Alopecia Areata Diagnosis

Alopecia areata diagnosis

        Diagnosis of Alopecia areata is usually easier when the disease is manifested by recurrent alopecia plaques that heal and recurrences after a few months or years. Similarly, forms of total or universal alopecia areata generally pose no problem to dermatologists that are familiar with this condition. Careful examination with a magnifying device (or dermatoscope videomicroscope) allows the dermatologist to highlight hair during outbreaks of acute alopecia areata. The observation of the scalp can also view short hair whose end is broken and damaged hair to the root of the scalp. The dermatologist may request a blood test to look for auto immune diseases associated with alopecia areata.

Alopecia areata - People at risk

• People who have a close relative suffering from Alopecia Areata. This would be one in five people suffering from Alopecia Areata.
• Individuals with a family member who suffers from asthma, hay fever, atopic eczema or another autoimmune disease such as autoimmune thyroiditis, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis , lupus, vitiligo or pernicious anemia.

        Given that knowledge about the causes of Alopecia areata are very limited, no risk factor has been discovered so far. There is no way to prevent the onset of Alopecia areata.