Genetic research has revealed something surprising about alopecia. Not very much was known about this disease that causes hair loss, until recently. It turns out that alopecia is actually a form of heritable autoimmune disease. This finding may lead to new kinds of treatment for alopecia.
Alopecia areata, the full name of the disease, causes the body to attack hair follicles. This autoimmune attack results in having hair fall out. It may fall out in small round patches, or could potentially continue until all of the hair on a person’s head falls out, and does not immediately grow back. In this case, the disease is called alopecia areata totalis, which is a slightly different variant of the alopecia disease. Another variant of alopecia is called alopecia areata universalis, which causes the both the hair on a person’s head, as well as on that person’s entire body, to fall out. This is the rarest of the three types.
Alopecia is not the only type of disease that causes hair loss, however. So, just because a person is losing his or her hair, it doesn’t automatically mean that the person has some form of alopecia. More than 4.7 million Americans do have some degree of alopecia areata, according to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation. It has been recognized that this disease is one that runs in families.
Researchers at Columbia University studied the DNA from blood samples that were taken from patients who had alopecia areata. This was compared with sample of genes from people who did not have alopecia areata. The purpose was to be able to identify the differences in the genes of the two groups. The results were surprising. Not only did the researchers find several genes that were related to alopecia areata, but also that those same genes were associated with three other autoimmune diseases. Specifically, it means that alopecia areata has something in common with type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Since there are some proven treatments for celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 1 diabetes, the implication is that it should be possible to find a treatment for alopecia areata as well. Perhaps what works as a form of treatment for the other three diseases that share so many genes with alopecia areata will also work to help patients who are suffering from this disease that causes hair loss. Another implication of the results of the research is that since these four autoimmune diseases are so genetically similar, doctors might want to start asking patients who are diagnosed with one of these diseases if they are experience any symptoms that relate to the other three diseases. It is entirely possible that a person will have more than one of these kinds of autoimmune diseases, at the same time.
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