Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Why does hair turn gray? A new study says 'stuck' stem cells may be the cause : NPR

why does your hair turn gray

Research from 2016 suggested that people with IRF4 were prone to going gray earlier in life than those without the gene. Yet, some discerning gentlemen (hi, George Clooney) have made gray hair seem stately and handsome over the years. Perhaps you’re ready to embrace this new chapter with open arms — and maybe a PEOPLE cover.

Why Is Your Hair Turning Grey? Here’s What the Science Says

Hair turns gray as a natural part of aging, but there are several other factors that affect when it happens and whether gray hair is reversible. With the right diagnosis and treatments, white hair progression can be stopped and reversed in some instances. For Caucasians, the average age to get gray hair is mid-thirties; for Asian people it’s late thirties; and for African people it’s mid-forties. Below are some commonly asked questions about gray or white hair. The following natural remedies may offer an alternative to slow down hair-whitening without harming the body or causing further hair pigment damage. Hydrogen peroxide, which is in many hair dyes, is one such harmful chemical.

why does your hair turn gray

Men's Health

Eumelanin is responsible for black and brown colors, while pheomelanin is responsible for orange and yellow. “But the hairs that have been gray for 30 years are probably unlikely to be reversible,” Picard noted. When you clicked, maybe you thought I would be talking about what goes on in a very popular book series. I am going to talk about whether your kid really can turn your hair gray. You’re training regularly, getting your workouts in, or maybe just starting a new regime, and recognize that even with regular stretching, certain muscles are still pretty stiff and uncomfortable.

Going gray is beautiful and natural

The sun’s rays (UV) can cause oxidative stress and cellular damage to your hair. If your hair turns completely white, there is likely no possibility of repigmentation. Why a person's hair turns gray has to do with melanocytes, or pigment-producing cells that are concentrated around the hair follicle that give it color. One stops producing pigment, that strand of hair turns gray. So avoid tearing your hair out when frustration strikes—it might just come in gray.

Quitting smoking

Sun Damage In Summer Can Cause Gray Hair: How To Prevent It - TODAY

Sun Damage In Summer Can Cause Gray Hair: How To Prevent It.

Posted: Tue, 01 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The Essential Guide for MenThe Manual is simple — we show men how to live a life that is more engaged. As our name implies, we offer a suite of expert guides on a wide range of topics, including fashion, food, drink, travel, and grooming. We don’t boss you around; we’re simply here to bring authenticity and understanding to all that enriches our lives as men on a daily basis. Diana Kwon is a freelance journalist who covers health and the life sciences. AuthorJay SmallJay Small is a sought-after hair stylist in Los Angeles with over 20 years of experience.

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The fur that then grew out of that melanocyte-less follicle was gray. So when that off-leash dog starts to growl at you, not only will your heart rate rise and your pupils dilate, but your hair might just start its trek toward gray. Every hair follicle contains pigment cells called melanocytes.

Staying Healthy

why does your hair turn gray

For a more graduated, natural look, if only about 20 to 30 percent of your hair is gray, you can also opt for balayage, which works if you don’t have as many grays. "It will camouflage the gray and make it look like highlights," says Hazan. Unless you dye, your hair eventually loses its color, usually beginning in your 30s or 40s. Though going gray is natural, many people dread it because of society’s notions about aging. Here’s what researchers know about how and why graying hair happens. As they age, men tend to lose the hair on top of their head, which eventually leaves a horseshoe-shaped ring of hair around the sides.

Special Health Reports

They found the number of McSCs lodged in the follicle bulge increased from 15 percent to nearly 50 percent. But in the younger hairs, which weren't plucked, the McSCs continued to move around the different compartments, picking up protein signals and producing a consistently rich brown pigment. The research team from NYU Grossman School of Medicine was already familiar with melanocytes.

Expand Your World with Science

Of course, we could suggest that you avoid all stress, but that's pretty hard to do and impossible if you have any kids or any kind of extended network of people you love. "When the stem cell regulation goes awry, we will have multiple health problems including cancers," she told NPR. "The melanocyte stem cell system is advantageous to understand this broad issue in medical science, as the malfunction of the system is so visible." The follicle bulge isn't giving those McSCs the signal to mature, and it's not sending the McSCs back to a compartment that would.

Or, you can switch from a permanent color to less opaque demi color, which can make your gray strands mimic highlights and blend in better with the rest of your hair. Moisture treatment and hair oils can fight dull, dry grays. Heat and light from lamps or the sun can “bleach” gray hair and make it look yellow. A purple-toned shampoo can help keep your tresses a vibrant silver. The scalp contains a natural oil called sebum, which helps keep the skin lubricated.

Previously, scientists thought gray hairs resulted from melanocyte stem cells depleting in number over time. "The fact that our hairs may contain inactive melanocyte stem cells suggests a target for reactivation for the purposes of repigmentation," Harris told Live Science. However, melanocyte stem cells in the hair follicle normally produce a new set of melanocytes at the start of the next hair growth cycle.

“By plucking your hair, you force it to form a new hair. This constant cycling of the hair stresses the hair follicle and may cause that hair to become prematurely gray,” Dr. Honda explains. Theoretically, however, if we can coax our stem cell melanocytes into becoming melanocytes again, we could reverse gray hair. When our body responds to stress, it often damages healthy cells.

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Scientists may have discovered why hair turns grey Science

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