Alopecia develops when your immune system attacks healthy hair follicles and causes the hair to fall out. However, scientists are unsure what causes this to happen.

Most people develop alopecia as children or teenagers, and half experience hair regrowth in twelve months. After that, the hair may fall out again or fall out and grow back in cycles.

Alopecia is the medical term for "bald" or "hair loss." It refers to all kinds of hair loss, including male-pattern baldness (also experienced by women).

It is a common autoimmune disease that affects about 6.8 million people in the U.S., and nearly one-third of women experience it at some ...