Abstract

SILENT PATCHES, LOUD SCIENCE: REVISITING ALOPECIA AREATA

*Anshu Jha, Anubhava Kumar Burnwall, Sambrita Karmakar

Abstract

Hairs have been of great significance since historical times adding beauty to the personality of people. People rely on natural ways to manage their hairs. With the advancement in medical sciences, hairs have been a key indicator of physical as well as mental health. The term alopecia refers to patchy, partial or total loss of hairs from any part of the body, commonly known as baldness and its various types. The general population doesn’t understand the anatomy and physiology of hairs and hair health thoroughly and mistakenly relate hair loss to genetic and hereditary factors, often ignoring the other possible causes like nutritional deficiencies, systemic diseases, acute and chronic illnesses, lifestyle-related factors, psychological issues etc. With the rapid surge in concern towards the hair health among population has led to rise in the cosmetic market as well. The market has flooded with various hair cosmetics addressing variety of issues like porosity, hair thinning, hair loss, discoloration, receding hair line etc. People are widely accepting these products based on their advertisement, regardless of the clear knowledge of root cause of their hair problem and the success rate of the products often remain unclear. The rise in alopecia cases has made the research into all the underlying causes and the possible treatments inevitable. In this article, we aim to explore the pathophysiology of alopecia and present a comprehensive overview of available treatments, including allopathic, homeopathic, naturopathic, cosmeceutical, and ayurvedic approaches, along with recent advancements.

Keywords: Janus Kinase (JAK) Inhibitors, Autoimmune Hair Loss, Alopecia Areata, Immunopathogenesis, Hair loss.