Q: About one and a half years back, my wife was having low grade fever which was followed by diplopia in the right eye. The MRI showed a lesion in cerebral region of the brain. The doctor suspected TB for which water was taken from her back but nothing was diagnosed. She was treated by steroids and no biopsy was carried out seeing her age of 31 years. Now she has developed alopecia areata and has lost 40% of her hair for which she is taking treatment from a skin specialist who has prescribed Sternon S. I would like to know whether skin TB is responsible for the hair loss?

A:Alopecia areata has nothing to do with skin tuberculosis. Alopecia areata is a disease of unknown cause for which the suggestion of auto-immunity is often cited. Some people attribute it to stress but that may be too simplistic an explanation. You could continue with dermatologic consultation and I sincerely hope your wife will recover fully.