Webster's New World Medical Dictionary

allopathic medicine
See 
allopathy.
allopathy
The system of medical practice that
treats disease by the use of remedies to produce
effects different from those produced by the disease
under treatment. Doctors of medicine (MDs) prac-
tice allopathic medicine. The term “allopathy” was
coined to designate conventional medicine as
opposed to homeopathy, the system of therapy
based on the concept that disease can be treated
with drugs (in minute doses) thought capable of
producing the same symptoms in healthy people as
the disease itself. Allopathy is also known as con-
ventional medicine. See also 
allopath.
alopecia
Baldness. Temporary alopecia may
occur as a result of chemotherapy. Permanent
alopecia may result from any of several conditions,
including common male-pattern baldness.
Radiation therapy administered to the head can also
cause permanent alopecia due to irreversible dam-
age to the hair follicles. See also 
alopecia areata;
alopecia capitis totalis; alopecia universalis;
alopecia, traumatic.
alopecia, traumatic
Hair loss caused by injury
to the scalp. Common causes include the use of
caustic hair straighteners, especially those that
include lye as an ingredient; stress traction injury
allergic granulomatosis
14
02_189283 ch01.qxp 4/18/08 10:03 PM Page 14
http://www.rashidislamiccenter.com
http://www.allofislam.com/

---

from tight rollers and braiding; overheating of the
hair shafts; and compulsive pulling out of hair (tri-
chotillomania).
alopecia areata
Patchy baldness that typically
begins with rapid hair loss on discrete areas of the
scalp and sometimes progresses to complete bald-
ness and even loss of body hair. The characteristic
diagnostic finding is short, broken hairs called
“exclamation point” hairs. Alopecia areata affects
both males and females and, most often, children
and young adults. It seems to be caused by an
autoimmune mechanism, wherein the body’s own
immune system attacks the hair follicles and dis-
rupts normal hair formation. Alopecia areata is
sometimes associated with allergic disorders, thy-
roid disease, vitiligo, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis,
ulcerative colitis, and other conditions, and some
forms may be inherited. Hair can sometimes regrow
within a year without treatment. The longer the
period of time of hair loss, the less chance that the
hair will regrow.