For some time, the state of health of the former prime minister, Edouard Philippe, talks. Indeed, after appearing with white spots in the beard, he ended up revealing that he had alopecia and vitiligo. The first pathology is characterized by hair loss, and hair in general. On the other hand, vitiligo is defined by depigmentation of the epidermis.
Recently, the mayor of Le Havre has again been the source of discussions after appearing with completely white beard and hair, without eyebrows or mustache. On February 2, he answered these many questions by referring to his illness with BFMTV.
Alopecia: a pathology “neither painful, nor dangerous, nor contagious”
“I have what is called alopecia. I have lost my eyebrows and I don’t think they will come back. My beard has turned white and she falls a little. My hair is falling too the mustache is gone“, he shared at the microphone of BFMTV.
However, the former prime minister says he is living well with his illness, which he describes as “neither painful, nor dangerous, nor contagious, nor serious“. Thus, if his physique has changed a lot lately, his physical form was not affected. He would like to point out that this disease can occur at any age et so consider yourself lucky to have it at an age when a lot of men are losing their hair. “Losing your hair at 52 is fine, it’s not a subject. But there are people who are stricken with alopecia at 15, it’s not the same story at all. It’s easy for me, I’m lucky,” he said.
Alopecia: what are the causes of this disease?
During his interview, Edouard Philippe was also asked about the causes of this disease. He cites stress as the reason, cited by his doctors. “Yes, I confirm that I have a stressful life. Obviously you are stressed when you exercise responsibilities”, he shared. If his political functions and his stress due to his former status as Prime Minister may have accelerated this pathologyhe specifies: “Perhaps this would have happened even if I had not been Prime Minister and had remained mayor of Le Havre for 3 years.”
And the stress is indeed a risk factor for developing alopecia, there are other possible causes. We find in particular:
- heredity.
- A bad nutrition : sugar notably promotes hair loss.
- Certain medications : this is particularly the case for treatments against cancer, anticoagulants or even antiepileptics.
- The tobacco : the latter has a deleterious effect on the scalp and increases their risk of falling.
- Hair pulls : pigtails, buns, brushings or straightening are just as many techniques that damage the hair in the long term and can thus promote its loss.