– Annie Kazmi, 33, tells her daughter Noori's story. Then Noori tells her own.
…Mr. Kelley, now 43, has alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that causes the body to attack its own hair follicles. Alopecia, which does not include normal male-pattern baldness, affects nearly 2 percent of the global population and has no universally effective treatment. Its progression is unpredictable and can range from a few bald patches to a completely hairless scalp to the loss of every hair on a person's body — known as alopecia universalis. Sometimes the hair regrows, sometimes it does not, and sometimes it grows in only to fall out again years later.
The associated "Ask an Expert About Alopecia" gives New York Times' readers the opportunity to have their questions regarding alopecia answered by Dr. Maria Hordinsky, chair of the dermatology department at the University of Minnesota.