Alopecia Areata Treatment
Alopecia Areata Treatment: Important Facts
The Alopecia areata treatment depends upon the two basic forms of the disease: Mild form with gradual baldness, with 50% of the hair lost and the severe type, causing most or all of the hair lost.
Background
Background knowledge about Alopecia is essential for you to understand the alopecia areata treatment in detail. Alopecia is an autoimmune disease that has an erratic pattern. It makes the white blood cells to invade the hair follicles, so hair growth stops. The subcategories of alopecia namely alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis can cause gradual hair loss of head and the whole body respectively. Researchers are still unsure about whether an internal (gene) or external factor (virus) onsets this affliction. Currently, 1.7% of the total world population is victim to this and this data includes people of all age and race groups. It poses physical and psychological dilemma for patients due to its unexpected and sudden onset and occasional recurrence.
Research
In their pursuit of knowing the possible links and causes and in their venture to devise an effective alopecia areata treatment procedure, researchers revealed the role of some specific genes that make people more vulnerable to this. Also, 20% patients have affected relatives, and such people are prone to the severe form of alopecia areata.
Treatment
There is no sure-shot alopecia areata treatment as yet. However, most commonly practiced way is to stimulate the hair follicles to grow hair through the use of prescribed chemicals.
For the mild condition, cortisone injections are given directly into the scalp painlessly and it occasionally has petty skin depressions as side effects. Mostly, cortisone cream is followed by 5% topical minoxidil that is usually applied twice daily for better action.
Apart from this, anthralin ointment is also used on bald patches once daily. The application period is kept half hour or so, to avoid skin irritation. The expected time frame of successful hair re-growth is 8 – 12 weeks.
However, the above methods fail in treating the severe form of alopecia areata. Cortosine pills are occasionally recommended to patients as its risk level is high. Especially younger patients are not given this medicine due to the high tolerance level of theirs. So, in most cases topical minoxidil 5% is used and proves to be better for extensive alopecia too. Diphencyprone (DPCP) or squaric acid dibutyl ester (SADBE) are used in the alopecia areata treatment in Canada and UK. This chemical cause skin reaction on scalp and it aids 40% of patients to re-grow hair after half a year of treatment.
Just because there is no complete cure from the alopecia areata at present, you should not give up your hope. After all, it’s the will power that retains a person’s vitality. Moreover, scientists are striving to discover a valid alopecia areata treatment by extending their experiments on hair follicles, stem cells, genetic material, etc. and very soon there would be a better option available in the treatment.
If you have other ideas regarding the treatment options, we would be happy to hear from you. Just let us know your views via the feedback form displayed at the bottom of this page.
