Celebrating the 10th Year of "Hairlessness" Part 1

...10th...

November 2001 was the time when my hair was falling rapidly, within months I lost about 80% of the hair on my scalp, then it progressed to my eyebrows, arm and leg hairs, eyelashes and the rest of the body and this condition is termed as ''Alopecia Universalis"- a severe form of Alopecia Areata.

It's been 10 years and I still love to tell others about alopecia areata. So, what is alopecia areata (AA)? In short and lay-man explaination: The white blood cells in my body attacks my hair roots and there is no cure yet. And I cannot die from having Alopecia Areata. It is widely believed and accepted by both scientist and dermatologist it is one to the Autoimmune diseases.

Now, in the 10th year of living with alopecia universalis (AU), instead of sobbing about my "still hairlessness" and still being a "weirdo" to some people in the society, I want to celebrate it. Without alopecia, I will never be the person I am today.

Being AU also marked the beginning of a blessed life.

Before I speak furthermore on how AU has affected my life, to all who is new to AA or AU, you are most welcome to learn about it through my previous blog postings (clicking on the topic will link you to the post):

1. Explaining Alopecia Areata and Auto-immune disease
2. Understanding the role of T-Cytotoxic & T-Helper Lymphocytes
3. Alopecia Areata as an Auto-immune disease
4. Should Alopecia Areata patients strengthen their immune systems?
5. Wouldn't the T-Lymphocytes around the hair follicle of an AA patients die?

There is no cure yet eventhough there are various form of treatments available, from the immunosuppresants to acupuncture to ayuverdic. The success of these treatments are not consistent for every patient with AA, I have personally know people living with AA have spontaneous regrowth and complete recovery with any form of treatment at all.

So, thats the end of Part 1 of a series of blog postings in Celebration of my 10th Year of "Hairlessness". This post explain what Alopecia Areata is. Future blogs will talk about living with alopecia.

God bless everyone.

Joshua

A Proud Alopecian :)

p/s: You can post me a comment if you would like to talk to me in private or visit http://www.alopeciaworld.com/ for more advice or support on alopecia areata.