Bald Men Could Be At Greater Risk Of More Serious Covid Symptoms
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Bald men could face more serious Covid-19 symptoms, new research has suggested.
Speaking to the Telegraph, the lead author of the study said definitively: "We really think that baldness is a perfect predictor of severity."
According to the news outlet, Professor Carlos Wambier of Brown University led two studies in Spain. The results showed that a disproportionately high number of men taken to hospital with coronavirus also had male pattern baldness.
In the first study, 71 percent of 41 patients that were examined had Covid-19 and were also bald. The background rate of baldness for white men of similar ages to the patients was between 31 percent and 53 percent.
The next study was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. It found that 79 percent of the 122 male coronavirus patients in Madrid hospitals were also bald.
Scientists think that male sex hormones called androgens may play a part in hair loss and give coronavirus an increased ability to take over other cells.
They found this potentially means that hormone-suppressing drugs could be used to slow down Covid-19 and give sufferers time to fight the infection off and recover.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Professor Wambier added: "We think androgens or male hormones are definitely the gateway for the virus to enter our cells."
But the public has been warned that the results are not conclusive.
Prostate Cancer UK's head of policy Karen Stalbow told the newspaper that 'much more evidence is needed' before drugs can start to be administered in a bid to help people with coronavirus.
Another study has found that bald people might soon be able to regrow their hair, after a new stem cell therapy gave promising results.
The treatment is a topical solution and research has shown that it's given regrowth to people with a common type of baldness called androgenetic alopecia - also known as 'male pattern baldness' or 'female pattern baldness' - which is caused by genetic, hormonal and environmental factors.
This type of baldness is reported to affect around half of all men, and an estimated 45 percent of women over 50.
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