June 29 2010, 10:53 am PT | Posted in: Diseases
Snippet from the article:
Like many beauty queens, Kayla Martell is beautiful, blue-eyed and out to support a good cause.
Martell, the newly crowned Miss Delaware 2010, also is completely bald. The 21-year-old pageant winner suffers from alopecia areata, a condition that causes hair loss and afflicts 4.7 million Americans, according to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation.
Sporting a blond wig, Martell beat out 15 other women — all with full heads of hair — to take home the Miss Delaware crown this month.
Read the full story at AOL News — New Miss Delaware Says Bald Is Beautiful
This is quite the inspirational story and should help bring awareness to alopecia areata. She competed four previous times in the pageant before taking home the crown on June 12. Congratulations to Ms. Martell!
There’s also a video available within the article from the CBS Early Show that is worth a view, and you can learn more about the new Miss Delaware at her blog.
Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):
Understanding the numbers:
The number 4.7 million is being used in this news cycle but it is not being expressed accurately. Approximately 1.7% of the US population has a lifetime risk of developing some form of alopecia areata (anything ranging from a one time, transient episode to severe balding) over their lifetime. That’s about 4.7 million people in today’s census. That’s “lifetime risk.”
4.7 million Americans do not have the condition at the same point in time. That number, the statistical prevalance, is much much lower. It is only 0.1% to 0.2% of the current population.
Thea Chassin, president
Bald Girls Do Lunch Inc
The award winning noprofit information and support network for women with alopecia areata.