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Specialists managed to find out the cause of the appearance of gray hair
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
Specialists from the American University conducted a series of studies aimed at studying the features of human hair pigmentation. As you know, with age , human hair loses pigmentation, which causes the appearance of 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 pigment melanin, which is responsible for the hair color. Hair begins to lose color from the part that is closer to the root.
Usually a person turns gray with age or under the influence of internal factors. After melanin production is disrupted, more air bubbles appear in the hair structure, and the hair color approaches with silvery or yellowish-gray.
Researchers from the United States (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 the age-related changes in hair color and the appearance of gray hair are normal. With age (usually in 40-45 years) the amount of gray hair in a person begins to increase every year. Pigment melanin, which is responsible for the color of the hair, ceases to be produced, the number of stem cells that are responsible for the production of melanin decreases year by year. Physicians argue 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 graying: there is a fairly large number of people who are completely white at the age of 30-35. There are also cases when gray hair appeared in young people and even children.
Scientists have found that the appearance of premature gray hair can be caused by stress hormones, which the human body produces after a deep internal shock. In the conditions of the experienced stress in the body there are accelerated changes, which are usually associated with age: the destruction of stem cells and the cessation of melanin production.
The study leader said that stress hormones contribute to the destruction of stem cells that produce melanin, so many people are graying much earlier than their peers.
Doctors say that early gray hair can be a sign of impaired mental health. In their opinion, the experienced deep stress that caused the appearance of gray hair can be a catalyst for the emergence of dangerous mental illnesses, which may not be immediately apparent.
The cessation of melanin production at an early age also can not pass without a trace for the whole organism. Pigment melanin is responsible not only for the hair color, but also for the skin color, so the lack of melanin in the human body makes its skin especially vulnerable. People who have turned gray before the time, it is not recommended to spend a lot of time in the sun and sunbathing without using special means.
