Symptoms of the disease

• Suddenly one or more circular or oval areas from 1 cm to 4 cm in diameter become completely denuded hair or body hair. Occasionally, itching or a burning sensation may be felt in the affected area, but the skin still looks normal. Usually there is regrowth in 1 to 3 months, often followed by relapse in the same place or elsewhere;
• Sometimes abnormalities in nails such as striations, cracks, spots and redness. The nails can become brittle;
• Exceptionally, a loss of all the hair, especially in the youngest and, even more rarely, of all the hair.

People at risk

• People who have a close relative with alopecia areata. This would be the case for 1 in 5 people with alopecia areata;
• People themselves affected or whose family member suffers from allergies (asthma, hay fever, eczema, etc.) or an illness autoimmune such as autoimmune thyroiditis, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, vitiligo, or pernicious anemia.