For a twelve-year period they studied 20,000 men and women living in Copenhagen. Schnohr found that bald males had significantly more heart attacks than men who kept their hair. Yet another, The Physicians Health Study was conducted over an eleven-year period involving 22,071 male physicians. Deaths and illness from heart diseases were noted and correlated with baldness patterns. This enabled the researchers to work out the relative risk (RR) of a balding man with different baldness patterns.

A positive association between baldness and heart disease in men has now been shown in a number of studies. Professor Peter Schnohr and his University of Copenhagen colleagues released one such study in 1993.

It was noted that severe Vertex baldness (hair loss at the crown of the head) resulted in a risk more than 35% greater than non-baldness and this almost doubled where baldness was associated with high blood pressure. Another strong indicator that salt is important comes from comparing people in developed countries with, say, the Yanomano Indians in South America who have a very low salt intake. The Yanomano have much lower blood pressure than people in developed countries, but salt isnt the only influence. Theres no doubt that people living in undeveloped countries tend to be thinner, drink less alcohol, exercise more, eat more potassium from unrefined foods, and perhaps suffer less chronic stress.

The diet of early humans contained little salt, a situation present today in other tribal and traditional societies, which ingest no additional salt apart from that naturally obtained from their food. High blood pressure and strokes are unknown in these people. Further to this it should not be viewed as merely coincidental that hair loss is likewise not commonly displayed.

For the sake of your hair and your health - throw away the salt-shaker and watch your dietary intake of salt!