Men may dread losing their hair, but at least they know it’s not going to kill them. Or is it? Last week, new research linked male-pattern baldness — the most common type of baldness, which affects around half of all men by the age of 50 — to an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
The U.S. study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, found that those who lose hair at the front of their heads and have moderate hair-thinning on the crown were 40 per cent more likely to develop a fast-growing tumour in their prostate than men with a full head of hair.
‘This is the latest evidence to affirm a link between male-pattern baldness and prostate cancer that has been known for some time,’ says Chris Eden, a consultant urologist based at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford.
‘Male-pattern baldness, which tends to run in families, can be linked to higher levels of circulating male hormones such as testosterone. These cause hair follicles on the head to become thinner, weaker and eventually stop producing hair.
‘We also know that prostate cancer is fuelled by testosterone, so there is a common denominator in both.’
This latest finding adds to a growing body of research linking baldness to health, with hair loss often the first sign that something is amiss. Nor is it just men who are affected.
Around eight million women in Britain suffer from hair loss, and while it’s well-known low iron levels are often to blame (iron is needed to produce new hair), immune disorders such as lupus, and polycystic ovary syndrome, a hormonal disorder, can lead to thinning locks.
Here, the experts reveal what going bald can reveal about our health, Daily Mail informs.
