Not To Freak Anyone Out But It Might Be

[yetti]

good to know.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-42164898

 

[Rudiger]

For some reason I thought it was a positive "freak out" and something amazing just happened in the research section, and it made it to mainstream news.

 

[Saulus]

See it from the positive side

Shorter life expectancy = no need for hairfolicle management

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

I wonder what @macaroni thinks about this.

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

The part about greying hair is new information for me, but I think that we've known for a while that balding men are more likely to get sick, from both heart disease and prostate cancer. It's also known that male pattern baldness is correlated with insulin resistance / type-II diabetes.

That doesn't mean that eating sugar accelerates baldness. It could mean that, it could also mean that bald men have like the taste of sugar more, or that they're more sensitive to sugar. Someone should look into it.

My own instinct here is simply that bald men differ from other men in aspects beyond having more androgen receptors on their scalp. It's known that many genes have multiple roles in the body. The hundreds of genes that contribute to baldness likely contribute to other things as well.

 

[IdealForehead]

See it from the positive side

Shorter life expectancy = no need for hairfolicle management

Shorter life expectancy = fewer years of misery and horrible life

I'm okay with this.

Don't think it will actually affect me though since I eat super healthy, exercise, and I'm a good body weight. My cholesterol was very good last I had it checked.

My dad went aggressively bald in his teens and twenties. He's over 70 now and still in perfect health except I think only taking crestor, coversyl, and something for his prostate. Not bad for a guy his age. He's still working and very active. No heart or serious issues.

His dad was bald as f*** very early in life but also was a hard worker and healthy size with good lifestyle and he made it to his 90s I think if I recall correctly.

Most people who get heart disease - bald or not - are probably fat (bmi over 25), eat like sh*t, smokers, heavy drinkers, and/or do no exercise.

I think I have a better chance of dying from some unknown RU or daro related cancer in the long run. Which I'm also okay with.

 

[Bigbone]

The part about greying hair is new information for me, but I think that we've known for a while that balding men are more likely to get sick, from both heart disease and prostate cancer. It's also known that male pattern baldness is correlated with insulin resistance / type-II diabetes.

That doesn't mean that eating sugar accelerates baldness. It could mean that, it could also mean that bald men have like the taste of sugar more, or that they're more sensitive to sugar. Someone should look into it.

My own instinct here is simply that bald men differ from other men in aspects beyond having more androgen receptors on their scalp. It's known that many genes have multiple roles in the body. The hundreds of genes that contribute to baldness likely contribute to other things as well.

What counts as bald men? Where do you draw the line? I mean a lot of men lose hair.

There might be some truth to this study. But there are plenty of studies like this where they find a correlation in a small sample and it makes the news.

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

What counts as bald men? Where do you draw the line? I mean a lot of men lose hair.

There might be some truth to this study. But there are plenty of studies like this where they find a correlation in a small sample and it makes the news.

I think that there's most definitely truth to this study, as previous studies have yielded similar findings. Insulin resistance / metabolic syndrome / type II diabetes / etc are correlated with male pattern baldness. In studies of the blood of bald men, the most significant correlation that they can find are low levels of SHBG and high levels of fasting insulin ... whereas they find no correlation with testosterone.

My honest best guess is that this is a continuum. The same genes that increase the androgen receptors in the scalp also either make sugar taste better or amplify the negative impacts of sugar.

My second best guess is that bad hair causes either loneliness or inferior relationships, and that this worsens cardiovascular health. This second best guess is definitely true, it's known that men in good relationships tend to be healthier. But I'd be surprised if it were a large enough effect.

 

[Bigbone]

I think that there's most definitely truth to this study, as previous studies have yielded similar findings. Insulin resistance / metabolic syndrome / type II diabetes / etc are correlated with male pattern baldness. In studies of the blood of bald men, the most significant correlation that they can find are low levels of SHBG and high levels of fasting insulin ... whereas they find no correlation with testosterone.

My honest best guess is that this is a continuum. The same genes that increase the androgen receptors in the scalp also either make sugar taste better or amplify the negative impacts of sugar.

My second best guess is that bad hair causes either loneliness or inferior relationships, and that this worsens cardiovascular health. This second best guess is definitely true, it's known that men in good relationships tend to be healthier. But I'd be surprised if it were a large enough effect.

You definitely know a lot more than I do. Shouldn't something like this be easy to prove since balding affects more than half of all the men? Health issues seem to be prioritized higher so I guess there will be some interest in this.

However, I'm always skeptical to small studies like this. For example, I recently read studies about the harm of working night shifts and I found studies that said working night is bad for you, but I found just as many that said that there are no problems. I personally think it does harm you in the long run, but I feel like these researchers can find whatever they want to find.

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

You definitely know a lot more than I do. Shouldn't something like this be easy to prove since balding affects more than half of all the men? Health issues seem to be prioritized higher so I guess there will be some interest in this.

However, I'm always skeptical to small studies like this. For example, I recently read studies about the harm of working night shifts and I found studies that said working night is bad for you, but I found just as many that said that there are no problems. I personally think it does harm you in the long run, but I feel like these researchers can find whatever they want to find.

It's easy to prove if it's a research priority. You could prove it, for example, by taking blood tests of ~100 men at age 30, and compare their hairline (assuming that they've never been on treatments) to various blood parameters. However, that would cost ~$100,000 or ~$200,000 in research funds, hard to get research funding for such a low priority.