What is Hair Loss?

What is Hair Loss?

What is hair loss? Alopecia refers to any hair loss, thinning hair, or baldness in any hairy region of the body. Baldness tends to be a more specific term among people because it usually refers to hair loss on the scalp. However, “baldness” can also refer to hair loss in any part of the body. In most cases,  hair loss is caused by aging and not a disease so doctors consider alopecia not to be life-threatening.

However, just because doctors do not deem it life threatening does not mean it is not a legitimate, life changing issue. Hair loss can cause stress and anxiety in many people. In some cases, hair loss may be a consequence of some medical treatment, especially cancer treatment drugs such as chemotherapy or radiation.

Types of Hair Loss

There are several types of alopecia, but here is a list of the main types.

Alopecia Areata

This is one of the most common type of hair loss occurring in patches anywhere on the body, but most likely the scalp. Because hair starts to fall out in patches, it is often referred to as “spot baldness.” Occasionally, alopecia areata spreads to the whole scalp or the entire body, but that only happens to about 0.1% to 0.2% of the population that alopecia affects. While it occurs in both men and women, alopecia areata is more commonly seen in women.

Those who end up with alopecia areata are usually very healthy and are free of any skin conditions. Often, alopecia areata will start to develop during early childhood, late teen years, or early adulthood. However, it is important to note that it can occur at any age.
Alopecia areata is not a contagious form of hair loss, but there’s evidence to suggest that it is hereditary. Those who have a close family member with any form of the autoimmune disease are more likely to develop alopecia areata. It is for this reason that doctors suspect alopecia areata is a type of autoimmune disease – where the body actually attacks itself as if it were a foreign object such as bacteria or a virus. In this case, the body is targeting its own hair follicles.
Recent studies have shown that T cell lymphocytes form around the attacked follicles which usually then cause hair loss and inflammation. According to scientists, emotional stress or pathogens combined with hereditary factors may trigger the condition. Many sufferers of alopecia areata have actually stated a traumatic event just prior to losing their hair.

There are other studies indicating that there is a close relationship between tooth infections and the presence of alopecia areata.

You may have alopecia areata if you are experiencing small, soft, bald patches that are in an oval or round shape. The scalp and beard are the most likely areas to be affected, but any hairy part of the body can be affected. These areas might be slightly painful. Alopecia Areata can go into remission for varying amounts of time, so your body may experience some regrowth and even in some cases it has reversed itself completely.

You may be experiencing alopecia areata especially if you have noticed that you have “exclamation point hairs,” – hairs that are narrow along the length of the strand closest to the base.

Although many believe that mental stress is a contributory factor, a sizeable number of people who have total alopecia have led relatively stress-free lives and don’t feel that this was the cause.

This type of alopecia may be an intermediary condition between Alopecia areata and Alopecia Universalis (total body hair loss). If hair loss is gradual, then it is alopecia areata, and when the hair loss is much more sudden its called Alopecia Universalis.

Alopecia Universalis

This is complete hair loss throughout the entire body. The process is rapid, and even includes eyebrows and eyelashes. This is the most severe form of alopecia areata according to scientists. It affects about 1 in every 100,000 people in North America and Western Europe. It is known to be an autoimmune disease.

Alopecia Barbae

This is the loss of facial hair. Barbara comes from Latin and refers to the bearded area of the face. It does, in fact, affect both women and men. However, it is of more interest to men as only men are bothered by it.

Alopecia Mucinosa

This inflammatory condition affects both the hair follicle and the sebaceous glands. It is also referred to as follicular mucinosis. The mucin, stringy, clear or whitish gunk in the skin, form around hair follicles and cause scarring and non-scarring hair loss depending on the severity of the condition. This condition mainly affects the face, neck, and scalp but can also be experienced anywhere on the body.

Doctors are still not sure exactly why people develop alopecia mucinosa, but like other forms of alopecia, it is also suspected to be an auto-immune disease. The most common signs of alopecia mucinosa are reddened plaques or patches about 2.5 cm wide but can also be bigger. Most people experience one or two patches to start, but over the course of several weeks and months may develop into many more. This in turn then causes hair loss in multiple areas of the body. If it is treated early enough, this form of alopecia is reversible. However, if left untreated, patients will experience permanent hair loss even after the disease is gone.