Hi my name is Helen and I am fundraising for my 5 year old son Ollie.
He has always had such beautiful hair and been a model for Urban Angels agency since he was a baby. In October 2023, I noticed a small patch of hair missing and the GP diagnosed him with Alopecia Areata, an autoimmune condition. Since then, it has spread so that he is currently on approximately 80% loss. This has meant that we have had to shave his head. He has also lost his right eyebrow. About 18 months ago he lost all of his eyelashes on one eye which must have been the first cycle of the disease.
The NHS waiting list is approximately 40 weeks. Even when he does get seen by a specialist, the treatment options are limited to topical steroids. The future for Alopecia is looking bright though, with JAK inhibitors recently gaining FDA approval in the USA - however this is for over 12s only and there are some nasty side effects to this.
Therefore, the best course of action for anyone suffering from AA is to seek support from a Functional Medicine specialist. They test for lots of different allergies, toxicities and imbalances to try to address the root cause of what is causing the autoimmune response. This is a costly process (due to all the phlebotomy and blood work that needs doing) to help determine the problem. This is somewhere in the region of £2-3k.
If you could help support Ollie we would be forever grateful! Many thanks xxx