Telogen effluvium
I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
This article was written by Dr. Jeff Donovan, a Canadian and US board certified dermatologist specializing exclusively in hair loss.
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I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
Hair follicle aging appears to be a real thing, like any tissue in the body. Traditionally, a form of hair loss known as senescent alopecia ("SA") has been defined as a very specific type of age related thinning that is distinct from androgenetic alopecia ("AGA"). Androgenetic alopecia tends to start somewhere between age 8 and age 50 - at least that has been the traditional view. Hair thinning that occurs after age 60, with no thinning prior to this, has a high likelihood of representing senescent alopecia. (Of course other types of hair loss may also occur after age 60). A study by Karnik and colleagues in 2013 confirmed that these two conditions (AGA and SA) are truly unique. The authors studies 1200 genes in AGA and 1360 in SA and compared these to controls. Of these, 442 genes were unique to AGA, 602 genes were unique to SA and 758 genes were common to both AGA and SA.
The genes that were unique to AGA included those that contribute to hair follicle development, morphology and cycling.
In contrast to androgenetic alopecia, many of the genes expressed in senescent alopecia have a role in skin and epidermal development, keratinocyte proliferation, differentiation and cell cycle regulation. In addition, the authors showed that a number of transcription factors and growth factors are significantly decreased in SA.
Conclusion
The concept of senescent alopecia is still open to some debate amongst experts. The studies by Karnik give credence to the unique position of these two conditions. But studies by Whiting suggested that it is not so simple as to say anyone with new thinning after age 60 has SA - many of these are also more in keeping with androgenetic alopecia. As one ages into the 70's, 80's and 90's - hair loss in the form of true senescent alopecia becomes more likely.
Karnik et al. Microarray analysis of androgenetic and senescent alopecia: comparison of gene expression shows two distinct profiles. J Dermatol Sci. 2013.
Whiting DA. How real is senescent alopecia? A histopathologic approach.
Clin Dermatol. 2011 Jan-Feb.
I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
Living things on earth are classified as either animals, plants fungi, bacteria or protists. We are familiar with animals and plants as we see them everyday. The other groups are less familiar to most people. Certain fungi are relevant to the hair specialist. Some 6 million different species of fungi exist. Fungi survive by absorbing nutrients from the environment. They have cell walls made of a material call chitin. We are familiar with one type of fungus - mushrooms - but are less familiar with all the various yeasts and molds that exist.
There are many different fungi that can cause health problems in humans. Of the 6 million species of fungi, about 600 have the potential to cause health problems. As we have seen over the past week in various posts, fungi known as Malassezia are the cause of the common seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff. Fungi known as dermatophyte fungi are the cause of scalp tinea capitis (which is common is children). Fortunately, most people will never come to know another group of fungi known as "opportunistic fungi." These are fungi that cause serious and sometimes fatal disease in patients with a weakened immune system including cancer patients, patients with organ transplants, HIV patients, patients with low white blood cells (neutropenia). A variety of opportunistic fungi exist including Candida, Aspergillus and Mucor (3 most common).
I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
Finasteride and minoxidil - all treatment for male balding are life long
I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
I posted an answer to a new question on Realself.com
I posted an answer to a new question on realself.com
As we've seen this week, "tinea capitis" refers to infection of the scalp by various types of fungi. Tinea capitis is common among children and rare in adults. People living in close contact and sharing combs and similar type material are at higher risk for acquiring tinea capitis.
A recent study from Thailand has some important lessons about tinea capitis. In this study, 60 young male Buddhist monks with tinea capitis were studied. Many different types of fungi were uncovered from scalps included the anthropophilic fungus Trichophyton violaceum (60 %) and Trichophyton mentagrophytes (43 %). Microsporum canus (common in Europe) was less commonly found (35 %) and Trichophyton tonsurans (common in North America) was found in only 13 % of cases.
Much to my surprise, 95 % of the monks had evidence of scarring alopecia - a feared complication of tinea capitis type infections. The authors proposed that educational efforts regarding avoiding sharing personal items and improvement in personal and environmental hygiene is needed to reduce infection.
Reference
Bunyaratavej et al. Clinical and Laboratory Characteristics of a Tinea Capitis Outbreak among Novice Buddhist Monks. Pediatric Dermatology 2017; 1-3.
