Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) with Dr Dmitri Wall, Dermatologist at Hair Restoration Blackrock HRBR
Q. What is Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia?
Video transcript:
So frontal fibrosing alopecia is a condition that hadn't really been heard of before 1994. There was an Australian pathologist called Steve Kossard, started to describe women, typically, who got this particular pattern of hair loss. It typically affects the frontal hairline It can affect the back as well. And it affects back down the temples. But what you see in this case is that there's a permanent loss of hair in that area, which you can understand is very upsetting for patients. It typically affects women who've been through the change. And what they often see is a gradual recession of the frontal hairline. It's something that's, although it was only described in 1994, we've started to see a progressive increase in the number of people who have it. One of the questions is that, is it just that we've become more aware of it or are we actually seeing more of it? And we think that we are seeing more of it. And that's triggered a lot of debate about what could have possibly caused this. And there's a lot of difference of opinion around the world. Some people think that this may have been triggered by sunscreen or components within sunscreen. And some people very strongly feel that that's not the case. What we do know is is that people who get this, there tends to be a higher instance of other auto immune conditions like thyroid problems. There's a degree of genetics that's involved. And it's something that we have struggled in the past to treat. There have been a number of developments in the last few years that have shown a lot of promise in the area, but we're still at a point where it can still be difficult to treat. We have seen a lot of patients here with frontal fibrosing alopecia. As I've been able to bring through some of the developments that have been put into place in Australia back to Ireland. And we have seen a lot of success in that regard. We're still involved in research in the area and it's something that there's still a lot that we need to discover about it. But it's certainly an area that causes patients a lot of concern. It can be very upsetting. So what we are particularly focused on is looking at interventions that might stop it from progressing as soon as it's seen.
17 окт 2021
