Natural hair color and the incidence of endometriosis

Missmer SA, Stacey A. Missmer, Spiegelman D, Donna Spiegelman, Hankinson SE, Susan E. Hankinson, Susan Malspeis, Malspeis S, Robert L. Barbieri, Barbieri RL, Hunter DJ, David J. Hunter
Fertility and sterility · 2006 · vol. 85(4) , pp. 866–870 · doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2005.12.008 · PMID:16580366 · W2039737669
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This study investigated the relationship between natural hair color and the occurrence of endometriosis, finding no significant association.

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This prospective cohort study analyzed data from the Nurses' Health Study II to investigate whether natural hair color is associated with the incidence of endometriosis. The researchers examined 90,065 women aged 25-42 who were free of prior endometriosis, infertility, or cancer at baseline, tracking them for ten years to identify cases of laparoscopically confirmed disease. Overall, no significant association was found between hair color and endometriosis risk after adjusting for confounders like age and body mass index. However, stratified analysis revealed that naturally red-haired women who had never been infertile exhibited an increased rate of endometriosis, whereas those with a history of infertility showed a decreased rate, indicating that the relationship may depend on fertility status. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — specifically investigating potential demographic or phenotypic risk factors such as natural hair color in relation to disease incidence.

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Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate a previously hypothesized relation between natural hair color and endometriosis.DesignProspective cohort study.SettingNurses' Health Study II with 10 years of follow-up.Participant(s)A total of 90,065 women, 25-42 years old, who had never been diagnosed with endometriosis, infertility, or cancer at baseline in 1989.Main outcome measure(s)Incidence of laparoscopically confirmed endometriosis according to natural hair color.Result(s)During 379,422 person-years of follow-up, 1,130 cases of laparoscopically confirmed endometriosis were reported among women with no past infertility. After adjusting for age, calendar time, parity, race, and body mass index at age 18, we observed no association overall. However, compared with women with any other hair color, we observed an increased rate of endometriosis among women with naturally red hair who had never been infertile (incidence rate = 1.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.0-1.7), but a decreased rate among women with naturally red hair among women who were infertile (incidence rate = 0.4, 95% CI = 0.2-1.2); P value, test for heterogeneity = .03.Conclusion(s)Overall, we did not observe a significant relation between red hair color and the rate of endometriosis, however this prospective cohort study suggests that the relation may differ by infertility status.
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Publication: Natural hair color and the incidence of endometriosis Open/View Files Date Published Version Journal Title Journal ISSN Volume Title Publisher Citation Abstract Objective: To investigate a previously hypothesized relation between natural hair color and endometriosis. Design: Prospective cohort study.Setting: Nurses' Health Study 11 with 10 years of follow-up.Participant(s): A total of 90,065 women, 25-42 years old, who had never been diagnosed with endometriosis, infertility, or cancer at baseline in 1989. Main Outcome Measure(s): Incidence of laparoscopically confirmed endometriosis according to natural hair color. Result(s): During 379,422 person-years of follow-up, 1,130 cases of laparoscopically confirmed endometriosis were reported among women with no past infertility. After adjusting for age, calendar time, parity, race, and body mass index at a-e 18, we observed no association overall. However, compared with women with any other hair color, we observed an increased rate of endometriosis among women with naturally red hair who had never been infertile (incidence rate = 1.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.0-1.7), but a decreased rate among women with naturally red hair among women who were infertile (incidence rate = 0.4, 95% Cl = 0.2-1.2); P value, test for heterogeneity = .03.Conclusion(s): Overall, we did not observe a significant relation between red hair color and the rate of endometriosis, however this prospective cohort study suggests that the relation may differ by infertility status.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Hair Color Hair Color Adult Cohort Studies Confidence Intervals Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Follow-Up Studies Humans Incidence Infertility, Female Infertility, Female Infertility, Female Prospective Studies

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