autoimmune disease definition

OK, so alopecia areata is an autoimmune......... It is really kind of hard to hear medical terminology, it almost always negative. And most definetly not what we need to hear. As with any profession the technical lingo is very impersonal. So here is Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions definition on autoimmune disease. Here is the core of the definition: Autoimmune diseases are defined as diseases in which the progression from benign autoimmunity to pathogenic autoimmunity occurs. OK, so what have I got, what's wrong with me? The truth is, there is no cure. But as with anything it is how you go about it and so what is most interesting is the research.

This conclusion from Johns Hopkins is very encouraging:
Common threads uniting the autoimmune diseases are the presence of an autoimmune response based on cumulative genetic risk factors, combined with an environmental contribution (infectious, chemical, physical, or other). Equally important, innovative treatments applied to one autoimmune disease may be useful in others. To seize the new opportunities for moving research and treatment forward, leading investigators are calling for a collective approach to the autoimmune diseases. The answer has been the creation of the Johns Hopkins Autoimmune Disease Research Center.

Take a look at what the center is all about.

What is alopecia areata

Alopecia Areata is called some other things, a disease or a disorder. These terms are not complete. It is at worse an autoimmune condition. As with any differences in human physiology, it is so important to "think through it". This however is not so easy when such a thing is so close to you. The easiest explanation for this condition is that your own body is alergic to your hair and so the white blood cells in your body which protect you are working to protect itself. There is alot of information about this topic and my attempt here is to aggregate the technical information and provide personal accounts of challenges and experiences, and how to overcome them. Alopecia is not hair loss. I would like to hear from you, about you, about your life and especially about how you cope. If you have another "way" to think about alopecia, please post a comment.