How Tall Are You? A Man's Height May Predict Chances Of Premature Hair Loss
One morning, most men will wake up, look in the mirror, and notice they're losing their hair. More than half of men will experience appreciable hair loss by the age of 50, known as male pattern baldness, or androgenetic alopecia. Now, science suggests there's a type of man that's more likely to go bald than the rest of his peers: a short, white man.
In the video, "Are short men more likely to go bald?" Yahoo explains men who are short appear to have an increased risk of premature hair loss. A recent study in Nature Communications identified 63 alterations in the human genome that predict hair loss risk in men. Some of these alterations were linked with characteristics or illnesses, such as early puberty, heart disease, and prostate cancer. Genes related to "reduced body size," or having a small stature, were also connected to baldness.
Read More: 7 Causes Of Male Hair Loss And How To Treat It
However, the German study conducted at Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Bonn has emphasized that the link between baldness and short stature isn't clear. The researchers theorize it may be linked to early puberty, and the earlier fusing of growth plates in their bones.
“We have also found links to light skin color and increased bone density,” said Professor Markus Nöthen, Director of the Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Bonn, in a statement.
He believes this could explain why men with hair loss are better at using sunlight to absorb vitamin D, and why white men tend to lose their hair prematurely.
Yet, not enough is known about the association between baldness and other conditions. The increased risk for the stated conditions are small. The findings do offer new insights into the biological causes of hair loss via identifying the genes involved.
Short, pale men, do not tear your hair out — science still has a lot of work to do.
See Also:
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