Potential proof of the link between health and hair loss?

bluejay

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Proof of a link between health and hair loss

If you do a quick search for "balding crown risk" you will find that a lot of new research is coming out linking heart disease with crown thinning. Basically stating that men with crown thinning are more likely to develop heart disease, HOWEVER men with receding hair lines ONLY presented no such risk at all. Isn't that insane? Why wouldn't all forms of hair loss be linked to heart disease? Obviously crown thinning without a receding hair line is a different case. I believe the thinning crown is a symptom of a health problem; this is finally being proven without a doubt. Insulin resistance and diabetes are also linked. One cause of diabetes is vitamin D deficiency; I've noticed how indian/middle-easterners usually thin on the crown only. Look up any balding crown only story and 8/10 its a brown-skinned person. People with darker skin have a harder time absorbing vitamin d of course. Another cause of insulin resistance is severe psychological stress. My dad is indian and had diabetes; he began to loss his hair from the top. Same thing with me; I haven't receded an inch, yet my crown loss was pretty bad. His 2 brothers that didn't migrate to Canada both have full long hair (the oldest is pushing 70). SO I think if you have both a family history of diabetes or heart disease AND are living an unhealthy lifestyle then your crown may thin as a result. I don't know really...what do you guys think? Does this finally prove the link between hair-loss and lifestyle/conditions not associated to male pattern baldness?

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/258601.php

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-840/Heart-disease-link-baldness.html

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/04April/Pages/baldness-heart-disease-link.aspx

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130403200156.htm
 

Afro_Vacancy

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My skin type is Fitzpatrick IV and I've had a BMI>30 for most of the past ten years, and my hair loss thus far is almost entirely in the hairline and temples rather than the crown.

IMO, this proves nothing. Weak correlation does not prove definitive causation.

Guess: I think the sensitivity of crown hair and hairline hair has a slightly different functional dependence on hormone distribution. It's not all DHT.
 

bluejay

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My skin type is Fitzpatrick IV and I've had a BMI>30 for most of the past ten years, and my hair loss thus far is almost entirely in the hairline and temples rather than the crown.

IMO, this proves nothing. Weak correlation does not prove definitive causation.

First of all, if you have no family history of heart disease or diabetes; this has no relation to you. I also made it clear that this only applies to those whose hairloss started with crown thinning (such as myself). 2nd; a 36% chance increase in developing heart disease in people with thinning crowns is no weak correlation. If you have high cholesterol levels and crown baldness the cardiac risks triples. Absolutely no correlation was found with heart disease and receding hairlines. So this all some crazy coincidence to you?



- - - Updated - - -

For example look at this guy

http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/showthread.php/93977-20-years-old-2-months-on-big3

He added omega 3 supplements to his routine (mentioned in page 4); omega 3 is known to counter-balance high levels of omega-6 fatty acids. High levels of omega 6 in the diet is associated with chronic inflammation and insulin resistance. He practically regrew his entire head of hair in a dramatically short time-span. And this next guy completely overhauled his lifestyle and started exercising; which is known to lower the risks of heart disease. He also reversed his thinning crown WITHOUT the big 3:

http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=10&threadid=100832
 

Fall

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I always knew about the causal correlation between diabetes and hair loss.

It is intersting that the link is made like this: Balding crown >> chronic heart disease and not chronic heart disease >> Balding crown. This pretty much means to me that there is no causal connection proven between these so far. More interesting would be to know the reasons for this possible link.
 

bluejay

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It is intersting that the link is made like this: Balding crown >> chronic heart disease and not chronic heart disease >> Balding crown. This pretty much means to me that there is no causal connection proven between these so far. More interesting would be to know the reasons for this possible link.

Actually the way its presented in these articles is that crown baldness (especially at a young age) is a potential sign that you are at risk & may develop heart disease. As for the reasons..yeah nothing has been discussed. Maybe because the heart reduces its supply of blood flow to the top of the scalp because of the tightening of arteries. That would explain why minoxidil is shown to be more effective on the crown since it is said to promote more circulation in that area. Also interesting seeing how minoxidil began its development as a medication to treat high blood pressure.
 

polo

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Hi, I'm a long time lurker on here. I am Indian and experiencing crown loss only with minimal hair line shed. I've also got a Vitamin D deficiency. The reason why us South Asians usually have a vitamin D deficiency is because most western countries don't get much sun, so white and lighter skinned people have adapted and do not need as much vitamin D. I've been to India and also observed there is a much lower percent of guys there with hair loss, whereas South Asian guy here in he UK have higher rates of hair loss. So it could be the case. I also don't believe DHT is the cause of Hair loss because as men grow older we usually have a higher risk of going bald and as we all know, testosterone decreases with age. Also minoxidil increases blood flow, DHT is carried in blood....why would something that increases DHT grow hair, when the male pattern baldness theory states the opposite. I've done some research and a user on a forum showed studies that there was a lack of oxygen in the balding parts of the head, I'll look for the study he posted. Vitamin D carries oxygen in the blood. Study done by Dr. John Cannell of the Vitamin D, (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links to a study). So OP you could be correct in that.
 

Armando Jose

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Hi polo, wellcome
You can link to a study without problem, we need information :)
BTW which type is your hair, thick and not very dense? Have you a whorl in the crown?

Cheers
 

polo

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Hi polo, wellcome
You can link to a study without problem, we need information :)
BTW which type is your hair, thick and not very dense? Have you a whorl in the crown?

