The hair has a tendency to lose its natural colour with advancing age and turn grey, but premature greying is a morbid condition and it makes even the young look older. The hair is an appendage of the skin. It is composed of the same kinds of cells as are found in the outer layer of the skin, which is known as the epidermis. Hair grows from hair follicles which are deep recesses in the epidermis. The sebaceous glands of the scalp secrete an oily substance called sebum, which is the source of nutrition, lustre, and blackness of the hair. The hair cannot be fed externally, for such nourishment, as the scalp requires, must come to it from the bloodstream.
Let us first understand why our hair starts to grey. Hair colour is produced by a variety of factors like nutritional intake, hereditary conditions and the lifestyle we lead. The most important among them in determining hair colour is melanin. Melanin is produced by melanocytes that are found within the layers of the hair follicle. When hair is produced via cell division in the hair bulb, newly produced melanin accumulates in the cells and colours the hair as it emerges from the follicle.
At a certain point of time, the melanocytes begin to make little or no melanin and therefore the hair is virtually transparent. We see the colour of the dead cells comprising the hair. The reason the melanocytes don't work as well as they used to be is because of a decrease in the production of the hormone that stimulates their functioning. The process of aging means problems with cell functioning. Our hair begins to fall when the pores are blocked or the hair roots are partially dead. Both greying and thinning of hair may occur simultaneously, since both are generally a result of ageing.
A faulty diet and mental worries are the two primary causes of premature greying of hair. Lack of some of the B vitamins, iron, copper, and iodine in the daily diet is said to be a contributory factor. Mental worries produce extraordinary tension in the skin of the scalp; this interferes with the supply of vital nutrition necessary for the health of the hair.
Some experts believe that cases of rapid hair whitening can be attributed to a rare form of alopecia areata. This is a genetic autoimmune disease in which T-cells mistake hair follicles for a foreign substance and launches an aggressive counter attack that results in partial or complete baldness. Generally, only pigmented hair is targeted and falls out. The grey hair, which may be more numerous than the person realises, remain and become conspicuous.
Other causes of premature greying of hair are an unclean condition of the scalp, washing the hair with hot water, drying it with an electric dryer, and use of hair dyes. Heredity is also a pre-disposing factor. Even overnight graying is due to stress. There are some amino acid which is responsible for the synthesises of melanin, important for the colour of hair. The deficiency of hair results in graying of hair.
Treatment for premature greying falls more in the preventive category rather than curative. We must try to de-stress, and ensure that our lives are not too fast paced for our own good. Those strands of grey hair might just be an early warning of an internal imbalance. In case excess grey hair is noticed, consult a trichologist.
By: Michael Douglas