Doubled risk of heart disease for bald-headed men

By Francis Kagolo and Agencies

Men who go bald on the crown of the head also have their risk of heart disease increased by a half, scientists have discovered.

Researchers at Tokyo University discovered that men with the classic bald spot were 52% more likely to have coronary artery disease than those with a full head of hair.true

Their study, involving almost 40,000 men, showed that those whose hairlines were only receding were 22% more at risk of heart disease.

The researchers reviewed six studies, including three in which the health of balding men was tracked for at least 11 years.

The findings which have been published in the online journal BMJ Open, show that men with both receding hairlines and crown-top baldness were 69% more likely to suffer coronary artery disease than those who have their hair distribution rate intact.

It showed that men who had lost most of their hair were a third more likely to develop coronary artery disease than their peers who retained a full head of hair.

In men under the age of 55-60, a similar pattern emerged. Bald or extensively balding men were 44% more likely to develop coronary artery disease.

Heart disease is on the increase in Uganda mainly due to poor lifestyle.

Dr. John Omangino, the executive director of the Uganda Heart Institute, says isolated studies show that 20% of the people in some communities have high blood pressure and one in every five adults has various heart problems.

Heart disease has always been related to stress, obesity and poor lifestyle, including smoking and heavy drinking.

Doctors do not yet fully understand the link between baldness and coronary artery disease.

Omangino says this is the first time for scientists to associate the disease to baldness, adding: “The question is, can we explain why and how it happens?”

Dr. Wilson Nayakoojo of the same institute says baldness is due to excessive testosterone, a hormone responsible for the development of male reproductive tissues such as the testes and sexual characteristics like increased muscle and bone mass.

Tokyo University experts equally noted that men with high levels of testosterone are more likely to lose their hair, especially if baldness already runs in the family, and thus, linked testosterone to heart disease.

The hormone can damage hair follicles.

UK media quoted Dr. Anita Thomas of the University of Bristol as saying that the Tokyo findings echoed research in 2000 showing men with a bald patch had double the risk of heart conditions.