Alopecia Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Alopecia, including details on hair loss, baldness, treatment, causes, prevention.

Is baldness bad for the heart?

Gutersohn T, Scheidegger EP

Department of Dermatology, Kantonsspital Aarau, Aarau, Switzerland. thomas@gutersohn.ch

Various skin conditions are considered to be characteristic markers for elevated coronary disease risk. Over and above these established signs there are reports on other skin signs with possible associations with elevated coronary disease risk, i.e. the horizontal earlobe crease, high breast hair density, precocious graying and male pattern hair loss. A review of the literature is presented in this article, and the relevance of these symptoms is discussed as they are related to the possible myocardial disease risk. The available data on this topic are impressive, but on close assessment most of the studies are marred by methodical errors.

Published 28 June 2005 in Dermatology, 211(1): 72-4.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Alopecia Research Today. All Rights Reserved.