Rep. Ayanna Pressley bravely opened up about her alopecia, a condition that affects 7 million Americans but that many hide.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I'm ready now because I want to be freed from the secret.
00:30There are many different types of hair loss or alopecia.
00:35In dermatology, we look at them and classify them into either scarring,
00:42which means that you've lost some hair follicles,
00:45and there's damage to the scalp so the hair doesn't usually grow back.
00:49Or you can have non-scarring alopecia,
00:52where the hair is either thinned with time or you're getting too much shedding.
01:00The most common form of hair loss is purely cosmetic,
01:12and we call that traction alopecia.
01:15It occurs because of a combination of hairstyles that are too tight,
01:20as well as hairstyles that are too tight that are done on hair
01:23that has already been chemically weakened by straightening.
02:00And then just handfuls of hair, just in my hands,
02:04and I was just like, oh my God, am I going bald?