By Dr. John Frank, M.D. – IAHRS, ABHRS,ISHRS, AHLA, XM Radio: ‘The Bald Truth’, NYC, Sep 16, 2011
Hair loss specialists have long suspected a genetic component in premature hair loss because it seems to be passed down from parents to children.
Now a team of Columbia University Medical Center researchers has identified eight genes linked to a specific type of alopecia called “alopecia areata.”
Alopecia Areata is an auto immune disease that attacks the hair follicles and is the leading cause of permanent hair loss in men and women. This type of disease affects both the head and body by causing hair to fall out in patches.
Alopecia areata was thought to be an inflammatory type of disease, but Dr. Angela Christiano, the lead author of the study, says alopecia areata is more closely related to related to celiac disease such as rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes.
This is a significant because drugs exists that treat celiac diseases, and newer drugs that target the same genes are in the pipeline. This means that new treatments for alopecia areata may be easy to develop.
Says Dr. John Frank:
This is a fascinating development from a respected hair loss scientific team at Columbia. It is particularly interesting because we deal with many different types and causes of hair loss. Many of them are treatable with medications, behavior modification and surgery. However, Alopecia Areata may have a random course and without any universally proven treatments. So we look forward to the development of this technology in the genetic determination of those with the condition, and the potential treatments.
The full study was published in Nature: Genome-wide association study in alopecia areata implicates both innate and adaptive immunity, Nature 466, 113–117 (01 July 2010).
© 2012, John Frank, M.D.
