Link between Baldness and Coronary Heart Disease
There are numerous solutions to tackle the problem of male pattern baldness. Remedies range from medication to hair transplants. But recent research studies reveal association between baldness and heart disease.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo conducted in-depth studies into previous research involving 37,000 people and found evidence of heart disease in 32 percent of men who suffered from balding.
The findings also suggested that men who lost hair on top of their heads were more prone to suffer from coronary heart disease while men who experienced a receding hair line did not exhibit same high risk factors.
The study results were published in the BMJ Open an online journal. Dr. Tomohide Yamada, of the University of Tokyo said that the link between baldness starting on top of the head or in the crown region and heart disease was prominent.
While talking about the reasons, the researchers revealed that the condition may be related to increased sensitivity to male hormones; insulin resistance - a precursor to diabetes; inflammation in blood vessels and increased sensitivity to testosterone. These maybe the cause for baldness and heart disease.
Dr. Yamada said that this research is focused on advocating the necessity for following a healthy lifestyle and not on thickness of hair. Consuming a low-fat diet, doing more exercise and holding on to less stress will help people combat causes which lead to coronary diseases.
The researchers looked at four differing grades of baldness to make their study thorough - none; frontal; crown-top and combined.
Men who experienced both frontal and crown-top baldness were 69 percent more likely to suffer from coronary artery disease when compared to men with a full crop of hair. Those with just crown-top baldness were 52 percent more likely to suffer from heart disease. The figure is less in case of men with only frontal baldness which stands at 22 percent.
Considering crown top or vertex baldness - Extensive vertex baldness boosted the risk by 48 percent, moderate vertex baldness by 36 percent and mild vertex baldness by 18 percent. A receding hairline made very little difference to risk.
Skipping all technical details and statistics, we can conclude that the association with CHD depends on the severity of vertex baldness and also exists among younger men. The study infers that vertex baldness may be linked more to atherosclerosis than frontal baldness. However more research is needed to establish the association between male pattern baldness and CHD.
But the study highlights the importance of cardiovascular risk factors which should be reviewed carefully in men with vertex baldness, especially younger men. In case baldness symptoms start at an earlier age they can be encouraged to improve their life style and reduce cardiovascular risk factors.
Hairfear
