We all know the different ill effects of smoking. Recently, scientists have given us another reason not to smoke. Researchers say this bad habit can make you bald.
This hair-raising story comes from Taiwanese scientists from the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in Taipei. After studying over 700 men aged 40 and above, they declared that the more you smoke, the more likely you’ll become bald.
While quitting will spare you from the other horrors of smoking, researchers said it won’t make any difference with regards to baldness. They found that the risk remained elevated even in those who kicked the habit - all the more reason why you shouldn’t start smoking in the first place.
The study, published in the journal Archives of Dermatology, looked into the history of the subjects - when they started smoking, how long they smoked, when they started losing hair, and their family history.
In addition to this, their height and weight were measured and blood samples were taken and analyzed. The results are enough to make your hair stand.
“It revealed a clear link between smoking and hair loss, with the heaviest smokers being most likely to suffer from male pattern baldness, even when a family history of the condition was taken into account,” according to Fiona Macrae of the Daily Mail.
“Those who smoked 20 cigarettes or more a day were more than twice as likely to have moderate or severe hair loss as those who had never smoked,” she added.
How is this possible? Researchers believe that smoking harms hair cells and somehow affects the circulation of blood and hormones in that area.
Currently, there are over seven million British men suffering from hair loss. Male pattern baldness or genetic hair loss develops gradually over the years. The bad news is that the condition runs in the family.
“The male pattern baldness form of androgenetic alopecia (there is also female pattern baldness) accounts for more than 95 percent of hair loss in men. By age 35, two-thirds of American men will have some degree of appreciable hair loss and by age 50 approximately 85 percent of men have significantly thinning hair. About 25 percent of men who suffer from male pattern baldness begin the painful process before they reach 21,” revealed the editors of WebMD and the American Hair Loss Association.
“Contrary to societal belief, most men who suffer from male pattern baldness are extremely unhappy with their situation and would do anything to change it. Hair loss affects every aspect of their life. It affects interpersonal relationships as well as their professional life. It is not uncommon for men to change their career paths because of hair loss,” they added.
The good news is you don’t have to put up with this problem. For the fullest, most natural-looking hair possible, go to the specialists at Hair Restoration Doctors Ohio.
