2024-08-05 01:41:01
A study found that patients with alopecia areata have a higher incidence of mental illness and autoimmune diseases. This is because of factors such as stress-induced hormonal secretion and a lower quality of life due to medical expenses.
According to the international academic journal Jama Dermatology on the 5th, Arash Mostaghimi and his research team at Harvard University’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital analyzed the incidence of mental illness and autoimmune diseases in 63,384 patients with alopecia areata and 3,309,107 controls without alopecia areata from January 1, 2007 to April 30 of last year and confirmed this.
Alopecia areata is a disease that occurs in 2% of the entire population, and the main symptom is the loss of hair in a circular shape from the scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes, pubic hair, and body hair. Alopecia areata can usually be treated with topical steroids and immunomodulators. However, alopecia areata is a disease that often relapses throughout life, so it requires lifelong management even after improvement.
As a result, the prevalence of mental illness was 30.9% in alopecia areata patients and 26.8% in the control group. Specifically, the prevalence of anxiety disorder in alopecia areata patients was 15.5% and in the control group was 12.3%. The incidence of sleep disorders among alopecia areata patients was 10.4%, but in the control group it was 8.9%. Depression was also 9.3% among alopecia areata patients and 7.6% in the control group.
This is because stress affects the development of mental illness. The survey results showed that patients with alopecia areata were under a lot of emotional stress before being diagnosed with the disease. It was found that the inflammatory cortisol-releasing hormone, which is released when stressed, increased locally in the affected area of patients with alopecia areata.
The incidence of autoimmune diseases also differed by nearly two times, with 16.1% in alopecia areata patients and 8.9% in the control group. Specifically, the incidence of atopic dermatitis in alopecia areata was 5.1%, psoriasis 2.4%, and rheumatoid arthritis 2.3%. This is a higher figure than the incidence of atopic dermatitis in the control group, which was 2.0%, psoriasis 1.2%, and rheumatoid arthritis 1.3%.
The biggest cause of alopecia areata is immunological factors. The exact cause is unknown, but T cells are activated by some stimulus or other reason, mistakenly recognize the hair follicle as a foreign substance, attack it, and cause an immune response. This immune response causes alopecia areata. For this reason, it is known that the incidence of autoimmune diseases is higher in patients with alopecia areata.
The research team said that the reason why the incidence of mental illness and autoimmune disease among patients with alopecia areata is high is also due to the low quality of life. In the United States, patients with alopecia areata spend more than $2,000 (about 2.72 million won) on medical expenses per year compared to those without alopecia areata, which leads to a decrease in quality of life.
The researchers said, “This study is a study on newly developing comorbidities after diagnosing alopecia areata,” and “long-term research is needed to determine a treatment method that can maximize the health of alopecia areata patients and minimize costs.”
Meanwhile, the results of this study were published in the July issue of the American Medical Association Journal of Dermatology, an international academic journal.
(Seoul = News 1)
-
- great
- 0dog
-
- I’m so sad
- 0dog
-
- I’m angry
- 0dog
-
- I recommend it
- dog
Hot news right now
2024-08-05 01:41:01