Is baldness linked to heart disease?

According to recent research men who go bald or grey young are five times more likely to develop heart disease.

The study was conducted by Dr Dhammdeep Humane, of the UN Mehta Institute. His research analysed 790 men with Coronary heart disease who were under 40 and 1,270 healthy men in the same age group. At the end of the study they were given a male pattern baldness score of 0-3, corresponding to the level of baldness. As well as that scale, they were given a score of 1-5 according to the percentage of their hair turning white, and then they underwent blood and heart tests.

The study found that 50% of men with coronary heart disease were going grey early, compared with the healthy group with only 30% going grey early. In the unhealthy group, 49% had had male pattern baldness, compared to 27% in the controlled group. These results showed that men with premature baldness or greying then they were 5x more likely to develop some sort of heart disease. Compare this to the obesity risk and that only had a 4x greater risk.

Therefore, if you notice that your hair is going grey or bald earlier than expected, the best thing to do is to monitor yourself and get some tests at your local doctors. Baldness and greying is something that you can stop and heart disease is something that can be monitored.