The young lady, Jaime, is a 33 yr old female, has experienced hair loss/baldness since adolescence, that has resulted in total baldness. She has two little girls, ages 9 and 6. Jaime has only experienced hair growth of any signifigance during her two pregnancies. Could it be the boost in hormones, or the depletion from pregnancy in 'one or many' that is too 'presently' plentiful? She has had the routine blood work for 'lupus', Hypothyroidism, etc. but when I question the T-3 or T-4 levels, she says her Dr. (a leading Dermatologist) scoffs. I am only an RN but it took me 3 yrs. to determine what 4 specialists could not when I found I had a growth on a 'parathyroid' that was constantly overlooked. This young lady is undoubtedly deserving in all of the help that can be sought; being one of the finest Christians, distressed mother (of two beautiful little girls) that is now worried over her girls' future and what or how this condition 'alopecia' will further affect their lives, all too well knowing how difficult has been for her. Please, please, anyone with any knowledge or ideas what direction to proceed, we need your help.
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Anon, I agree with Alysia, it's so thoughtful of you to put your knowledge as an RN, your determination and the internet together to try to get some answers for her.
As far as whether her daughters will be affected, while there does seem to be a genetic component to alopecia, it is hard to pin down just what the rate of occurence is. Here is one study on the National Institutes for Health site that identified four chromosomes that seem to be involved:
http://www.niams.nih.gov/News_and_Events/Spotlight_on_Research/2007/alopecia_areata.asp
There also seems to be an autoimmune factor to the condition. This article speaks a little to that:
http://dermatology.about.com/cs/hairloss/a/alopeciaareata.htm
As far as why Jaime's hair grew in during her pregnancies, I didn't find anything substantial or scientific on it (yet!). However, I did find several instances of others who had experienced this. You have to wonder whether pregnancy hormones (or even prenatal vitamins) have an effect. I did find this old, old article on alopecia receding during pregnancy and recurring when menstruation began again (just click on the page number and the pdf file will appear so that you can read it):
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2005903
That last story is mostly just for reference, but it is interesting to know that this happened as far back as the early 1900s.
May 29, 2009 - 8:41amThis Comment
How very kind and caring of you to seek information that might help this young lady. Here are some resources we have on alopecia:
Definition Alopecia
Proposed natural treatment Alopecia
Understanding Hair Loss
I hope this information helps you and the young lady. Please let us know how she is doing.
You may also direct your questions to our medical Experts and perhaps even find a more responsive specialist near you.
May 28, 2009 - 7:30pmThis Comment