MALE PATTERN BALDNESS MAY BE LINKED TO INCREASED RISK OF HEARD DISEASE

Research linking baldness in men to an increased risk of heart disease received moderate coverage, particularly online, as well as on one of last night's national news broadcasts. Most sources pointed out that the risk was greater among men who had lost more hair. Most articles also pointed out, however, that the researchers could not explain the mechanism behind the link. NBC Nightly News (4/3, story 8, 2:05, Williams, 7.86M) reported that "male pattern baldness" may "be linked to an increased risk of heart disease," according to research published in BMJ Open.

USA Today (4/3, Painter, 1.71M) reports that investigators analyzed data from six studies that included nearly 37,000 men altogether. "On their own, four of the six studies found some statistically significant link between baldness and indicators of heart disease, such as having a heart attack or needing bypass surgery." Still, "the link" is "far weaker than the link between heart disease and well-known risk factors such as smoking, obesity and high blood pressure."

Bloomberg News (4/4, Kitamura) reports, "Three of six studies analyzed tracked the participants' health for at least 11 years. Those studies suggested that men who had lost most of their hair were a third more likely to develop heart disease than peers who retained a full head of hair." Meanwhile, "the other three studies showed that balding men were 70 percent more likely to have heart disease, the researchers found."

The New York Daily News (4/4, Miller, 543K) reports, "The more hair men had lost, the greater their risk - but only if they thinned on the crown of their head."

The U-T San Diego (4/3, Ignelzi, 242K) reports, "Men with both frontal and crown-top baldness were 69 percent more likely to have coronary artery disease than those with a full head of hair, while those with just crown-top baldness were 52 percent more likely to do so." Men "with just frontal baldness were 22 percent more likely to do so."

NBC News (4/4, Carroll) reports on its website, "The findings suggest that men who are losing their hair should head over to the doctor's office and get a check-up, concluded the research team, led by Dr. Tomohide Yamada, a researcher in the department of diabetes and metabolic diseases in the graduate school of medicine at the University of Tokyo."

The Daily Telegraph (UK) (4/4, Collins, 871K) reports, "Although it remains unclear what causes the connection between baldness and the life-threatening condition, researchers said baldness could be a symptom of an underlying condition which causes heart disease such as insulin resistance, chronic inflammation or heightened sensitivity to testosterone."

MedPage Today (4/4, Laino) points out that this "analysis...follows by less than a week a case-control study that linked early onset baldness in African-American men to increased risk of prostate cancer." Also covering the story are BBC News (4/4, Gallagher), the Daily Mail (UK) (4/4, Hope), Heartwire (4/4, O'Riordan), and HealthDay (4/4, Mozes).

POSTED BY: Steven Almany M.D.