What Causes Gray Hair?

Ok, so here's the deal; I was looking in the mirror doing my hair one day, and I discovered several gray strings of hair. Being in my 20's, I found this quite interesting. Hey, but after all, who says that only senior citizens get gray hair. Right?

Honestly speaking, at this point of no return with the only option of dying my hair, I have learned to embrace my gray strings and groom them with just as much love as I do the jet black strings of my hair. I feel pretty cool having a little gray hair, and interestingly I think that salt-and-pepper hair is about to become the new blond.

I'm starting to realize that having these gray strings in my hair is not so terrible; but it makes the statement that I know what storms and trials look like because I have been through some, and the fact of the matter is I MADE IT! So now I look at my gray hair strings as "TROPHY STRINGS". How many trophy strings do you have? Be proud of your hair; go ahead, sport your trophies.

Anyhow, with the thought of gray hair on my mind, and in my hair, I figured I would do a little research to help us all who have ever wondered..."Uhhh how did that get there?"

According to the Scientific American Newsletter, the first gray string of hair usually arrives around the age of 30 for men and 35 for women. However, persons within their teenage years can begin to gray, and when that happens it is usually genetic.

Gray hair starts within the pits of the scalp, which are called the follicles, and below each follicle it's like a hair-producing factory where the cells work together to produce colored hair. Also, keratin is in the mix, which helps to grow the nails and outer layers of skin as well. Hair melanin comes into play, and has two shades—eumelanin (dark brown or black) and pheomelanin (yellow or red)—that creates different colors. Hair that has lost most of its melanin comes out gray, and hair that has lost ALL of this pigment comes out white.

Now for the main event, over time the hair follicle production system rebuilds itself, and the [melanocyte] stem cells could gradually reduce, and that is what leads to the loss of pigmentation in hair.

Does stress cause this? "There is evidence that the actions of stress hormones referee the signals instructing melanocytes to carry melanin to keratinocytes," according to Jennifer Lin, a dermatologist who conducts molecular biology research at the Dana-Farber / Harvard Cancer Center in Boston. "Basically, if that signal is interrupted, melanin will not distribute pigment to your hair."

So, there you have it my friends, hard facts and possibilities as cold as ice-water being spontaneously splashed on your back. It's possible that stress and stress-producing illnesses can very well cause gray hair.

Well, in the words of the ones who came before us: Eat healthy, exercise, get good rest, and stop worrying about everything. If things don't pan-out as bad as you thought it was going to be, guess what, you worried in vain. Ewww!