Alopecia areata likely is an autoimmune disease, where the body's defenses attack the body's cells.
If you have alopecia areata, you may be slightly more at risk of certain autoimmune conditions such as thyroid disease and vitiligo. Autoimmune conditions are caused by your immune system attacking your body.
Sometimes alopecia areata can progress to the loss of all the hair from your scalp (alopecia totalis). It's very rare that you will lose all your body hair (alopecia universalis). The more hair you lose, the less likely it is that the condition will completely go away.
The hair follicles are not permanently destroyed and can resume normal growth,The less hair that's been lost, the more likely it will grow back. In more severe cases, hair sometimes doesn't grow back. If you have lost large amounts of body hair, there's no safe, effective treatment.
Alopecia areata is an unpredictable disease.Without treatment, hair re-growth may be complete, partial, or non-existent.
Alopecia areata isn't harmful to your physical health and sometimes your hair may grow back without treatment.
