Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Common baldness myths

There are many myths regarding the possible causes of baldness and its relationship with one's virility, intelligence, ethnicity, job, social class, wealth etc. Most of them can be dismissed by the existence of many counterexamples or by a lack of sufficient scientific research.
Some of these myths are:
"Intellectual activity or psychological problems can cause baldness."
This myth probably was inspired by the fact that the human brain is located inside the skull, very close and just below where hair grows, and so it was thought that the use and abuse as well as mental diseases could have negative effect on hair growth and number.
This is sometimes used as a stereotype in movies, where the more intellectual or rather frustrated characters are most usually portrayed as bald and generally unattractive, as opposed to the main characters which are usually portrayed as attractive, fit, mentally stable and generally with no apparent hair problems.
This same myth normally extends to considering people having intellectual jobs more prone to baldness problems compared to manual laborers, sometimes further extending the myth to male college or university students when compared to workers of the same age. The myth is suspect because counterexamples can be found in any case.
"Baldness can be caused by emotional stress, sexual frustration etc."
While emotional stress can have a part in causing baldness, again it is easy to find counterexamples like non-frustrated and non-stressed people with hair loss problems as well as stressed and/or frustrated people with no hair loss problem at all. This myth also suggests that a vicious circle between hair loss and emotional stress/sexual frustration can take place, although only one part of it can be scientifically explained (hair loss causing low esteem and then frustration, but not vice versa).
"Bald men are more "virile" or sexually active than others."
This myth probably stems from the fact that some forms of baldness in some predisposed individuals are caused by androgens, and removal of androgens (by castration) prevents baldness or stops it from progressing further. Yet counterexamples can be found, like men with perfect hairlines and similar levels of androgens or men with sensitivity to androgens causing hair loss but which are not very sexually active.
"Shaving hair makes it grow back stronger"
Proposed as a popular remedy against baldness, it's very probably just an illusion similar to the one perceived after shaving one's beard or mustache. Shaving one's head doesn't increase the number of healthy hair present on the scalp, and, when the remaining hair has grown a few millimeters, no enhancement in thickness or overall quality can be observed.
"Some human races or ethnic groups are less prone to baldness problems then others."
It is true that by observing many pictures of men of European descent and then comparing them to pictures of men of Asian or American Indian descent it is very likely that a random observer will deduce that baldness problems seem to be much more frequent among the "European" group than in the "Asian" one.
Similar observations can be done regarding the people living in most Western countries when compared to people living in "underdeveloped" or Third World countries, but lacking any official anthropological, medical and scientific research to back them up, such observations degenerate into a racial/social stereotype.
A very similar stereotype exists even between the various European ethnic groups, when comparing people of Southern European descent with those of Northern European, Germanic or Slavic origins, with the stereotype summarily describing the "Southern Europeans" as darker-skinned, with more body hair, with the women more prone to cellulite problems and the men more prone to baldness, a stereotype probably developed under times of war or diplomatic tensions between European countries.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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