Stem Cell Damage Causes Gray Hair

The emergence of gray hair signifies the start of the aging process for most people, even though the age at which this occurs varies greatly amongst individuals. Many people go to great extent to cover up their gray hair.  According to National Geographic:

Work or personal stress may make you want to pull your hair out, but it's cellular stress that actually turns it gray, a new study has found.

That's because DNA is "under constant attack" by damaging agents, such as chemicals, ultraviolet light, and ionizing radiation, according to study lead author Emi Nishimura of Tokyo Medical and Dental University...In younger people, the hair's stem cells maintain a balance between those that reproduce and those that turn into pigment cells, so that pigment is constantly being added to growing hair.

Scientists suspect turning hair gray is the body's way of "purging damaged stem cells without killing them off". It would seem that the constant exposure to chemicals in our environment may be speeding up the process of graying.

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Posted by Jennifer Lance at July 30, 2009 9:32 AM