Three hundred years ago, more people young and old were bald because of poor hygiene, lack of attention to hair grooming, and the prevalence of numerous viruses and bacteria in our living environment.
Children were more likely to have ringworm. Head lice were common. People lost hair permanently and temporarily due to illnesses like measles, scarlet fever and other outbreaks that ravaged the unprotected public. Penicillin, the polio vaccine and DPT immunizations have allowed most countries to leave these health and hair threats behind during the last 100 years. Yet baldness is on the rampage in developed countries of the Western world. In addition, the victims of baldness seem to be stricken at a younger age every year.
Male and female pattern baldness together account for the same percentages of partial and total hair loss that they did 100 years ago. The incidence would not increase without some major deviation in the human gene pool. The age at which men and women are affected by genetically linked hair loss should not abruptly change either, barring a significant biological shift.
What then are the likely causes of increased hair loss in our civilization? Who are the most likely suspects? To paraphrase a character from the old Pogo cartoons – “We have met the enemy and it is us!” The criminals robbing us of our precious hair are inside our homes and staring back at us in the mirror.
The nutritional values of the normal diet in the Western world rose steadily until the middle of the 20th century. Scurvy and rickets passed into oblivion as the majority of the urban and rural population began to have regular access to adequate vitamins, minerals and protein for good health. The popularity of fast food and processed food that now holds sway in the West leaves children and adults without sufficient minerals and vitamins to maintain healthy systems.
Snack foods, convenience foods and even school cafeterias push fats, salt, sugar and unpronounceable chemical preservatives down our throats daily. Obesity in children and adults is a national epidemic. The American Medical Association and the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association and others warn us constantly that our eating habits must change.
Our nation’s risky eating behaviors are robbing us of vitality, longevity, AND possibly our hair. Despite enormous progress in medical and scientific over the past three hundred years, the greatest threat to your hair may be your knife and fork, instead of genetics and disease.