Jen,

It's interesting that the focus has been on breastfeeding and not on 
finding the underlying cause of this woman's alopecia.  It sounds like she 
needs to get to the "root" of the problem. :O)

My initial thought was that it could be due to an autoimmune condition 
which flares up postpartum, as you've suggested.  Celiac disease is a 
possibility- a symptom of CD is alopecia areata.  This is easy to screen 
for with a blood test: tissue transglutaminase antibodies (tTG) plus total 
serum IgA.

However, I'm biased when it comes to CD because of the high rate in my own 
family.  It could be due to many other factors which need to be 
investigated until the cause is found.

Suzanne Nurse, PhD
LLL Leader

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