You look in the mirror, notice a streak of grey and sadly state that it is already… The appearance of discoloured hair does not necessarily mean clear signs of aging. It can be the result of stress or other problems. Such greying can be stopped or even reversed. What about classic greying? Scientists are working hard to cheat time.
Graying has many names. Physiological, also called senile, is inevitable and completely natural, although often frowned upon. Premature, which occurs before the age of 30, requires explanation and is sometimes reversible.
You're already 30, so the color won't come back? It could be anything!
Graying Hair – When Does Gray Hair Appear?
Physiological graying can occur as early as shortly after the age of 30, but most often begins almost a decade later. It is most easily seen in dark hair, but blond hair also grays at about the same time.
The onset of graying and its rate depend on genes and to some extent lifestyle, and the process is completely natural.
What does it involve? Hair follicles shrink, the bulbs become increasingly malnourished, and the body produces fewer hormones that support hair, such as estrogens responsible for hair growth, and pigments such as melanin responsible for color.
Hair also falls out more often, and new hair does not necessarily grow in its place, so over time the hair becomes thinner. The whole process can be accelerated by poor scalp condition.
Graying hair before the age of thirty – what can it mean?
Premature greying, i.e. before the 30th birthday, and sometimes even occurring in children, can be a sign of health problems. It can be a result of genetic predisposition and in practice, as yet, an irreparable cosmetic defect, but it is also something more.
If gray hair appears very early, but even after the age of 30, suddenly, in significant quantities, it is worth ruling out such causes as:
- chronic stress and depression,
- fatigue/exhaustion of the body,
- anemia, especially that caused by vitamin B12 deficiency,
- hyperthyroidism.
Premature graying – stop or even reverse
It's hard to believe, but a dozen or so years ago, doctors claimed that Marie Antoinette syndrome, or rapid, premature graying under the influence of severe stress, was a myth. Today, we know for sure that trauma can deprive hair of its pigment.
The good news is that color can… come back. Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center observed, for example, that in subjects in difficult life situations, the hair lost its color for several months. However, when the situation stabilized, the color returned.
Will something like this be possible in the case of physiological graying? Intensive work by researchers is ongoing and supposedly brings increasingly better results. For now, however, it has been possible to restore the color to rodent fur and spectacular successes in this area are still ahead of us.