[英语阅读]世界首个“秃顶计算器”问世

Baldness calculator promises to predict men's hair loss

最近，德国科学家研发出了世界上首个“秃顶计算器”，该程序可以准确判定男性用户在什么年龄开始脱发或者秃顶。使用该程序时，用户需要输入年龄、婚姻状况、职业、居住地、当前发际线、家族脱发史以及压力水平等条件便可以查询。“秃顶计算器”刚刚问世十天，德国已有五十多万男士在使用，全世界也有300万男士开始试用；其中有60％的用户为年龄在15至30岁的年轻男士。

The 'baldness calculator' - said to be the world's first reliable tool for predicting hair loss - has been a huge hit with men in other countries.

A pioneering new computer program that predicts if and when men will go bald is being offered to British men.

The 'baldness calculator' - said to be the world's first reliable tool for predicting hair loss - has been a huge hit with men in other countries.

The program calculates the exact age at which someone will go bald or have lost most of their hair or provides reassurance by predicting that they will still have a full head of hair in old age.

More than half a million German men used it within ten days of it being unveiled there and three million men have tried it out globally so far.

Sixty per cent of users of the calculator to date have been young men aged between 15 and 30.

Two thirds of all British men will eventually suffer hair loss, according to recent research.

The program asks users about their age, marital status, occupation, where they live, what their current hairline is, hair loss in their family and their stress levels.

German scientists devised the program because half of men in their country suffer from hereditary hair loss.

Dr Adolf Klenk, head of research and development at hair care firm Dr Kurt Wolff, said: "More and more men value full hair but especially younger men.

"They are looking for a partner and are at the peak of their social lives. They are very conscious about their looks and being accepted within their social groups.

"They get concerned that if they lose their hair, they will cease to be attractive to others whereas older men don't care so much."

Dr Klenk said that men with a history of hair loss on either their mother or father's side of the family are most at risk of going bald.

"Genetic predisposition is by far the most common cause of baldness. But other factors include severe, long-term emotional stress, perhaps associated with a divorce or the loss of a close relative.

"A poor diet can fail to provide the hair with sufficient nutrients and men who wear headgear in call centres or helmets on construction sites motorbikes may be putting their hair roots at risk of being pulled out or losing density.

"We have developed the male baldness calculator to raise awareness among men."