Early Balding May Cut Prostate Cancer Risk

March 19, 2010 -- Here's potentially good news for balding men, especially
young balding men who may be distressed by their lack of locks.

Hair loss before age 30 is associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer
later in life, according to a new study that contradicts some earlier
research.
''Men who have early-onset male pattern baldness, by age 30, were found to
have a 29% reduction in the risk of developing prostate cancer," says study
co-author Jonathan L. Wright, MD, an affiliate investigator at the Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and assistant professor of urology
at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. The study is
published online in Cancer Epidemiology.
''The longer you have the baldness, the more the protection," he tells
WebMD.
The apparent protection was found, he says, for aggressive and less
aggressive forms of prostate cancer.
In 2009, about 192,000 new cases of prostate cancer were expected to be
diagnosed in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society, with about
27,000 deaths expected. The prostate gland surrounds the neck of a man's
bladder and urine-carrying tube, or urethra.
Male pattern baldness affects about 25% of men by age 30, 50% by age 50, and
nearly 80% by age 70. Testosterone is converted to dihydrotestosterone or DHT,
and baldness occurs when hair follicles become exposed to too much DHT.





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