Genetics

I know there are a lot of theories on why some people have trich and why other don't. Over the last few months I've been learning a lot about trich and speaking to friends and family about it for the first time. After learning how many members on my mom's side of the family suffer from trich to at least some degree, I find it hard to believe that there is no connection (at least in some cases).

This weekend my cousin from Florida was in town and at some point I brought up my trich. Once again I was shocked to learn that she never noticed I was missing eyebrows and eyelashes. And once again I was shocked to learn that she also pulls out eyebrow hair. She doesnt pull them all out but she confessed that she never uses tweezers or has to wax her eyebrows b/c she keeps them pretty thin and trim on her own.

So now the family that I know about that suffers from trich consists of:
1. My mom- pulled out her eyelashes for years
2. My aunt "B"(mom's sister)- pulls out her head hair when she is stressed
3. My cousin("B"s daughter)- pulls her eyebrow hairs
4. My great uncle (my moms uncle- her mothers brother)- we arent completely sure what he pulled but we know he at least pulled his head hair.
5. My second (?) cousin (great uncles granddaughter- not sure the exact relation)- pulled out all of her hair for decades.

While this may not seem like a ton of people- I have a pretty small family and these are only the ones I know about. Odd, huh? And so bizarre that most of us never realized others suffered from the same thing. It can't just be a coincidence.

>Reason #21- if trich can be genetic, I need to know how to stop so that I will be able to help my child and so he/she wont spent as much time suffering from this disease as I have.