Research presented at the 69th Annual Conference of the Cardiological Society of India argued that male-pattern baldness and premature greying are associated with a more than fivefold risk of heart disease before the age of 40 years.
Thinning on top, or even going grey before you should, was suggested by researchers to be a greater risk factor for heart disease in men than even obesity.
"The incidence of coronary artery disease in young men is increasing but cannot be explained by traditional risk factors," said author Dr Sachin Patil, explaining the thought behind the study.
The research involved 790 men aged less than 40 years with coronary artery disease and 1 270 age-matched healthy men who acted as a control group.
The findings revealed that men with coronary artery diseases were far more often greying (50% versus 30%) or showing male-pattern baldness (49% versus 27%) compared to those in the control group.
Of course, such a relationship doesn't prove that being bald/grey
causes heart disease — it just suggests a striking correlation between the two phenomena.
According to
Science Daily, "the researchers found that young men with coronary artery disease had a higher prevalence of premature greying (50% versus 30%) and male-pattern baldness (49% versus 27%) compared to healthy controls."
Other factors such as smoking, or a family history of heart disease, also increased the risk — but nothing showed as a close a correlation to heart disease as early greying/balding.
