Guess the secret all these women share

There’s no cure. It can make them too depressed to leave home. Some even hid it from their husbands. Now — over the page — they courageously reveal all...

The youngest is just 14 and the oldest 64. These ten beautiful, confident and strong women have different life stories — but they all have in common one devastating experience: hair loss.

It affects around eight million women in the UK and is believed to be an increasing problem. And yet the psychological impact of hair loss (or alopecia) can be underestimated by the medical community.

Often, women are left to struggle in silence with the stigma and shame that comes with what they perceive as a loss of femininity.

Now, a brave group of women are determined to bring alopecia centrestage and prove that being bald doesn’t mean you are any less beautiful — and that those who suffer are far from alone.

These are some of the ‘Women Warriors’, members of a support group that started after teenager elisha Appleby posted online a heartbreaking film of her mother shaving off the last of elisha’s hair.

The video was spotted by Jolene Casey, who owns a wig company in the North east. She was so moved that she offered to give elisha, then 15, a makeover, to help her feel good about herself again.

Surprised by the difference she made to the teenager’s self esteem, Jolene appealed for other alopecia sufferers to come forward, through her local newspaper. And out of this, the Women Warriors support group was formed. Jolene, 40, a motheroffive from Sunderland, says: ‘Seventeen ladies