Comment

Comment by KarenGinny - Iowa, US on September 17, 2012 at 6:18pm

I am 47 and have been dealing with this for about 2 years now. I'm not in menopause yet but probably heading that way.

Comment by Heidi Short UK on September 17, 2012 at 4:44pm

I'm 48 and I was 43 when I started going through the menopause. It's early I know, as my sister who is 3 years older than me is still having periods and she is 51 now, I haven't had one for 5 years! I thought I had early menopause because I smoked up until I was 43, but now I think perhaps this is all connected!
Mairi I looked up the Rosa monkton interview and I agree it looks like she has our problem, I'm not on twitter either so I can't check if she has written anything, I looked on the internet with her name but I didn't find anything.

Comment by MairiM on September 17, 2012 at 12:55pm

What are your ages? I am thinking that I might be very much the oldest (I am 66), but I have had this disease probably less than two years like the rest of you.

Comment by MairiM on September 14, 2012 at 5:25pm

Anyone else see Rosa Monckton interviewed on BBC news tonight? Her hair looked just like mine. For those not in UK, she was a friend of Princess Diana and a great campaigner for disabled rights, I wonder if she has written anything on twitter about hair - I don't twitter myself.

Comment by PamW San Diego, CA, USA on September 14, 2012 at 12:52am

PPAR gamma is a gene, which they think goes haywire and may cause the inflammation. I believe the thinking is that the gene malfunctions due to improper processing of our lipids. Actos is an inhibitor which supposedly keeps our body metabolising carbs and fats properly.

This is why I always thought my low carb, low cal diet might have triggered something. Some people have had success with Actos and some have not.

I am wondering if there could be more than one trigger, which is why some drugs work for some people and not for others.

Comment by MairiM on September 13, 2012 at 3:30pm

Ella - I have drunk a mixture of green tea and ordinary tea for years and it hasn't saved me from this :-( I think I will give the turmeric a go, though. Also taking a mixture of Omega 3 and Omega 6

Comment by MairiM on September 13, 2012 at 3:21pm

Great that he took the trouble to reply. Somewhat depressing too, as his response in the newspaper article was the only positive one I've seen on much searching of the web. Now it seems he has no more answers than anyone else. At least if he gets his funding (and data from us) there may be hope for future victims. Any results would be too late for us, I fear. Thanks for copying the info to us.

Comment by ellauk on September 13, 2012 at 2:53pm

This is great news. Personally though I don't think it is so rare. You seem to see quite a few people with jagged, thin hairlines. I personally think turmeric and green tea help lessen inflamation. I don't know if other people find that too.

Comment by Heidi Short UK on September 13, 2012 at 12:57pm

Hi ladies I've just had a reply from Dr Harries!This is what he said
As I am sure you know this conditionely is relatively rare and causes permanent damage to the hair follicle.I have recently undertaken some research looking at the changes to the immune system in active disease and this suggests that the hair follicle may lose protective mechanisms exposing the stem cells to inflamation and damage. There are a number of similarities with this pattern of inflamation with other auto immune conditions, although FFA to date has not been designated in auto immune conditions.There has also been research on a similar condition, lichen plano pilaris, in America which suggest that a lack of PPAR gamma in the skin may be a contributing factor. (I don't know what that means!!!)
Treatment for FFA is difficult and there is no clear consensus on the best treatment option. It is likely that the condition probably does burn itself out at some point but it is difficult to predict.
He goes on to say he thought the idea about a database was a very good one,infact he is currently in the process of applying for funding to set up a National Scarring Alopicia database, which will cover a number of scaring conditions including FFA. The plan is that this will collect data going forward about natural history of these conditions and also link this data with tissue samples (eg blood or scalp biopsies).He is also currently undertaking a questionnaire study in FFA and it is possible we could be involved with it.
He also wanted the name of our web site as it could be benificial to other patients, so we could have a few more members soon!
I was really pleased that he answered my letter, although no miracle cure yet, there was a few new suggestions on why it is happening, and encouraging that they are actively trying new ways to collate data.

Comment by MairiM on September 12, 2012 at 7:52pm

The group might be much easier to get into if more use was made of Discussions. We could have discussions on wigs, medications, new research etc. It is frustrating trying to follow the different conversations that have gone on in the past. And, if I find something interesting weeks back, there's no function to comment on it or ask a question. I hope you don't mind this comment. I know we are lucky to have this meeting place - thanks for setting it up.

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