Higher risk for incident comorbidities also seen compared with matched controls without alopecia<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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TUESDAY, Aug. 6, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Patients with alopecia areata (AA) have a higher prevalence of autoimmune and psychiatric comorbidities at time of diagnosis as well as a higher risk for new-onset autoimmune and psychiatric comorbidities after diagnosis, according to a study published online July 31 in\u00a0JAMA Dermatology<\/em>.<\/p>\n Arash Mostaghimi, M.D., M.P.H., from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues examined risks for developing new-onset psychiatric or autoimmune diseases after diagnosis of AA. The analysis included data from 16,512 patients with AA and 66,048 without AA (ages, 12 to 64 years).<\/p>\n The researchers found that overall, patients with AA had a higher prevalence of psychiatric (30.9 versus 26.8 percent) and autoimmune (16.1 versus 8.9 percent) comorbidities at AA diagnosis. Incidence was also higher in patients with AA without a history of these comorbidities compared with matched controls. Patients with AA had a significantly higher risk for developing a psychiatric (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.3) or autoimmune (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.7) comorbidity compared with controls.<\/p>\n “These data highlight the most common comorbidities among patients with AA and may help physicians counsel and monitor patients newly diagnosed with AA,” the authors write.<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed ties to pharmaceutical companies, including AbbVie, which funded the study.<\/p>\n