Skip to main content

You And Your Health-Why Hair Turns Gray


The Real Reasons Hair Turns Gray, According to Dermatologists.

Whether you discovered your first silver strand or you’ve decided to let your natural hair color shine, it’s normal to find yourself wondering, why does hair turn gray? And while we’ve touted ways to embrace and style your gray hair, the science behind why white and gray strands occur is actually quite interesting.

We’ve all heard the thought that stress causes gray hair, and in fact, recent studies suggest a link between the two. 

But, there are so many more reasons why your locks might be getting lighter. In fact, general aging and even your genes could have a lot more to do with your silver strands than you might think.

Underlying health conditions like vitamin deficiency or alopecia could even be a factor.

Ahead, we asked dermatologists to explain why hair turns gray, what causes premature graying, and if it’s possible to reverse gray hair.

Why does hair turn gray?

“Gray hair is really hair with less melanin, what gives skin and hair color,” explains Azadeh Shirazi, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist. “While white hair completely lacks [melanin]. With aging, there’s a gradual decline in the number of stem cells that mature to become melanin-producing cells. These cells may wear out, become damaged, or lose the support systems meant to keep them working.”

Apparently, our genes are also a factor. “Over time as we age, our cells do not produce as much melanin resulting in gray hair (decreased melanin) or white hair (absence of melanin),” explains Janiene Luke, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist at Loma Linda University’s Faculty Medical Group in California. 

“There is a genetic component and this can be seen in those who exhibit premature graying (that occurs earlier in life when one is in their 20s or 30s). However, hair growth and hair pigmentation are highly regulated processes with multiple genes and cell signaling molecules involved, where any disruption of these processes can lead to gray hair.”

What’s on our scalp, or rather, hair bulb, also plays a part, according to Marisa Garshick, M.D., F.A.A.D., a board-certified dermatologist. “As we age there is a buildup of hydrogen peroxide in the hair bulb which can destroy the pigment-producing cells, leading to decreased melanin and gray hair.”

What causes gray hair at an early age?

So basically, as we age our cells produce less melanin, which leads to gray hair. But, if you go gray much earlier than anticipated (say, at age 20 instead of in your late 30s or 40s), there might be something more at play.

Premature graying is thought to be genetic, according to Dr. Garshick, and “may even be related to a specific gene known as interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF 4) which may help to regulate melanin production.” But there are a number of health conditions that could lead you to go gray, too.

Illnesses that cause gray hair

According to all of the experts we spoke with, the following causes gray hair:

Vitamin B12 deficiency

Thyroid disease

Alopecia aerate

Vitiligo

Is it possible to reverse gray hair?

Unfortunately, there is not much to do to stop graying when it is part of the normal aging process, explains Dr. Luke. “Early on in the process, however, if there are reversible causes leading to graying (i.e. smoking, nutritional deficiencies), people can try to make lifestyle modifications such as quitting smoking and maintaining a healthy diet packed with nutrients and antioxidants to help protect the cells involved in hair pigmentation.”

But, Dr. Shirazi thinks that the future might hold some options. “Possibly in the future as new studies show by stimulating stem cells back into action, pigment-producing cells can be revitalized to reverse gray hairs.”

Source: Yahoo!

Comments

  1. Very educative now is to know what kills the melanin cells on time

    ReplyDelete
  2. Me, rocking my gray hair like a crown. Loving it!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Type your comments here

Popular posts from this blog

This Wordless Comedian Now The Most-Followed Person On TikTok

  Comedian Khaby Lame has become the king of TikTok -- all without uttering a word. With more than 142.9 million followers, Lame has dethroned teen dancer and content creator Charli D'Amelio to become the most-followed person on the platform. Lame, 22, who was born in the West African nation of Senegal and now lives in Italy, creates videos in which he reacts wordlessly to absurd life hacks, racking up millions of views and likes with each post. In the past few weeks, his fans launched a social media effort to push him past D'Amelio on TikTok. On Instagram, Lame has 78.3 million followers compared with D'Amelio's 48.8 million. Lame, (prounouced Lah-MAY), started posting videos after he lost his job as a factory worker in Italy in the early days of the pandemic in 2020. He spent his days holed up at his parents' home in the Italian city of Chivasso, looking for jobs. One day, he downloaded TikTok and started tinkering with it in his bedroom, posting videos of himself...

Video Update - Bianca Ojukwu And Willie Obiano's Wife Saga

The Internet is buzzing, there is a media uproar, the media outlets are now giving a clearer version of what happened between the former beauty queen and wife to the late warlord, Bianca Ojukwu and the wife of the former Governor of Anambra State Ebelechukwu Willie Obiano. Fresh stories indicate that Bianca Ojukwu initiated the slap. She slapped Willie Obiano's wife and it is not the other way round as earlier reported. The moment Bianca slapped Obiano’s wife during Soludo’s inauguration happened thus. The scuffle occurred on Thursday at the inauguration of Chukwuma Soludo as governor of the state. Soludo was sworn in at the government house in Anambra. Dignitaries, including Obiano, were already seated when Ebelechukwu Obiano, Willie Obiano's wife stood up from her seat and moved to where Bianca, widow of Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, was seated and spoke to her. Although Ebelechukwu was inaudible, the video showed how Bianca rose and gave her a slap, leading to a commotion. Whichever w...

In The Spotlight-N250m donation: Davido releases list of 292 beneficiaries

The list of 292 orphanages that benefited from his donation of N250 million, has been released by Nigerian singer, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido.  Davido had sent out a video message to his friends and colleagues in the entertainment industry to send money to him as part of his birthday celebration in November 2021. After the shout out to his friends, the DMW label boss was able to amass over N100 million, in a few hours. This amount later grew to N200million in a few days. Davido then added a personal donation of N50 million to make it N250 million. Davido declared that he was giving the money to charity. He said that he would set up a committee to ensure the disbursement of the money to orphanages across the country. Guess what, Davido has now revealed that the money had been disbursed to 292 homes selected from all the states of the federation. This information was contained in a statement signed by the multi-award winning singer on Tuesday. The statement reads, “As p...