hair loss.

  • In this way, alopecia areata is considered an autoimmune disorder.

  • That puts it in a group of other conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes,

  • and Graves' disease.

  • Autoimmune disorders are basically when your own body ends up attacking itself, leading

  • to an often chronic condition where symptom management is the main treatment.

  • When it comes to alopecia areata specifically, treatment can include things like topical

  • agents that you rub into the affected area and steroid injections to help stimulate hair

  • growth.

  • Certain types of light therapy may also be an option.

  • A study that came out in 2015 reported that excimer lamps could be an effective treatment

  • for alopecia areata, especially in people with severe cases.

  • In this study, they found that patients who received treatment with a 308-nm excimer lamp

  • began to see improvements after 2 months.

  • Only mild side effects were noted, suggesting that the excimer lamp could be a safe alternative

  • treatment for people with alopecia areata.

  • Alopecia areata isn't the only thing that can cause hair loss though.

  • Medical conditions like thyroid diseases or scalp infections can do it too.

  • Hormonal changes can lead to temporary hair loss, like with pregnancy or menopause.

  • If you're taking medications to help treat conditions like cancer, depression, or high

  • blood pressure, you might also experience hair loss as well.

  • So do you have any other questions about hair that you want us to answer?

  • Are you somebody that suffers from hair loss? if you're comfortable with sharing your story,

  • let me know it in the comment section below!

  • wanna watch even more life noggin?

  • We'll there is this video we have on a rare syndrome that keeps your skin peeling forever.

  • Check out this video.

  • Rather than being just a single thing, peeling skin syndrome is a more general term for a

  • group of rare inherited skin disorders that are known for spontaneous and continual peeling

  • of the skin

  • as always, my name is Blocko, this has been life noggin, don't forget to keep on thinking!

Hey there!

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