Liar, Liar Hair on Fire Dasha Fayvinova

Let’s face it. Every child has heard it before. “Don’t smoke, it’s bad for you”. Scientists prove that fact countless times. They all say almost the same things; all about the harmful aftermath of smoking. These include; cancer of lungs and/or their complete destruction, reduction of oxygen intake (smokers run slower and perform worse in athletics), emphysema and much more. The list gets longer as more and more people research this addiction. But this list has one thing more added to it.

The proper medical term for hair loss is elopecia. Male pattern baldness or androgenetic alopecia, affects almost one third of every man and woman. Men’s baldness and hair loss can begin as early as the age of 20.

With these facts at hand, researchers in National Taiwan University in Taipei and Far Eastern Memorial Hospital set off to find a link between smokers and hair loss. They didn’t have to look very far. An experiment involving 740 men in Taiwan with ages averaging 65, found that smoking played a major role in hair loss for men who smoked 20 cigarettes a day or more. The reason for this is that, “Smoking may destroy hair follicles, interfere with the way blood and hormones are circulated in the scalp or increase the production of estrogen”- said Lin-Hui Su, a researcher in this experiment.

So one has to wonder, if smoking can cause cancer, wreck athletic careers and (as this research proves) speed up hair, why would 45 million Americans still smoke? “Don’t smoke, it’s bad for you, and for your hair!!”

References:

1. http://www.ibx.com/gen-y2/kids/smoking/sideeffects.html

2. http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1629763320071119

3. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hair-loss/DS00278/DSECTION=2

4. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4559