• Question: why do people go bald or get thinner hair as they get older?

    Asked by EM26 to Carolyn, Peter, Richard, Sara, Siana on 17 Nov 2015. This question was also asked by Afaf.
    • Photo: Richard Unwin

      Richard Unwin answered on 17 Nov 2015:

      Men lose their hair much more (and much earlier) than women do. Its probably due to hormones. the male hormone testosterone seems to promote baldness as you get older – in the Middle Ages some men had their testicles cut off (for various gruesome reasons) but they didn’t have testosterone so didn’t go bald. Women also have much lower levels of testosterone, so don’t lose their hair, although their hair can start to thin as they get past the menopause, when they stop making oestrogen.

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