Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia in India: A Reminder of a Truly World-Wide Epidemic

First Report of FFA Cases in North-East India

Several months ago, I had a discussion with a several colleagues. We spoke about FFA and the role of stress, diet, cosmetics, family history, hormones. Basically … everything!

Not too long into the discussion, a point was made by my colleague: “I don’t think we’re seeing much FFA in India!” Another made the point that if this is indeed true that there must be important dietary and genetic reasons that need exploration.

A new report in the Indian Journal of Dermatology reminds us that while FFA in India might be a little less frequent than some pockets of the world, it’s probably understudied - and by no means absent from India!

Authors from North-East India, in Meghalaya state, reported 21 patients with FFA that they saw at their center over the period 2013-2023. 19 were female and the average age was 48 years. 28% had lichen planus pigmentosus of the skin. Only 10 % had androgenetic alopecia and only 10 % had classic LPP.

Comment

This was interesting to see. In this small world we live in with global travel and global products and expanding ingredients, pollution, cosmetics, etc, one can only imagine that FFA must be increasing in most part of the world.

More studies are needed but I congratulate these authors!

REFERENCE

Verma S et al. A Retrospective Study of Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia from North-East India. Indian J Dermatol. 2023 Nov-Dec;68(6):598-602. doi: 10.4103/ijd.IJD_290_23. Epub 2024 Jan 9.