Baldness and Heart Disease

Earl S. ford, David S. Freedman, and Tim Byers Am J Epidemiol 1996:143;651-657

This study reported a barely significant association between severe baldness and death from heart disease (RR = 2.51, 95% C.I. 1.01- 6.24) but an insignificant association between severe baldness and simply getting heart disease (RR = 1.72, 95% C.I. 0.96-3.08).

However suspect the numbers are, the real problem here is that the authors have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what the biological connection between baldness and heart disease may be.

One would think that, AT MOST, this result may generate a hypothesis for more thorough subsequent testing (that is if you think that baldness is a public health problem). Yet, the authors make the following recommendation:

Because no underlying mechanism has been identified, no direct intervention is currently available, and therefore the question arises about how to counsel a severely bald patient. Cardiovascular risk factors should be reviewed carefully in such patients, who should be encouraged to improve their cardiovascular risk profiles."

Physicians should actually counsel patients based on this study? It would seem that based on these results (insignificant-to-barely significant associations with no biologic plausibility) that, at most, the follicularly-challenged might be encouraged to join the Hair Club for Men.

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