Medical Questions & Answers

Question: I have read recently about some home cures for baldness and alopecia. What do you think of these remedies?
Alopecia (patchy hair loss) and baldness are quite separate conditions.
Male baldness is an inherited condition that passes from one generation to the next. It cannot be prevented and it cannot be cured. If the man wishes to have more hair on his head, it is possible to treat baldness in a number of ways. Wearing a hairpiece is the simplest method, and is very effective, particularly if you start wearing one when you change jobs or move to a new city. Hair transplants, and progressive scalp tightening (removing the bald area) operations can be performed by plastic surgeons. A lotion containing a drug called minoxidil and Propecia tablets (available only on prescription) are proving successful in causing hair regrowth in some men after prolonged use.
Alopecia is a sudden patchy hair loss that can occur in both sexes and all ages. It may be caused by stress, drugs (eg. for cancer), rapid weight loss, iron deficiency, an under active thyroid gland, diabetes or a number of other diseases. Treatment of alopecia involves treating any underlying cause, using scalp irritants, and injections of powerful steroids into the scalp. Quack practitioners are always advertising remedies for incurable conditions such as arthritis, cancer and baldness. There has never been any evidence that any of them work. If they did work, the ingredients could be patented, and sold to a major drug company for a very large sum. Buying these unproven remedies is a waste of your time and money.

Question: I have had alopecia after my hysterectomy 10 years ago. Would you please tell me something about this disease?
A sudden loss of hair in a well-defined patch on the scalp, or other areas of body hair (eg. pubic area, beard, chest, eyebrows) is commonly caused by alopecia (meaning hair loss) areata (meaning a specific area).
It is different to baldness in that it can occur at any age, in either sex, and in any race. It starts suddenly, and a bare patch 2 cm or more across may be present before it is noticed. It is more common under 25 years of age and is quite common, with about 2% of patients seeing skin specialists having the condition. The hairless area may slowly extend for several weeks, before stabilizing. Several spots may occur simultaneously, and may merge together as they enlarge.
If the entire scalp is affected, the disease is called alopecia totals, but this is not a different disease, just a severe case of alopecia areata. There is a family history of the disease in up to 20% of patients but in the majority no specific cause for the disease can be found. Stress and anxiety are not considered to be a common cause. Although these may cause diffuse hair loss, they do not cause total loss of hair in an area. Fungal infections and drugs used to treat cancer may also cause patchy hair loss, and these causes must be excluded by a doctor.
Treatment will involve using strong steroid creams, injections of steroids into the affected area, and irritant lotions. There are many other treatments undergoing trial, with varying results. In 90% of patients, regrowth of hair eventually occurs, although the new hair may be totally white. Sometimes the regrowth may take many months. The further the bare patch is from the top of the scalp, the slower and less likely regrowth of the hair becomes. It is rare for recovery from total hair loss to occur.

Popularity: 7%

Filed under: Doctors