Linking Ethnicity with Hair Type and Loss

People aren’t all created equally — with respect to hair. Ethnicity
and race affect your hair type and density, as we explain for the
three ethnic groups in the following list. Keep in mind that
although certain ethnicities are more likely to have a certain type
and density of hair, variations do exist. There simply isn’t enough
space in this book for us to go into that much detail.
Why should you know about the connection between your ethnic-
ity and the type of hair on your head? Hair is a specialized organ
system probably related, in some cases, to the climates we’re born
into. For example, the African’s dark skin protects against strong
sunlight and sun burns, and his kinky hair becomes an efficient
heat exchanger to keep the body cool while providing some shade
from the hot sun.
There are, however, no explanations for the typically straight,
lower density hair of Asians when compared to Caucasians, or the
high density hair counts of many Northern Europeans.
 Caucasian hair: Generally, Caucasians have the highest
number of hairs on their scalp. The density of hair on a typi-
cal Caucasian averages 200 hairs per one square centimeter.
A healthy Caucasian human scalp contains about 100,000 folli-
cles that produce thicker terminal hairs. (In comparison, the
human body has approximately five million non-scalp follicles
that produce the fine, vellus hair scattered around the body.)
Caucasian hair generally appears thick because it’s more diffi-
cult to see through to the scalp than on Asians and Africans.
 Asian hair: Asians have fewer scalp hairs than Caucasians,
with about 140 to 160 hairs per square centimeter on the
average. A healthy Asian human scalp contains about 80,000
follicles.
Asian hair tends to be straight and with a low density.
Visually, it doesn’t cover the head as well as the curly or wavy
hair of Caucasians. But some Asians have the coarsest and
thickest hairs, which can offset their lower hair density.
Visually, straight Asian hair just doesn’t cover well, and
with their lower densities, the problem of see through hair is
compounded.
 African/African American hair: Of the three groups we out-
line here, African Americans have the lowest density of hair,
ranging from 120 to 140 hairs per square centimeter. A healthy
African or African American human scalp contains about
60,000 follicles.
Some Africans and African Americans actually have fine hairs,
and some is kinkier than others. Because African hair often
sticks together, it may appear that there’s more hair despite
the low hair densities that are characteristic of all Africans
and African Americans. Africans generally have a dark skin
which obscures the lower densities because of the low con-
trast between hair and skin color.