Table Of Content
- What lifestyle changes can help me avoid prostate cancer?
- Stay on top of latest health news from Harvard Medical School.
- What you should know about gray or white hair
- Facts That Will Change Everything You Think About Going Gray
- Drugs & Supplements
- Plus, get a FREE copy of the Best Diets for Cognitive Fitness.

To prove this concept, the research team produced salt-and-pepper-colored mice by physically plucking strands of their hair again and again over the course of two years. The good news is that you’re used to wearing sunscreen to protect your face, and it’s the same for your hair. Don’t worry, you don’t have to slather your locks in greasy SPF. UV Protection for your hair like Live In Mist is lightweight and actually improves the condition of your hair. It's the next best thing to wearing a hat when you’re spending time in the sun.
What lifestyle changes can help me avoid prostate cancer?
There is eumelanin, which gives hair black or brown color, and pheomelanin, which causes yellow or red hues. The distribution and ratio of these pigments determine the hair’s exact color, while the absence of melanin results in white or gray hair. Specifically, the Nature study found that during the active phase of hair growth in mice, melanocyte stem cells moved toward the base of the hair follicle to mature into melanocytes. Surprisingly, later during hair growth, melanocytes migrated back up to their original niche in the hair follicle, where they reversed their maturation to become stem cells again. In mice, these cells could perform this yo-yo cycle of migration for at least two years, about the adult lifetime of the rodents. In mice, the link between stress and graying is stronger, with experiments that have teased out potential mechanisms.
Stay on top of latest health news from Harvard Medical School.
Older adults may also often have difficulty absorbing vitamin B12 through digestion. In one study, 55 percent of patients with pernicious anemia (a condition caused by a lack of vitamin B12) had PHG, compared to 30 percent in the control group, the Mayo researchers noted. Gray hair develops as melanocytes decrease in number, but exactly when those cells begin to wane differs for each individual.
What you should know about gray or white hair
The jammed cells allow the hair to keep growing, but the hair isn't given its dose of pigmentation. The unique maturity level of MsSCs gets more complicated the older you get. As your hair grows and sheds in cycles, the more McSCs get stuck in one particular compartment called the hair follicle bulge. It all starts with a type of stem cell called melanocytes, also known as McSCs, says the study, which was published in the journal Nature this week.

Facts That Will Change Everything You Think About Going Gray
"There are many options, depending on the amount of gray present and the look you're going for. Possibly paint some white streaks around the face for a stronger statement." Black people’s hair usually is thinner , drier, and breaks more easily, compared to hair of people of other races. So comb and otherwise treat it gently, especially if you use chemicals to relax your hair. Add moisture with a light conditioner that penetrates your hair shafts, instead of lanolin or other oily treatments that simply coat the strands. Blow-drying, straightening, highlighting, and perming regularly can wreak havoc on hair, leaving it brittle, broken, and unmanageable.
The research focused on cells in the skin of mice and also found in humans called melanocyte stem cells, or McSCs. "With your first grays, I don’t think it’s that important to change any of your routines," says Hazan, a sentiment echoed by many professional colorists we've spoken to. If you are someone who isn't ready to go full-on silver fox and wants to cover your grays, Hazan suggests the right time to start dyeing them is once your hair is about 30 percent gray. Hairstylists and colorists agree that plucking is a bad idea.
Drugs & Supplements

His clients consist of high-profile business and creative leaders. He trained as an apprentice to the owner of Paul Mitchell and worked in education and product development for Paul Mitchell Systems. Jay is incredibly passionate about the creative process both in terms of styling hair and developing effective products. Our proactive haircare products benefit from our antioxidant-rich Mela-9™ Complex.
Plus, get a FREE copy of the Best Diets for Cognitive Fitness.
Mela-9™ Complex is found in our Wash shampoo, Wait A Sec dry shampoo, and detox scalp exfoliant Scrub. She’s spent her career editing and writing about health, wellness, beauty, fashion, and food for Martha Stewart Living, Martha Stewart Weddings, Bridal Guide, Good Housekeeping, and more. She’s loved all things health and wellness since starting her bi-weekly podcast Pancreas Pals—a series all about the highs and lows of living life with type 1 diabetes. When not podcasting, she spends most of her time curled up with a good book or watching a period piece on BBC. Other studies indicate that while stress may play a part, it is only a small part of a bigger picture where disease and other factors contribute. Know someone who may be experiencing a phase of gray hair?
OPINION: Lamont turns gray as we wait for his decision on reelection - theday.com
OPINION: Lamont turns gray as we wait for his decision on reelection.
Posted: Wed, 10 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Some of these drugs darken hair, but when you stop taking them your hair may turn gray or white. Oxidative stress causes imbalances when antioxidants are not enough to counteract the damaging effects of free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules that damage cells, contributing to aging and disease. “Unfortunately, we don’t currently have any mechanisms to reliably bring hair color back.
That gene – IRF4 – helps regulate your production and storage of melanin (the pigment that determines your hair color) and also influences when you go grey. There is a link between stress and hair graying, but the idea that hair can turn gray overnight is more myth than reality. More often, extreme events change hair color over the course of several day to months.. Hair grays because pigment-producing cells get stuck within the hair follicle, research suggests. Smoking has adverse effects on the body and contributes to white hair.
This occurs just before the hair is preparing to fall out or shed, so the roots always look pale. It is well known that gray hair results from a reduction of pigment, while white hair has no pigment, but why this happens remains somewhat of a mystery. At Arey, we wanted to find science-backed, proactive treatments for aging and greying hair.
The biological underpinning of this phenomenon was revealed in a study published in 2020. The researchers found that stress activates the sympathetic nervous system (our “fight or flight” response system), which causes permanent damage to the pigment-producing cells in hair follicles. Stress is thought to be another route to a head packed with gray hairs. But the evidence in people, while suggestive, is limited by small experimental sample sizes, Dr. Korda says. One 2021 study, for example, looked at hair from 14 individuals and found that changes in color within a single strand can be tied to periods of stress (as reported by study participants). More intriguingly, in 10 out of 14 subjects, the researchers discovered strands with light tips and dark roots, indicating that some reversal of graying hair might be possible.
There are so many options out there, it's no wonder you might have color confusion. It's a question of how much coverage you want and how long you want it to last. "The type of dye you use depends on the amount of gray you have," says Hazan. "If 40 percent or more of your head is gray, permanent color is the best option. If it's 30 percent or less, you can use semi-permanent or vegetable dye." “A lot of women get discouraged from going gray, but the texture [grays] give you can actually make your hair routine more exciting.
They didn't have any more melanocytes, and they went gray. So this is a plausible reason for the old wives' tale that acute or chronic stress can turn you gray. In those with a full head of gray hair, most of the strands have presumably reached a “point of no return,” but the possibility remains that some hair follicles may still be malleable to change, he says. In a February 2005 Science article (Nishimura, et al.) Harvard scientists proposed that a failure of melanocyte stem cells (MSC) to maintain the production of melanocytes could cause the graying of hair. This failure of MSC maintenance may result in the breakdown of signals that produce hair color.
Hair transplants are a more permanent hair-replacement solution. Some people start to go gray young, known as premature graying. Maybe people who've been through a lot of stress and survived it have a visible cultural signal of their resilience -- their gray hair.
In mouse studies, the researchers showed that if this protein is absent, hair color is lost. The biology of hair growth is rather complex, with a multitude of specialized cells involved in hair follicle structure and function. Scientists continue to unravel the process of human hair growth and pigmentation.