Charles Institute Seminar Series 2023-24: Psycho-trichology - a new paradigm in hair loss management with Guest Speaker Prof. Yuliya Ovcharenko
Date of Talk: Wednesday 22 May 2024 @ 12pm
Location: Online Via Zoom
Talk Title: Psycho-trichology - a new paradigm in hair loss management
Speaker Details: Prof. Yuliya Ovcharenko
Department of Infectious Diseases & Clinical Immunology, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, UKRAINE
Short Biography:
Yuliya Ovcharenko is Professor of the Karazin Kharkiv National University, Head of the University Clinic Trichology Institute and currently President of the Ukrainian Hair Research Society, Treasurer of International Trichoscopy Society, a former Board Member of the European Hair Research Society. Her main professonal directions: trichoscopy, psychotrichology, alopecia areata, androgenetic alopecia, and hair loss in children. She is author and co-author of over 100 scientific publications, 5 patents of Ukraine, national clinical guidelines, and 7th books on hair.
Abstract for talk:
The occurrence and recurrence of a number of chronic diseases encountered in dermatotrichological practice are clinically evidently influenced by psychogenic influences. Atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, hyperhidrosis, chronic telogen effluvium, and alopecia areata are examples of this link. However, modern research data show that the majority of hair diseases, which were previously classified as psychosomatic, have a genetic and immunological basis. The influence of psychogenic factors on a sequence of immunological events that cause a worsening of trichopathy can be interpreted as indicating a close relationship between psycho-factors and the major pathogenetic pathways.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that there is a range of nosogenic reactions aggravating of the disease in patients with psychosomatic hair pathology. It can be explained by socially significant localization, as well as by its recurrent nature, resistance to therapy. At the same time, trichological symptoms have a psycho-traumatic effect, triggering a torpid course of the disease as well as forming new waves of exacerbations. This cascade of reactions provokes a self-perpetuating vicious cycle. Thus, psychiatric disorders are closely integrated into the overall clinical presentation of hair diseases.