Alopecia
Rianna, 16
Backstory
Rianna suffers from Alopecia which causes frequent bouts of hair loss. She has had this condition since she was 4 and suffers patchy hair loss in different places which then grow back. When she goes to Food Hospital she has a patch of hair loss at the back of her neck which hasn’t grown back even after a year. Rianna is worried that the condition may worsen leading to total hair loss. Around 60,000 people in the UK are affected by Alopecia. The exact cause is unknown but it is understood to be a disease of the immune system and can have links with vitamin or zinc deficiencies, stress and genetic factors. After further testing it seems that Rianna has IBS causing her extra stress which affects auto-immune problems meaning it could be a contributory factor to her Alopecia.
Overview of the treatment
The Food Hospital looked at improving the IBS in order to alleviate Rianna’s stress thereby hopefully improving the Alopecia. Lucy and Gio prescribed a Probiotic supplement to Rianna’s diet which should improve her stomach and symptoms of IBS and in turn have an effect on the Alopecia. A specific probiotic, that is not the kind you can buy in a supermarket, was prescribed.
Outcome
Rianna returned to The Food Hospital 8 weeks after her first visit and had some great news: the bald patch at the top of her neck was experiencing re-growth. Also her IBS symptoms had alleviated with the pains being less frequent and less painful. After starting the probiotic diet it took a week for Rianna to see her symptoms improve and when she ran out of the probiotics the symptoms returned which confirms the good effect they were having on her conditions.
Take part
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The diet plans featured in the show are tailored to meet the needs of the specific patients. Find out more about seeing a dietitian here
