| Grey Hair - What Causes It? |
| Articles - Lifestyle |
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Why does hair turn gray? This must be a question that every adult must have asked themselves at some point in time. Graying of hair seems even more mysterious when one sees a 30 year old with a head full of gray hair and yet a 45 year old with almost no gray hair. Well, there is a scientific explanation for this disparity.
Why does hair turn gray? This must be a question that every adult must have asked themselves at some point in time. Graying of hair seems even more mysterious when one sees a 30 year old with a head full of gray hair and yet a 45 year old with almost no gray hair. Well, there is a scientific explanation for this disparity. A single strand of hair has two parts. One part is the root which is anchored underneath the skin. Another part is the shaft which appears above the skin. Hair follicles are attached to the hair roots. The follicle is what controls the characteristics of each individual hair, including the hair's color. Hair follicles have cells that produce melanin. This is the same substance that gives color to your skin. Melanin has two forms and each form has its own corresponding color. Eumelanin makes hair dark and plaeomelanin makes hair light. When these two substances mix together, an entire spectrum of hair shades can result. Now as one ages, the cells within the hair follicle that are responsible for producing melanin start to die off. As the melanin-producing cells in each cell start to reduce, the color of the hair turns to gray. Note however that it usually takes a long time for all scalp hair to lose its coloration considering that the human scalp has over 100,000 hair strands and that each hair follicle is virtually independent of the next. On average, the period from the time the first hair strand turns gray to when the entire head becomes gray takes more than 10 years. The time one experiences their first gray hair is dependent on a number of factors. The first and most significant is one's genes. The time your hair turns gray will most likely be around the same age that your parents' hair started to turn gray. However, one's diet is another increasingly major cause of graying. Health scientists have proven that what you eat can affect how long it takes for you to start to grow gray hair. Remember that the melanin-producing cells also need certain nutrients to grow. Some of these nutrients include vitamin B and iron. Making sure these nutrients form part of one's balanced diet can help prolong the lifespan of these cells and thus forestall graying. Some of today's lifestyle practices can also contribute to graying. Smoking has been one of the most frequently cited examples. Remember that smoking deprives the body's cells of sufficient oxygen - a key component for life and growth of body tissue. There are also illnesses that may cause graying either directly or through the side effects of the treatment. Anemia and thyroid problems can lead to rapid graying of hair. Cancer treatment - both chemotherapy and radiotherapy - can accelerate the demise of body cells. Although there are many products on the market to help you combat grey hairs, these are aimed towards covering up the gray rather than reversing it. Grey hair is a biological process so the quickest way to deal with it is by using color to cover it up. DISCLAIMER: This article is provided as information only and is not to be taken as financial advice. Want to find out more about Latest Hairstyles, then visit Jennifer Ang's site on how to choose the best Bob Hairstyles that suit your styles. |