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Specialists have managed to find out the reason for the appearance of gray hair
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
Experts from an American university conducted a series of studies aimed at studying the features of human hair pigmentation. As is known, with age, human hair loses pigmentation, which causes gray hair. Gray hair appears at different ages and does not always depend only on the number of years lived.
The appearance of gray hair is due to the fact that the human body stops the natural production of melanin pigment, which is responsible for hair color. Hair begins to lose color from the part that is closer to the root.
Usually, a person goes gray either with age or under the influence of internal factors. After the production of melanin is disrupted, more air bubbles appear in the hair structure, and the hair color approaches silver or yellowish-gray.
Researchers from the USA (New York) conducted a series of experiments that proved that the appearance of gray hair can be associated not only with age, but also with the internal state of a person. A group of scientists managed to establish that stress hormones can destroy stem cells that are responsible for hair color.
Medicine knows that age-related changes in hair color and the appearance of gray hair are normal. With age (usually at 40-45 years), the number of gray hairs in a person begins to increase every year. The pigment melanin, which is responsible for the color of the hair, stops being produced, the number of stem cells that are responsible for the production of melanin decreases every year. Doctors say that such processes in the body are natural and should not cause concern.
On the other hand, each of us can observe cases of premature gray hair: there are quite a large number of people who are completely gray at the age of 30-35. There are also known cases when gray hair appeared in young people and even children.
Scientists have found that premature graying can be caused by stress hormones that the human body produces after a deep internal shock. Under conditions of stress, accelerated changes occur in the body that are usually associated with age: the destruction of stem cells and the cessation of melanin production.
The study's leader said stress hormones help destroy the stem cells that produce melanin, which is why many people go grey much earlier than their peers.
Doctors claim that early gray hair can be a sign of a person's mental health problems. In their opinion, deep stress experienced, which caused the appearance of gray hair, can be a catalyst for the emergence of dangerous mental illnesses that may not be immediately noticeable.
The cessation of melanin production at an early age also cannot pass without leaving a trace for the entire body. The pigment melanin is responsible not only for hair color, but also for skin color, so a lack of melanin in the human body makes its skin especially vulnerable. People who have gone gray prematurely are not recommended to spend a lot of time in the sun and sunbathe without using special products.