title: Alopecia areata and vitiligo - partners in crime or a case of false alibis.
abstract: It has long been appreciated in science that correlation does not imply causation. However, with any logical fallacy, simply spotting that the reasoning behind an argument is faulty does not imply that the resulting conclusion is false. Thus, I begin the tricky business of exploring the basis upon which researchers and clinicians are often tempted to conclude that two medical conditions (here alopecia areata and vitiligo), with some striking resemblances, are in fact related. This is relevant, particularly if assumptions of shared aetiology (and to some extent shared pathomechanism) encourage a common strategy to finding a treatment or cure.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Skin Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire, Great Britain.
authors.forename: Desmond J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Tobin
mesh_terms: D000506:Alopecia Areata / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D006801:Humans; D014820:Vitiligo / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology
keywords: alopecia areata; autoimmunity; comorbidity; melanocyte; vitiligo