49
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      ALOPECIA AREATA AND AUTOIMMUNITY: A CLINICAL STUDY

      other

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Alopecia areata (AA) frequently occur in association with other autoimmune diseases such as thyroid disorders, anemias and other skin disorders with autoimmune etiology. Despite numerous studies related to individual disease associations in alopecia areata, there is paucity of literature regarding comprehensive studies on concomitant cutaneous and systemic diseases. The present study has been designed to determine if there is a significant association between alopecia areata and other autoimmune diseases. This study covers 71 patients with the diagnosis of alopecia areata as the case group and 71 patients with no evidence of alopecia areata as the control group. Among the cutaneous diseases associated with AA, atopic dermatitis (AD) showed maximum frequency with an O/E ratio of 2.5, which indicates that it is two to three times more common in patients with alopecia areata. In our study, thyroid disorders showed the highest frequency with on O/E ratio of 3.2 and a P value of 0.01, which is statistically highly significant. Among the thyroid disorders, hypothyroidism was the most frequent association (14.1%) in our study. Since systemic involvement is not infrequent in patients with alopecia areata, it is imperative to screen these patients for associated disorders, particularly atopy, thyroid diseases, anemias and other autoimmune disorders, especially if alopecia areata is chronic, recurrent and extensive.

          Related collections

          Most cited references28

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          Profile of alopecia areata in Northern India.

          Epidemiologic studies of alopecia areata (AA) are available from USA, Japan and European countries, but there is a paucity of literature on AA from Asian countries, especially from the Indian subcontinent. In a prospective, hospital-based study lasting for a decade (1983-1992), the epidemiology of AA was studied, including associated diseases and risk factors for development of severe AA. Simultaneously a similar study was carried out in age- and sex-matched controls. Eight hundred and eight patients (532 men, 276 women) and 572 age- and sex-matched controls (370 men, 202 women) were studied. The incidence of AA was 0.7% of new dermatology outpatients. The majority of patients (712, 88%) were below 40 years of age, including 196 children < 16 years of age (24%). Almost half (46%) of the women patients had onset of AA in childhood, compared to only 19% in men (P < 0.001). Alopecia was total, universal, or extensive in 154 patients (19%). An onset in the first two decades was more often associated with severe alopecia (P < 0.001), especially in men (P < 0.01). Alopecia areata was recorded in family members of 70 patients (9%), being more frequent in the severe forms of AA (16%). Evidence of atopy was recorded in a total of 146 instances (18%). The frequency of atopy was the same in circumscribed alopecia (18.1%) and severe alopecia (18.2%). Nail changes were found in 162 patients (20%) and were more frequent in 76 (47%) with the severe form of AA (P < 0.001). On 39 occasions (5%), autoimmune-related diseases were detected: vitiligo in 15 (1.8%), thyroid disorders in 8 (1%), lichen planus in 6 (0.7%), collagen vascular diseases in 5 (0.6%), diabetes mellitus in 4 patients (0.4%), and pemphigus foliaceus in 1 (0.1%) patient. Patients with family members having vitiligo (recorded in 5.9% of patients), were more frequently affected with severe alopecia (P < 0.001). Alopecia areata in North Indians showed a preponderance in men (M:F = 2:1) and the majority of persons with disease (88%) were below 40 years of age. Onset in childhood was more frequent in girls or women, but the incidence of severe alopecia was higher in boys or men with onset at an earlier age. Diseases associated with autoimmunity were seen in only 5% of patients. Atopy was found to be associated in 18% of patients, but its reported association with younger age of onset and severe alopecia was not confirmed. Presence of vitiligo in family members and onset before 20 years of age, especially in boys or men, were found to be risk factors for severe alopecia.
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: not found
            • Article: not found

            ALOPECIA AREATA. AN EVALUATION OF 736 PATIENTS.

              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: not found
              • Article: not found

              Alopecia Areata

                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Journal
                Indian J Dermatol
                IJD
                Indian Journal of Dermatology
                Medknow Publications (India )
                0019-5154
                1998-3611
                2008
                : 53
                : 2
                : 70-74
                Affiliations
                From Department of Dermatology, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana - 141 008, Punjab, India
                Author notes
                Address correspondence to: Dr. Emy Abi Thomas, Department of Dermatology, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana -141 008, Punjab, India. E-mail: emyabi@ 123456gmail.com
                Article
                IJD-53-70
                10.4103/0019-5154.41650
                2763714
                19881991
                d4b8134a-8dcd-4779-905e-66c0e31a9d94
                © Indian Journal of Dermatology

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : December 2006
                : October 2007
                Categories
                Studies

                Dermatology
                alopecia areata,concomitant diseases,autoimmunity
                Dermatology
                alopecia areata, concomitant diseases, autoimmunity

                Comments

                Comment on this article