Autoimmune diseases turn the body’s defenses – normally deployed against infections and bacteria – against its own tissues. Psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis are two of the most commonly encountered examples of these disorders… but there are many others. Some of them can have a negative effect on your hairline.
What Autoimmune Disease Affects the Scalp?
Scalp psoriasis is an autoimmune condition that causes the scalp to produce new skin cells at roughly ten times the normal rate. That creates thick patches of skin potentially leading to alopecia, a.k.a. hair loss.
What Autoimmune Diseases Can Cause Hair Loss?
In addition to scalp psoriasis, alopecia areata causes the immune system to attack the hair follicles… which causes hair loss. This particular condition affects approximately two percent of the population and causes patchy and sometimes complete loss of hair.
Crohn’s disease is a variety of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) causing chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. While usually linked to physical pain, weight loss, extreme diarrhea, and malnutrition… it is becoming increasingly linked to hair loss. A 2021 research review is one of a growing body of work suggesting this connection.
Hashimoto’s disease is another autoimmune disease, this one affecting the thyroid and its ability to regulate the body’s physiological functions. Hair loss is only one presenting symptom – along with fatigue, temperature sensitivity, constipation, and many other unpleasant symptoms.
Lupus is an autoimmune condition that attacks the skin, joints, and internal organs. Hair loss is a common symptom – as well as a common side effect of the medications used to treat it.
Is Autoimmune Hair Loss Reversible?
That all depends on the severity of the disease. Many cases can be treated with medications or other methodologies. But extreme cases may fail to respond to treatment.
In addition, research is always developing new methodologies and more advanced treatments. In fact, new advances are being made specifically in the arena of autoimmune disease based hair loss at MIT, where they are experimenting with a microneedle patch that can teach T cells not to attack hair follicles.
Contact Us Today and Begin Your Journey Back to a Full Head of Hair
Reef Hair offers a wide array of treatments and transplantation options for those suffering autoimmune disorder driven hair loss. From non-invasive products and procedures for milder cases, to robot assisted ARTAS® and NeoGraft® hair transplant procedures (as well as manual FUE and FUT transplants for the more severe cases), we have both the tools and the experience needed to give you the best possible results. Contact us today for a full hair and scalp analysis, and let’s start planning your roadmap to a restored hairline!
