Male-Pattern Baldness and Incident Coronary Heart Disease and Risk Factors in the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study

November 2019 in “ PLoS ONE ”

Sonali Pechlivanis, Stefanie Heilmann‐Heimbach, Raimund Erbel, Amir A. Mahabadi, Lara M. Hochfeld, Karl‐Heinz Jöckel, Markus M. Nöthen, Susanne Moebus

male-pattern baldness coronary heart disease coronary artery calcification genetic risk score diabetes mellitus body mass index MPB CHD BMI

TLDR Male-pattern baldness is weakly linked to some heart disease risk factors but not a strong indicator for heart disease.

The Heinz Nixdorf Recall study investigated the association between male-pattern baldness (MPB) and coronary heart disease (CHD) along with related risk factors in a sample of 1,673 males epidemiologically and 1,357 genetically. The study found that men with any baldness had a slightly increased risk for CHD, a higher extent of coronary artery calcification, a moderately increased risk for diabetes mellitus, and a higher body mass index compared to men without baldness. However, the genetic risk score for MPB did not show any association with CHD or its risk factors. Overall, the study suggested a weak association between MPB and some CHD risk factors, but MPB was not a strong indicator for CHD or its risk factors.

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