A new study has shown that divorce can have an effect on a woman's hairline as well as on her heart.

The study, carried out by Dr Bahman Guyuron from Case Western Reserves School of Medicine, has shown that women going through - or who have gone through - divorces are far more likely to suffer from hair loss than those who are single or happily married.

Dr Guyuron said that there appeared to be a definite link between women's marital statuses and their states of mind and consequently with thinning hair.

"Most likely stress is the aspect of a troubling divorce that appears to lead to hair loss among women," he explained, adding that children and other home-life sources of stress have been recognised as leading to hair loss.

Dr Doris Day, a dermatologist at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital, said that the links between stress and hair loss were long-known.

"It's not a shock to suggest that various kinds of stress can lead to hair loss," she said. "I am a big proponent of the idea that it is how you handle the stress that can make a difference."

The study found that men's hairlines are not affected by stress in the same way, but that smoking, heavy drinking and sun over-exposure can lead to hair loss in both genders.