Let’s get this straight.
I’m a hair loss blogger, not a journalist or oncologist.
And until today, I assumed Ronnie Wood, guitarist for the Rolling Stones, was probably rocking a toupee.
Why?
Well, he’s a 70-year-old man. How many 70-year-old men do you know with no thinning or recession and thick, lush, full heads of hair? Probably not very many.
But, perhaps Ronnie Wood beat the odds, yet again!
This Daily Mail piece gave an in-depth report on Wood’s recent lung-cancer scare.
All the members of the Stones get psychical exams prior to their lucrative world tours, according to Wood. During Wood’s check-up, his doctor found a “a supernova burning away” in his left lung.
“It Could’ve Been Curtains”
-Ronnie Wood
When the reporter asked Wood if he was concerned chemo wouldn’t work for him, Wood replied: ‘No. It’s more I wasn’t going to lose my hair. This hair wasn’t going anywhere. I said, “No way.”‘
Wood referred to chemo as a “bayonet” and perhaps had other concerns about undertaking the notoriously grueling treatment regimen, though he didn’t mention his specific fears in the article.
Thankfully, Wood’s Doctor caught the cancer early and was able to remove it surgically. “Just get it out of me,” Wood requested, and his wish was granted.
A smoker of 50 years, Wood said he wasn’t surprised by the diagnosis.
Chemo and Hair Loss
In a Yahoo article, doctors Jack Jacoub and Martin Edelman note that hair loss is a common concern among cancer patients. Jacoub went on to say that most chemo-related hair loss is temporary, though, before finally giving this obvious but necessary warning to readers: “It would be wrong to base the decision for treatment on hair loss.”
Good advice.
Smoking has been shown to accelerate balding in men who are genetically susceptible to the condition. And, it’s my opinion smoking is one of the primary reasons behind the baldness epidemic in the construction field. That sounds weird, I realize.
Wood obviously has some solid genes in the follicular department. Let’s hope he stays cancer-free and rocks on for many years to come.
Photo Credit: Eva Rinaldi. Ron Wood 2011 in Sydney 2. Wikipedia Commons.
Robert Price is a writer, consumer advocate, and hair loss researcher with thousands of hours of experience in the field. His goal is to keep you out of the hair loss rabbit hole, underworld, or whatever you want to call it. He founded Hair Loss Daily, the unbiased hair loss blog, in 2016. You can learn more about Robert in the my story section of this website.