Gray Hair, The Why And What-for
When people reach the age of 30, they have a 10-20% chance of graying hair with each passing decade.1
It is a fact of life that sooner or later virtually everyone will “go Gray”.
For some people it occurs rapidly, while in others it occurs slowly over several decades.
It is known that White people may start going Gray in their mid-30s, Asians typically go Gray beginning in their late 30’s, and Black people typically do not go Gray until their mid-40’s.
Our hair color comes from pigment called melanin. Each hair may contain dark melanin (eumelanin) and light melanin (pheomelanin), which blend together to form the many shades of hair color among humans.
When we are young, special pigment stem cells called melanocytes inject pigment into keratin-containing cells.
This keratin, a protein, makes up your hair and is responsible for giving it its color. As you age, melanin is reduced, which is why your hair turns Gray and, ultimately, white (this means there’s no melanin left).
Scientists Discover Gene Linked to Graying Hair
What exactly causes melanin to be reduced and hair to turn Gray has been a mystery, until now. An international team of researchers has discovered the 1st gene linked to Gray hair.
The study involved a genome-wide association scan in more than 6,000 Latin Americans to look for genes related to features of scalp hair and facial hair, including graying, balding, beard thickness, monobrow, eyebrow thickness and more.
A gene that has previously been linked to blonde hair in Europeans turned out to be connected to gray hair as well and accounted for about 30% of hair Graying among the study participants.
The other 70% is likely due to factors such as age, environment, stress and more.
The researchers plan to look for ways to manipulate this genetic pathway to prevent hair from turning Gray.
Kaustubh Adhikari, Ph.D, a postdoctoral researcher at University College London, told TIME Mag: “We might have drugs that boost or stop the protein from acting and change the amount of melanin in hair follicles and change the hair internally … So once the hair comes out like the way you want, you don’t have [to] go out and buy dyes.”
Researchers believe they are getting closer to finding a cure for Gray hair.
Scientists at New York University’s Langone Medical Center have isolated the Wnt protein, which coordinates pigmentation between melanocytes and another type of stem cell that guides the development of hair follicles.
When the researchers inhibited the Wnt pathway in black mice, they turned Gray. They believe that one day adding the Wnt protein to hair care products or supplements may “cure” Gray hair.
In a follow-up to the original study that linked Gray hair to a build up of hydrogen peroxide, researchers revealed that a UVB-activated compound called PC-KUS could reverse the hydrogen peroxide build up and effectively “cure” Gray hair.
The treatment also works to restore skin color in people with vitiligo.
Dr. Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of The FASEB Journal, which published the study, told Medical News Today: “For generations, numerous remedies have been concocted to hide Gray hair. but now, for the first time, an actual treatment that gets to the root of the problem has been developed.”
The search for a cure for Gray hair assumes that it is a problem that needs solving. But there is nothing bad about having Gray hair. In fact, from a health perspective one far better off going Gray than using toxic hair dyes.
If thinking of embracing silver locks, now is a perfect time.
So-called “Granny hair” is the latest trend, with people paying salons big bucks to go Gray. If you are lucky enough to have earned your Gray (silver) naturally, you get this look for Free. That is the trend.
Eat healthy, Be healthy, Live lively.
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
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