Abstract
Alopecia areata (AA) is a type of non-scarring, autoimmune hair loss on the scalp
or body characterised by solitary or multiple bald patches. In modern medicine, treatment
is mainly in the form of corticosteroids. Homoeopathy provides a better response by
framing the totality and choosing the medicine based on symptom similarity. The presented
case reports evaluated the utility of individualised homoeopathic treatment on AA
with evidence-based assessment. The two cases were prescribed individualised homoeopathic
medicine and followed for more than 1 year. The cases were assessed by Severity Alopecia
Tool (SALT) score, Measure Yourself Medical Outcome Profile 2 (MYMOP2) and periodic
photographic evidence. Modified Naranjo Criteria for Homoeopathy (MONARCH) was used
to assess the clinical outcome's causal attribution to the prescribed homoeopathic
medicine. Both patients were given Phosphorus in centesimal potency resulting in a complete cure with a full growth of hair and
without further relapse of symptoms. SALT score reduced from 24.04 to 0% in case 1
and 8.4 to 0% in case 2 after 18 months of treatment. MYMOP2 profile score declined
from 3.5 to 0 in case 1 and 5.5 to 0 in case 2. The physician assessed the MONARCH
score as +09 and +10 for cases 1 and 2, signifying strong causal attribution to Phosphorus prescribed in both cases. Individualised homoeopathic treatment caused improvement
in AA along with general well-being. Systematic research with a larger sample size
would be required to confirm observations of these two cases.
Keywords
alopecia areata - homoeopathy - individualised medicine - MYMOP2 - Modified Naranjo
criteria - SALT score - Phosphorus
