Genetics (which controls ethnicity) is the number one cause of hair loss. Certain races have higher rates of hair loss compared to others. Caucasians have the highest rates out of all the ethnic groups. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Native American Indians, Inuits, and Chinese have the lowest rates.
Caucasians Lose The Most Hair
In terms of which ethnicity tends to experience the most hair loss, Caucasians are the undisputed leaders.
According to Men's Health, the highest rate of hair loss was found among Caucasians, followed by Afro-Caribbeans.
Caucasians have the highest hair density among the ethnicities studied. Black people have the lowest. Asian people have hair density that falls somewhere in between.
Asian men have less of the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme. This enzyme converts regular testosterone into dihydrotestosterone. Testosterone is both anabolic and androgenic, meaning that it can build muscle tissue and bind to androgen receptor. Dihydrotestosterone is purely androgenic, and it lasts about 5 times as long.
On the other hand, China is a country where the number of men who go bald is the least. Some other countries like Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Malaysia also have low levels of male pattern baldness.
Androgenetic alopecia (AGA), or pattern hair loss, is a common disorder in Asian men and women, with a reported incidence of up to 73% among general population.
Asian hair shows the fastest growth rate in comparison to the other two hair types. African hair has the lowest growth rate.
Hair growth rates also vary between hair races. Caucasian hair grows at a rate of about 1.2cm a month and has the greatest density of all three hair types.
This may be related to differences in body composition, which is known to differ between ethnic groups. 62, 105 More specifically, black adults were found to have a relatively higher muscle mass (leading to a lower sarcopenia prevalence) compared to whites and Asians.
A 2005 study in the journal International Journal of Dermatology also found a difference among races in the rate of hair growth. For example, Asian hair grows the fastest, while African hair grows the slowest.
Scientifically, black hair is the slowest growing hair type due to its elliptical shape and only grows about one third of an inch per month. Alongside slow growth, you'll likely also encounter issues such as breakage, thinning and shedding whilst trying to grow your afro hair; typically, this is due to dehydration.
Androgenetic alopecia (male pattern baldness) affects between 50 and 80% of Caucasian men, The number of Asian and Afro-Caribbean men who suffer is approximately half that. These differences in race suggest that a genetic predisposition is an important factor in how susceptible you are to baldness.
What race is known for straight hair? Caucasian. Caucasian people have rounder hair follicles, resulting for the most part in straight or wavy hair.
Follicles that are more oval in shape cause curlier hair to grow. Very tightly coiled hair is due to the nearly flat, ribbon-like structure of their follicles. This hair texture is very common in people of African ancestry. Not only is African hair often coiled, it also has a unique texture.
Which ethnicity has the longest hair? Asian hair is the longest. For example, the Red Yao Tribe, living in a village in the Chinese mountains, has the longest hair. Their women can grow hair almost the length of their height.
Black Hair is Easier to Maintain
The darker the hair, the higher the concentration of melanin, therefore, black hair has the highest concentration. The benefit of having excess melanin in hair is it's less prone to sun damage, which is important to Sri Lankans as we are constantly under the sun.
Fros don't absorb as much moisture as our caucasian cousins' hair, added to this the structure of our hair (curls and kinks, and increased density) means that nutrients often don't travel along the length of our strands as well as we'd like.
Compared to silkier hair African-American hair contains more lipids, or fats, but the lipids are less bonded which is why the hair loves oils so much. Along with that, the follicle size is much thicker and it has a flattened elliptical cross section causing it to be curlier than other hair types.
What Country Has the Highest Percentage of Males Who Go Bald? The Czech Republic is the country with the highest percentage of men losing their hair. In the Czech Republic, approximately 43 percent of men have either lost their hair or are losing their hair.
Earlier research from South Korea suggested that only 14.1% of the entire male population was affected, while Japanese men were found to develop male pattern baldness approximately a decade later than their European counterparts.
About 70% of men will lose hair as they get older. And 25% of bald men see first signs of hair loss before age 21. “Recent advances offer a lot of hope in both treating and preventing different types of baldness,” says dermatologist Amy Kassouf, MD.
The source of pattern baldness is genetically linked, and there are no known cures. When humans go bald, the quality of hair deteriorates over time as a response to the hormone DHT, which causes the hair follicle to shrink until there is nothing left.
If you want to prevent hair loss, you can also prioritize a diet high in healthy proteins, Omega-3 fatty acids, and fresh fruits and vegetables. If you're trying to prevent baldness, you can take vitamins such as iron, biotin, vitamin D, vitamin C, and zinc.
And a rising number of millennials in the USA say they're also experiencing hair loss. Is baldness more common today? The answer to this frequently asked question is yes.