According to the National Institutes of Health, more than half of all men will experience some degree of baldness (the receding of the hairline forming an “M” shape) by age 50.
Everyone with a full head of hair when they’re younger thinks baldness will never happen to them, even though the statistics prove otherwise. But now researchers have discovered a surprising factor that may indicate your chance of future baldness just by looking in the mirror: your height.
A study out of Germany, published in Nature Communications, made the connection between your height and chance of baldness earlier this week.
“It seems that men with a relatively shorter body height have a higher chance of losing their hair,” said professor Stefanie Heilmann-Heimbach, lead author of the study.
“Our data indicates that some of the genes involved in baldness are associated, on average, with shorter structure.”
After researchers analysed the genetic make up of more than 11,00 men with premature balding and 12,000 with full heads of hair, the found the presence of 63 alterations in DNA that can increase your risk of future baldness.
While the link between short height and baldness isn’t 100% clear, researchers theorise that it may be due to an accelerated onset of puberty when they were younger.
Alarmingly, as well as baldness, the study found connections between shorter height and pale skin, prostate cancer, sudden cardiac arrest and neurodegenerative disorders.
While more research clearly needs to be done, lead researcher Markus Nothen said balding men needn’t be too concerned – the increased risk of these conditions is quite small.
