Living with Marie Unna syndrome
A rare inherited hair loss condition with little hair at birth, coarse hair in childhood, and more hair loss after puberty.
Understanding Marie Unna syndrome
Babies are born with little or no scalp hair, eyebrows, or eyelashes. Hair becomes coarse and wiry in childhood. Hair loss then gets worse starting around puberty.
Signs & symptoms
Symptoms vary from person to person. GARD lists these among the most common:
- Sparse or no scalp hair
- Coarse, wiry hair
- Missing or sparse eyebrows
- Sparse or missing eyelashes
- Progressive hair loss (alopecia)
Not everyone has every symptom. GARD's list comes from the Human Phenotype Ontology.
Diagnosis
- 1Talk with your doctor
Share the symptoms you've noticed, when they started and your family health history. Notes and photos can help.
- 2See a specialist
Specialists who may be involved include genetic specialists and skin, hair, and nail specialists.
- 3Ask which tests can help
Your care team will decide which exams and tests can confirm the diagnosis.
Care & treatment
- Care team
- Genetic specialists (geneticists); Skin, hair, and nail specialists (dermatologists)
- Expert care
- Ask about multidisciplinary care centers for rare conditions
- Treatment
- GARD doesn't list specific treatments for this condition. Your care team will tailor care to your symptoms.
- Research
- Clinical trials and observational studies may be options. See the research section below.
General information, not medical advice. Your care team makes the decisions.
Everyday life
Living with a rare condition is easier with support.
- Connect with Children's Skin Disease Foundation
- Keep notes on symptoms, changes and questions for appointments
- Ask about patient registries that help research
- Look into financial aid and travel resources for care visits
Quick facts
Changes in genes (also called variants) cause this condition. It is inherited in an autosomal dominant way, so a change in one copy of the gene can be enough.
Also known as: hr hypotrichosis; hypotrichosis caused by mutation in hr; hypotrichosis, marie unna type; marie unna congenital hypotrichosis; marie unna hereditary hypotrichosis; muhh
Patient organizations
- Children's Skin Disease FoundationSkin diseases · United States
Broader rare-disease groups
- Global GenesRare Diseases · United States
- National Organization for Rare DisordersRare Diseases · United States
- Genetic AllianceRare Diseases · United States
- RARE FoundationRare Diseases · United States
You are more than your diagnosis
Perspectives from people navigating life with Marie Unna syndrome.
Explore research for Marie Unna syndrome
Explore actively recruiting Marie Unna syndrome studies with HealthSpark.
Find actively recruiting studies for Marie Unna syndrome with HealthSpark. Share your city to explore research near you.
- Recruiting studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
- Share your city to look for research near you
- Eligibility is confirmed by the study team
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Powered by HealthSpark, our AI chat helper · Study information from ClinicalTrials.gov · Eligibility is confirmed by the study team.
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