Tidbits: Balding in Indians and Asians

A few times each month, I will post some random hair-related information, which I’m calling “tidbits”. I spend hours each day writing responses to questions I receive on this blog, so it is a nice change of pace. For example…

The American Indian (or Native American, if you prefer) has no genetic balding if their ancestry is from the Alaskan Bridge. American Indians that came to North America from Central America can have genetic balding. There has been no explanation why the American Indian does not have genetic balding, making him unique amongst all men (except those born with genetic defects in the DHT making enzyme or those who eat large amounts of DHT blockers in their diets, a group of primative people from the Central American rain forest).

The observation that men from Asia, India, or China have less balding is certainly not a reality today where the wig business is thriving. A theory put forward by Dr. Masumi Inaba in his 1996 book “Androgenetic Alopecia” claimed that there was more baldness in the post WWII Japanese men than in the earlier generation to which he belonged. I think that he attributed this to dietary change and in particular, to more saturated fat in the Japanese diet. The same theory, if true, could apply to Indians, who have only a small meat intake back in India (strict Hindus eat no meat at all). Dr. Inaba’s theory never gained any credence then or since, but history shows that if his theories are proven correct, he would not be the first scientist to be proven right a decade or more after his death.

History points to insights as we get further away from the facts as we see them. Dr John Snow back in the mid 19th century proclaimed that Cholera came from contaminated water while most other “experts ” believe it was transmitted by bad smell (the “miasma”). The entire London sewerage system was designed to get rid of the stench that permeated the city every summer (and coincided with cholera outbreaks) . The sewerage system was an engineering marvel with the worlds largest pumps and miles of brick lined tunnels. It got rid of the smell and coincidentally got rid of the source of water contamination and cholera became very rare. The cholera organism and its lethal effects were not discoved until many years after Snow was dead and buried. (This last paragraph was written by Dr. Richard Shiell of Sydney Australia)