Causes of Grey Hairs

Grey Hair is a symptom of improper protein synthesis. Hair grows white when the colour pigment (melanin) ceases to be produced in the hair follicle and small air spaces take its place. Pigment cells located at the base of each hair follicle produce the natural dominant colour of our youth. However, as a person grows older and reaches middle age, more and more of these pigment cells die and colour is lost from individual hairs. The result is that a person's hair gradually begins to show more and more grey. Individual hairs each have an outer layer (the cuticle) of overlapping flat cells, underneath, which is the thick cortex, which consists of horn-like keratin. The inside of the hair is made of softer, rectangular cells. Hair colour is determined by the concentration and depth of melanin pigment in the cortex - this produces the whole spectrum of hair colour from blond to black, with very fair people having almost no melanin. When these melanocytes die, then the hair turns grey. Melanocytes produce the pigment melanin and they are the cells responsible for much of the coloring of the human body, including the hair. With age the melanocytes lose their ability to make pigment, so color is absent from new hair.Grey hair is usually associated with ageing, but this is not always the case. Early greying of the hair is basically hereditary, and we can inherit it from one of our parents or grandparents. So if your father's hair started to turn grey in his thirties there is a good chance yours will too. Grey hair can also be influenced by stress. A person experiencing a prolonged period of stress and anxiety may notice, over a period of time, white hairs gradually appearing. Malnutrition, worry, shock, deep sorrow, tension and other similar conditions may also slow down the production of melanin resulting in grey hair. Sever illness too can stop or affect the production of melanin. However, scientists have not been fully able to explain the exact causes of this change in colour of the hair. Contrary to popular belief pulling out one grey hair will make two grow in its place is a myth. What can happen, however, is that if your hair is starting to turn grey and you pull one grey hair out, it may well be that the neighboring grey hair is just about to start growing, therefore two hairs in close proximity will appear at about the same time.