Alopecia areata is an acquired skin disease that develops when the immune system attacks hair follicles. It can begin at any age but mostly develop during teenage and adulthood and some develop after age of 45 years.

People who develop Alopecia have hair loss and sometimes nail changes. If Alopecia affects the nails, you may see ridges or brittle nails.

Alopecia is called hair loss and areata means patchy. This patchy baldness can develop anywhere on the body, including scalp, eyebrows, ears and beard area.

• The most common pattern is one or more well-defined spots of hair loss on the scalp.
• A more generalized form of hair loss is referred to as diffuse alopecia areata where there is widespread dramatic thinning of the scalp hair.
• Occasionally, all of the scalp hair is entirely lost, a condition referred to as alopecia totalis.
• Less frequently, the loss of all of the hairs on the entire body, called alopecia universalis, occurs.