Cheers

https://www.lens.org/lens/patent/US_5480889_A/fulltext

[00054] Overall, scalp blood flow of control subjects was significantly greater than that of male pattern baldness subjects. Klemp et al., using a Xenon washout technique, also found that subcutaneous blood flow to normal scalps was greater than that of male pattern baldness patients. In addition, the present study was also able to document that the temporal blood flow is significantly greater than the frontal blood flow in male pattern baldness subjects; while in control subjects there was no significant difference between frontal and temporal regions. Also, there was no significant difference between blood flow to the temporal regions in male pattern baldness subjects and controls. Finally, a previously unknown local tissue hypoxia in bald scalp compared to hair bearing scalp was identified.

Hi here is the study, where they observed hypoxic tissue (oxygen deficient) in balding areas. This is why minoxidil works, increases blood flow-increasing oxygen, increasing blood flow should technically increase DHT but using minoxidil we don't lose any hair, so the DHT theory doesn't really make sense. DHT may also have a part to play as finasteride works but it's not the main cause.

I'm thinning at the crown, it's not noticeable yet, as I've been using minoxdil. My hair is thick and not dense. I can get away with looking like I have a full head of hair, but it has been thinning.
 

bluejay

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If you do a search for "balding crown risk", that's confirmation bias

Actually I just googled balding crown the first time and it came up; I seriously would have never expected this, it was a pretty big shock. So (even though I find this expression annoying) your argument is completely invalid. Either way it wouldn't be confirmation bias since the studies have been conducted, the results calculated with the completed work peer-reviewed before being approved for publishing.
 

logikmtr

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Actually I just googled balding crown the first time and it came up; I seriously would have never expected this, it was a pretty big shock. So (even though I find this expression annoying) your argument is completely invalid. Either way it wouldn't be confirmation bias since the studies have been conducted, the results calculated with the completed work peer-reviewed before being approved for publishing.

I was being cheeky at first. But if you want to get technical, it's not completely invalid. If you previously believed something, even in the smallest amount, and you looked for information that proves you right, and then you cite that work as proof, that is indeed confirmation bias.

However, if you didn't have any previous beliefs here, then it wasn't. Your first post didn't say either way.

Incidentally, I may be slightly autistic.
 

Afro_Vacancy

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Regarding hormones:

It's interesting that the androgen receptor blocker RU58851, has heart problems as a commonly stated anecdotal side effect.
 

InBeforeTheCure

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I also don't believe DHT is the cause of Hair loss because as men grow older we usually have a higher risk of going bald and as we all know, testosterone decreases with age.

no androgens = no male pattern baldness

This was proven many decades ago.
 

abcdefg

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Regarding hormones:

It's interesting that the androgen receptor blocker RU58851, has heart problems as a commonly stated anecdotal side effect.

There are androgen receptors all over your body its not just specific to hair so if it went systemic who knows what that does.
With androgens we are still left guessing a lot about androgen receptor layouts and the density/sensitivity of ones in say the front/temples verses the other areas of the head. Does testosterone play any role at all? I dont know but its pretty hard to argue at this point male pattern baldness is almost completely androgen mediated disease. It all adds up really how many women have beards and back hair? Not many. Sensitivity to androgens may increase with age again we dont know
 

Armando Jose

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https://www.lens.org/lens/patent/US_5480889_A/fulltext

[00054] Overall, scalp blood flow of control subjects was significantly greater than that of male pattern baldness subjects. Klemp et al., using a Xenon washout technique, also found that subcutaneous blood flow to normal scalps was greater than that of male pattern baldness patients. In addition, the present study was also able to document that the temporal blood flow is significantly greater than the frontal blood flow in male pattern baldness subjects; while in control subjects there was no significant difference between frontal and temporal regions. Also, there was no significant difference between blood flow to the temporal regions in male pattern baldness subjects and controls. Finally, a previously unknown local tissue hypoxia in bald scalp compared to hair bearing scalp was identified.

Hi here is the study, where they observed hypoxic tissue (oxygen deficient) in balding areas. This is why minoxidil works, increases blood flow-increasing oxygen, increasing blood flow should technically increase DHT but using minoxidil we don't lose any hair, so the DHT theory doesn't really make sense. DHT may also have a part to play as finasteride works but it's not the main cause.

I'm thinning at the crown, it's not noticeable yet, as I've been using minoxdil. My hair is thick and not dense. I can get away with looking like I have a full head of hair, but it has been thinning.

Hi, the patent is more than 20 years old, and no treatment was made.... probably due at not an efficiency treatment. Words are words and facts are facts.

BTW My bet in your type of hair was correct, acording to my idea the crown is one of the more problematic area for common baldness, because hairs are changing its direction and avoid the physic contact among them and sebum flow is deteriorated easily. My theory is that problems with sebum flow is the first step in common baldness.

If you are interested, this is my work
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15142661

Have a nice day
 

bluejay

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Right, it's androgens + genetics (androgenetic alopecia).

The only link I found with androgens and heart disease is that lower testosterone levels in ageing men has been linked to poor cardio vascular health. So why is there such a strong correlation between thinning crowns and heart disease? You really believe that they are in no way related?
 

lessloss

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I wonder if the general heart/ circulation/ hair grow problems have a lot to with the depositing of plaque such as sticky lipids and calcification. Of course this would effect the circulation of the body, scalp and hair growth.
 
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