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HEALTH FAMILY PROBLEMS RELATIONSHIPS EDUCATION & CAREER Dear What’s the Problem, My son is twenty years old and has lost all of his body hair because of alopoecia. He is now losing his nails and we think this must be also linked to his alopoecia. Can you tell me who is the top specialist in the UK in terms of alopoecia, an is there an alopoecia support group I can sent my son to? Do you think oriental medicine might be able to ease my son’s condition? Please advise me. Mrs. Lindberg, UK Advice: Dr Mark Hamilton *There are a number of different causes for hair loss, and that’s basically what alopoecia means. The male sex hormones can be quite high, there could be problems with the thyroid gland which is a very important glad sitting just in front of the neck. You can have a lack of iron in your blood, certain drugs can cause hair loss, even pregnancy, stress or anxiety, can cause hair loss. But I think the alopoecia described here is a certain disorder called Alopoecia Areata which is linked with problems in the immune system. *It’s not fully understood what causes it, but it seems to be that your body creates hormones or antibodies against itself so that makes you hair fall out. It usually starts off quite patchy, and in many cases it just recovers on it’s own, but it can get to the extent where you get total loss of body hair and it sounds like this is what’s happened in this case. Nails are very similar to hair in the way they grow and the cells that produce hair and nails are similar so hair and nails can be affected pretty much in the same way. *In terms of medical specialists, I don’t really think that there’s going to be one particular specialist, and it will probably be unfair and quite unethical of me to name one person. The best thing to do in the UK, if she hasn’t done so already, is to go and see her general practitioner, her local doctor. *The doctor will need to get her son’s thyroid levels tested and also get the levels of his sex hormones tested and check that he’s not anaemic. After all this is done then a referral to a dermatologist might be appropriate because they specialise in skin disorders. *So I think that’s really what she should do in terms of procedure because although there are many specialist who claim to be the best it doesn’t necessarily mean they are the best just because they’re the most expensive. *There are a couple of support groups that seem to stand-out above the rest. There is one called Hairline International, and there’s also The Skin Care Campaign, they’re both charities who work towards improving dermatology and skin care. One of the best ways to get in touch with them is through the Internet. *The first one is hairlineinternational.com, that’s based in the West Midlands in the UK for help and support in this area. *The second one is skincarecampaign.org. *I did have a look for how oriental medicine has been seen to help in problems with skin and hair and I can’t really find any decent evidence, even anecdotal cases that would suggest that oriental medicine is a good solution. I’m certainly willing to entertain that this may be a possible alternative. The What's the Problem? website is providing general information only. It should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or any other health care professional. The BBC is not responsible or liable for any diagnosis made by a user based on the content of the What's the Problem? website. Always consult your own GP if you're in any way concerned about your health.		FURTHER INFORMATION   WHAT IS ALOPOECIA AREATA? Alopoecia areata is most common in teenagers and young adults. It is not infectious, but can be inherited. It usually affects the scalp, but may affect the beard, eyebrows and eyelashes, and occasionally even body hair. Smooth hairless patches of skin will appear, and occasionally suuferers will 'go grey' when the condition affects black hairs, but not grey. It is caused by an inflamation of hair folicles, but it is not clear exactly why this may occur, although stress and shock have been linked to the condition. Alopoecia Areata is rarely linked with other illnesses.    INTERNET LINKS ALOPECIA AREATA INDEX   SKINCARE CAMPAIGN   HAIRLINE INTERNATIONAL   CHINESE HERBS / HAIR TREATMENT   The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites