Body Hair Loss

Body hair loss or alopecia universalis is a more severe form of alopecia areata. Alopecia areata is a condition in which a person loses hair on scalp and develop hair thinning in body. While on the other hand, alopecia universalis is a condition in which a person loses hair on his or her entire body including scalp. Therefore, body hair loss is a severe form of scalp hair loss or alopecia areata. Only 1 in 10,0000 gets body hair loss or alopecia universalis.

Symptoms of Body Hair Loss:
People having body hair loss often born hairless. People having body hair loss have no hair on eye brows, eyelashes and scalp. Such people have no mustache and not a single hair of beard. They do not grow hair in pubic areas and under arms, genital areas and legs, hands etc. They have no hair at any region of the body. Some people assume that people with body hair loss have no hair follicles, but this or their assumption is false, they do possess hair follicles but they are devoid of hair shafts. Body hair loss is known as congenital autoimmune disorder.

Causes of Alopecia Universalis:
Scientists have not properly discovered yet what causes alopecia universalis. Few scientists postulated their theories relating to alopecia universalis. According to some scientists, it is an autoimmune disease and it is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait caused by gene mutation dubbed HR in chromosome band 8p21.2.

Autoimmune is a condition in which your immune system can not recognize body's own cells and tissues and produce anti gene to fight its target. In case of alopecia universalis, immune system produces antibodies and antigens that fights against tissues of hair follicles. Consequently, hair follicles are degenerated and damaged. These are the most common causes discovered by scientists. More research and studies are still needed.

Treatment of Body Hair Loss:
There is not specific treatment for body hair loss or alopecia universalis as its exact cause has not been discovered yet. Medications used for treating autoimmune diseases may work to grow hair, whether temporarily or permanently. Corticosteroid are very powerful anti-inflammatory drugs used for treating autoimmune disease. As these these drugs suppress the immune system not to produce antibodies or antigens against hair follicles or body's own cells and tissues.

Corticosteroid is used in several ways as injection, topical ointment and pills. Treating body hair loss with corticosteroid injections is more effective than oral or topical use of corticosteroid. When corticosteroid is injected in your body, it suppress your immune system not to produce antibodies against hair follicles.

Conclusion:
Body hair loss or alopecia universalis is a total body hair loss including scalp. It is a severe form of alopecia areata. There is no exact cause has been discovered yet, but scientists says it is an autoimmune diseases that degenerates body's own tissues and cells. Treating body hair loss with corticosteroid infections may grow body temporarily.