Short men more likely to go bald, suggests research

Genes that increase risk of baldness can also lead to shorter stature due to hormones

Societal beauty standards can be such a drag. While women are constantly pressured into being thinner, prettier, more exotic or more natural, men suffer as well (in different ways).

The pressure to be tall, dark and handsome is real and not all men are built the same. One thing most men fear is losing their hair as they get older, which is a shame because sometimes, a bald head can look very good - think Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel.

As per Elite Daily though, there’s an easy way to figure out if a man is more susceptible to hair loss than others might be, and it has to do with his height. According to one of the largest studies on male pattern baldness from the University of Bonn, short guys are at a higher risk of going bald as compared to their taller counterparts.



Apparently, some of the genes that result in a man being on the shorter side are also linked to premature balding. In the study, researchers looked at the genes of 11,000 bald men and 12,000 men without any hair loss and identified four locations in men’s genes that were related to both shortness and hair loss.

Their findings highlighted that testosterone levels may also be at play here. Dr Stefanie Heilmann-Heimbach, lead author of the study, explained, “Genes that increase the risk for baldness can also lead to earlier puberty and shorter stature, likely because all these factors are all influenced by hormones.”

The hormones may act very slowly, over years, so they only appear 20 years after puberty. Basically, the early presence of testosterone (and thus, early puberty) may cause the ends of a man’s bones to close, which, in turn, causes him to stop growing.



However, Dr Stefanie ensures it is not certain that you will go bald prematurely if you’re short. And you’re not completely safe if you’re tall either. If you are short and all the men in your family still have their hair, it is probably unlikely. Not to mention, many tall men go bald too. There are biological pathways which contribute to both traits.
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