The anthropology of hair loss - Medical Anthropology

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, May, 2003 by Tim Batchelder

Conclusion

In this column I've discussed some important ways that therapies from other cultures offer solutions for the modern problem of hair loss. Further, we've looked at some of the reasons why loss of hair in modern industrial peoples represents our detachment from the evolutionary environment of our past. Modern Western medical research is also employing such an evolutionary perspective in recent animal field studies of hair loss. For example, the stump-tailed macaque is now considered a superior animal model for studying pattern baldness (Uno 1987) since they have balding patterns similar to that in humans. For more information on the anthropology of hair loss and references for this article please see www.anthrocode.com or email me at tim@anthrocode.com