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Genetics
I was wondering how many alopecians out here have direct family members with alopecia. I have had alopecia since I was 4 years old but no one in my family even extended family had alopecia. So my family never really knew where it came from so I was just curious how many people were the first in their family to have it or have other family members with it also.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Cherylnz on
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Hi Larisa,
There are alot of Auto-immune conditions with Alopecia been one of the many and I was the only one in my family (that we knew of) that had Alopecia. That was until I found my biological parents (I was Adopted as a baby and I didn't know anything about my biological families genetic history until recent years). My biological Father has had thyroid problems and my niece (my biological brothers daugther) developed AA a few years ago. I developed Alopecia at about 8 years old, also had eczema (from toddler age), but now just get a bit of dermatitis on my hands occasionally and I have psoriatic arthritis in one of my thumbs which developed about 3 years ago. This is part of the psoriasis condition in arthritic form with no skin problem.
There seems to be other Alopecians that have other Auto-immune things happening too. Do you or anyone else in your family have anything like asthma, eczema, hay-fever, food allergies, arthritis, thyroid problems, psoriasis or lupus? (there are more, these are just some of them).
The conclusion I came to is that if there are any of these in your family there can be a slightly higher chance of any one of these disorders been passed on, especially if they are in both parents. What sets them off? Is any-bodies guess!
My oldest has hay-fever and the middle one has eczema, but they all have beautiful thick hair. When ever I had to take my children to the doctor and he/she would ask if certain conditions were in my family, I had know idea. So that is what prompted me to find and make contact with my biological parents and it has worked out great.
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Permalink Reply by Dame on
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Thank you for the comment, and actually I have many family members with things you listed. My brother has psoriasis, we both had asthma (but no longer), my father had thyroid cancer and some cousins have thyroid problems. And I have heard studies where they believe Alopecia is linked with these other family health problems. Just luck of the draw I guess ;-)
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Permalink Reply by Tamara Dixon on
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I am the only person in my family with alopecia except for a fourth cousin (is that even family?) who has it. But, the first thing my dermatologist asked me was if I had a family member with asthma or excema cause they seem to be related. I didnt.
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Permalink Reply by Gina on
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I am the first and only one with alopecia in my family. Also, the only one with asthma, eczema and allergies to pretty much everything as a kid. These all went away in my early 20's. Also, I'm the only one in my family with an overactive thyroid, which made it's appearance at the same time alopecia did. Lucky me ;-P
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Permalink Reply by Lori Powers on
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As far as anyone can tell me, one of my paternal uncles had a bout with alopecia areata at some point in his past. His hair grew back and he never had another episode.
My mother, though, has Celiac disease (another A/I disorder) - and I've heard that if you have a relative with an A/I disorder, you're more likely to get alopecia than someone who doesn't. I also have psoriasis on my scalp - but at least when I lost my hair, the psoriasis seemed to clear up. ;-)
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Permalink Reply by Rose Marie' on
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Hi Larisa
I have mild hayfever and as a child had mild eczema. My husband has mild dermatitis and in the last 18 months has developed psoriasis. My mother has as underactive thyroid. My father does not have any auto immune problems except I remember him having an allergy attack to shellfish when I was a child but that didn't seem to stop him eating it. My husbands mother has signs of alopecia. His aunty lost half her hair in her twenties and then it grew back and she has never had another bout of alopecia. My husbands father has an over-active thyroid. (not looking good is it LOL)
My daughter (Libby) has AU, eczema, asthma, very low iron, and Anaphalatic food allergies. My son has mild eczema - and that's it. No signs of alopecia with him so far.
So our family history seems to indicate that their is definately a genetic link.
Hope that helps.
Rosy
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Permalink Reply by kastababy on
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Hi Larisa,
As of right now I am the only known person in my family with AA. I am also hypothyroid (severely!) but we have a history of lupus (another autoimmune disorder), asthma (brother), allergies (me and all my biological siblings), diabetes (mother), and migraines (me, brother, sister, and niece). Right now, the most troublesome is the migraines, since we have yet to find a neurologist that can determine the root cause of our migraines. Of course, all of this could be our immune system under attack, so we are all on the National AA Registry as well!
Hope this helps you! :)
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Permalink Reply by Mukti on
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Hi,
Have you tried to see a chiropactor? I used to have severe migraines in my 20's and it turned out to be subluxzations in the spine. I still see a chiropactor and get adjustments.. I find it helps. I recently found out I'm diabetic...so it's just one more thing added to my life!
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Permalink Reply by Trina on
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I have Alopecia and my daughter has developed it. My mother also had one occurance.
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Permalink Reply by jamie1 on
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Hi Larisa, We have the same type of hair loss. I too, went the hair spray and hat route for a long time but recently opted to just come out and shave (again!). Your genetics question interests me. I wonder if ethnicity plays any role in alopecia. In my internet travels, I've noticed a great number of people from the UK and of Celtic ethnicity who have alopecia. I'm curious if there is any correlation?
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I never thought about ethnicity, that an interesting aspect to look at. I am actually half irish and half hispanic, but neither side has alopecia. The Irish side though is the one with the majority of the thyroid problems and my hispanic side is the one with all the allergies.
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