Gail Porter, 39, developed alopecia in 2005, which caused her to lose her hair, eyelashes and eyebrows. The Scottish TV personality shaved her head and refused to wear wigs or hairpieces in an effort to raise awareness for the disease.
In February 2006, she announced her hair, eyebrows and lashes had begun to grow back. By May 2010, hair had regrown on 75 percent of her scalp. But this past November, her alopecia returned and her hair started to fall out again. This week, Gail again shaved her head.
She commented on the return of her alopecia, saying, "I've been here before and it's not the best, but it's just one of those things and I have to get over it."
Alopecia can refer to various types of hair loss conditions. In Gail's case, she suffers from alopecia areata - which causes targeted hair loss in one area of the body. Alopecia is an auto-immune disorder in which the body's own defenses target the hair follicles, resulting in hair loss and baldness.
Unfortunately, at this time, there is little known about this condition and there are no effective treatments available.
