Studies???

What are "studies"? The studies show that there are 5 million just in the U.S. alone that have Alopecia. Where does this number come from? I ask because I run into so many people that have Alopecia and in THEIR lifetime they probably would have come across no more than 5 they would say. They also would have never heard of the the Alopecia Foundation and the annual conference that they put on...so I'm confused...I mean were they counted in the 5 million or the small percentage of the population??

I do believe that if more people were up front about their hairloss then and only then that the "studies" would have an almost accurate count. So how do we get more people to talk about their hair loss?

I'll keep this question burning as I think of a solution. Until that time, peace!