Researchers believe they have found the genetic basis of alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that attacks hair follicles and causes people to lose their hair.
The findings could make it easier to develop new treatments for the condition, in which loss can range from patches on the scalp to complete absence of hair on the entire body.
Affecting approximately 5.3 million people, Alopecia is the most common autoimmune disease in humans and is second only to male pattern baldness, when it comes to common forms of hair loss.
Dr. Angela Christiano, professor of dermatology and genetics and development at Columbia University Medical Center, who lead the study, said it could lead to the development of new treatments for the condition.
It was originally thought that alopecia was more related to inflammatory diseases, such as psoriasis, where a particular cell attacks the skin. But during their research, Christiano and her investigators learned that alopecia is actually more genetically related to celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes.
The research was conducted using more than 1,000 samples from the National Alopecia Areata Registry, a patient registry for alopecia areata funded by the National Institute for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases at the National Institutes of Health
Those who want to solve their hair loss woes should come for a consultation with The Hospital group. The Hospital Group only perform natural hair transplants, using the latest follicular hair techniques.
Dr Peter Williams, a hair transplant surgeon at The Hospital Group said: “Substantial advancements have been made and the techniques for hair loss are now highly sophisticated. As a result men and women are now keen to benefit from the amazing results of hair restoration that The Hospital Group can offer.”
Providing expert advice and assistance, The Hospital Group carries out more hair transplantations than any other clinic in the UK, recognising that hair restoration is an art just as much as a surgical procedure.
Since The Hospital Group was established in 1992, it has grown from a small pharmaceutical company to one of the UK’s foremost weight loss surgery and cosmetic surgery providers.
For further information of The Hospital Group’s range of surgical procedures, surgery-seekers should visit the website www.thehospitalgroup.org or call our patient care coordinators on 0845 762 6727.
