This month shines a light on autoimmune conditions, which affect one in ten people in the UK.

Our immune system protects us from infection and disease. When our immune system attacks our own healthy cells by mistake, this is called autoimmunity.

It is common for people with an autoimmune condition to also have at least one other autoimmune condition – this is the case for about one in four people. 

There are over 80 recognised autoimmune conditions that affect different parts of the body. Each of these conditions can have a significant impact on people’s ability to live life the way they want.

Why is Alopecia UK involved in Autoimmune Awareness Month?

Understanding autoimmunity helps us uncover how these conditions develop and can help us better support those living with autoimmune conditions.

Alopecia areata is an autoimmune condition, in which immune cells attack hair follicles. Hair follicles are the mini-organs inside the skin that produce strands of hair. When they are attacked, this causes hair to fall out, and it prevents new hair from growing. There is still some debate among researchers about the technicalities of autoimmunity in alopecia areata, as this blog ‘Is alopecia areata an autoimmune disease?’ from 2021 explores. Still, alopecia areata is widely accepted to be an autoimmune condition.

Some scarring forms of alopecia are also suspected to be autoimmune conditions, although there has been less research into these conditions. Here, it is believed the immune cells attack the hair follicles and cause permanent damage, which results in scarring. In lichen planopilaris (LPP), frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) and central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA), increased numbers of immune cells are typically found surrounding the hair follicles. And last year, a study on the genetics of FFA found that there are similarities between FFA and other autoimmune conditions.

Autoimmune conditions often come with a significant impact on people’s lives. Beyond physical impacts, it can affect emotional well-being, study, work, social lives, and relationships. We hope that by raising awareness of autoimmune conditions and the impacts these have on people’s lives, we will see more researchers and funders dedicating their resources to finding answers. So that people affected by autoimmune conditions can be supported as a whole and live the life they want.

Connect Immune Research

Alopecia UK are proud to be members of Connect Immune Research (CIR), a growing partnership of 16 organisations established in 2018. The partnership works together to understand how different autoimmune conditions are linked, and to raise awareness of the impacts these conditions have on people’s lives.

The partnership hopes to enable the scientific community to work together across autoimmunity specialisms to tackle multiple conditions at once. Because by understanding similarities and using existing knowledge of different conditions, the lives of people affected by autoimmune conditions could be transformed much faster.

The current members of Connect Immune Research are:

• Alopecia UK
• Arthritis UK
• Bowel Research UK
• BreakthroughT1D
• The British Society for Immunology
• British Thyroid Foundation
• Crohn’s & Colitis UK
• Coeliac UK
• Inflammatory Neuropathies UK
• Juvenile Arthritis Research
• The MS Society
• myaware
• The National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society
• The Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Alliance
• The Royal Free Charity
• The Wren Project

More information about the Connect Immune Research partnership can be found on the website of Breakthrough Type-1 Diabetes.