Ethnicity and Hair Loss : Hair loss is a universal condition affecting people of all ages, races, genders and nationalities. It is estimated that male and female pattern baldness affects 35 million men and 21 million women in the United States alone. About 30 percent of people have hair loss by age 30 and about 50 percent have hair loss by age 50 years.

In physiological terms, human beings are all composed of the same bone structures, muscles, and everything else down to the cellular level. But there are specific differences, especially when it comes to hair, because it is the one area in which human beings display their differences. Hair follicles vary greatly in color, length, shape, thickness and strength.

Ethnicity and Hair Loss

For example, Asians usually have very straight hair. Their scalps contain fewer hairs per square centimeter, so they actually have a lower hair density than that of Caucasian hair follicles. However, because the individual hair follicles of East Asians are thicker, this gives the look and impression of greater hair density. East Asian females often have an increased likelihood of developing diffuse alopecia, or hair that thins evenly over the entire head than Caucasian females. Another example of how Asian hair loss differs is how Japanese men develop baldness less commonly than whites do. Asians develop balding about 10 years later than other ethnic groups.

People of African descent usually possess naturally curly hair and are four times less likely to have abnormal hair loss than are whites. This curly hair gives the visual impression of increased hair density for a given amount of hair, which is beneficial in hair restoration surgery. The hair follicles beneath the skin of people of African decent also typically curve more than caucasians. This can make hair harvesting the donor hairs more difficult. Thicker and straighter Asian hair is more forgiving to the follicular unit extraction practitioner. A hair restoration physician needs to be very aware of this difference and adjust to its requirements. While black men have more frontal baldness than white men, they less commonly have balding at the crown region of the scalp.

As in the case of East Asians, people of African descent possess some unique hair and skin characteristics. Some of medical conditions are more common in black skin than in white skin, increasing the risk of post-surgical complications. To learn more about the impact of ethnicity upon hair loss, please contact the DermHair Clinic in Los Angeles at (310)318-1500.