Researchers have found that smoking cigarettes is one of the
factors that help cause the most common form of hereditary male
baldness or hair loss.
(file photo from
Xinhua)
Smoking may destroy hair follicles, interfere with the way blood
and hormones are circulated in the scalp or increase the production
of estrogen, said Lin-Hui Su of the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital
and Tony Hsiu-Hsi Chen of Taiwan University in Taipei in a study in
the November issue of the Archives of Dermatology.
A look at 740 men in Taiwan with an average age of 65 found
cigarette use played an important role "in the development of
moderate or severe" hair loss, Su and Chin said, in cases where the
men smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day.
But generally speaking the risk of androgenic alopecia -- the
common male hair loss that occurs in various patterns -- was slower
among the Asian men than among "persons of white race/ethnicity" as
measured by previous studies elsewhere.
The study recommended that men showing early signs of hair loss
should be advised about the role smoking can play to prevent
further progression.
Three previous studies on the impact of smoking produced
inconsistent results, it added.
(Agencies via Xinhua November 20, 2007)
