BALDNESS AND BRAINS

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 3261, 31 January 1931, Page 2

BALDNESS AND BRAINS

Popular theories about baldness were exploded by Dr. J. H. T. Davies, a Brighton dermatologist, is an address at the annual conference of the Incorporated Guild of Hairdressers and Wigmalcers, delivered at Brighton (England). According to the Evening Standard report of his address, Dr. Davies said a fortune awaited anyone who could cure and even partially cure baldness. Dealing with current illusions, he said: — “It has been suggested that baldness is due to a higher state of evolution, and sometimes even that it is the sign of superior intelligence.” Tracing the stages of baldness, the doctor said it began with temporal recession, followed by the disappearance of the frontal tuft. In some men it began before 20 and was complete at SO.

“While much may be done to delay the progress, ground once lost is never regained. Baldness is more common in the town than in the country, and with those who work with their heads.

“The tendency to baldness is hereditary. Baldness is not due to wearing tight hats; women wear tighter hats than men, and yet they never go bald.

Commenting on the fact that many women refuse to wash their hair frequently because they were afraid to make their scalps dry, Dr. Davies said dry scalp was healthier than a greasy one.

Women should wash their hair at least once a month, and it was bad for men to anoint their hair with large quantities of oil and greases. Dr. Davies said the sex glands play an important part in baldness. This was shown by the fact that women never went completely bald.

Bad teeth, eyes, and tonsils often caused baldness, and in cases where the tonsils had been removed the results had been sometimes been satisfactory. Nerve troubles often caused baldness so did fright. In many cases where he had treated people for baldness he found signs of hysteria.