Gray Hair Causes Clarified
Simply put: ‘Gray hair, then, is simply hair with less melanin, and white hair has no melanin at all. Genes control this lack of deposition of melanin, too. That’s why that in some families, many members' hair turns white in their 20s.’1
Additionally: ‘The sebaceous gland is vital because it produces sebum, which conditions the hair and skin. After puberty our body produces more sebum but as we age we begin to make less sebum. Women have far less sebum production than men do as they age.’2
Detailed explanation: ‘Dr. Desmond Tobin, professor of cell biology from the University of Bradford in England, suggests that the hair follicle has a “melanogentic clock” which slows down or stops melanocyte activity, thus decreasing the pigment our hair receives. This occurs just before the hair is preparing to fall out or shed, so the roots always look pale.
Moreover, Dr. Tobin suggests that hair turns gray because of age and genetics, in that genes regulate the exhaustion of the pigmentary potential of each individual hair follicle. This occurs at different rates in different hair follicles. For some people it occurs rapidly, while in others it occurs slowly over several decades.’
There are other factors that can change the pigmentation of hair, making it lighter or darker. Scientists have divided them by intrinsic (internal) and extrinsic (external) factors:3
Intrinsic factors: genetic defects, hormones, body distribution, age.
Extrinsic factors: climate, pollutants, toxins, chemical exposure.
Does Stress Really Cause Gray Hair?
“Anyone who has watched, a President through a term in office, knows stress might be a cause for gray hair; the stress/graying hair effect is particularly notable in President Obama. If you have teenagers, you’ve probably even remarked to them the stress they cause you is making your hair turn gray. (As noted previously), the truth is going gray really has to do with the production of pigment in your hair follicles. That production process can be altered by several contributing factors, stress being one of them.”4
"There is evidence that local expression of stress hormones mediate the signals instructing melanocytes to deliver melanin to keratinocytes," notes Jennifer Lin, a dermatologist who conducts molecular biology research at the Dana-Farber / Harvard Cancer Center in Boston. ‘Conceivably, if that signal is disrupted, melanin will not deliver pigment to your hair.’ ”5
An All-Natural Hair Color Treatment for Gray Hair
Lustrous Henna® 100% All-Natural Hair Color is nontoxic, contains no chemicals such as para-phenlenediamine (PPD). Also, Lustrous Henna® 100% All-Natural Hair Color does not contain ammonia, peroxide, or other synthetic dyes. This herbal hair color can cover gray hair and nourish it at the same time. With only one or two applications, natural hair color and highlights return.*
Lustrous Henna® 100% All-Natural Hair Color is a mixture of pure henna and other ancient Asian ingredients used since ancient times for natural hair color, gray hair coverage, hair growth and natural hair conditioning. Lustrous Henna® 100% All-Natural Hair Color ingredients are as follows (depending on the shade of hair color):
*Note: Most customers get total coverage with only one application, however, if your gray is really resistant, a second application is recommended.
1,5,Scientific American, on file. 2WebMd, on file. 3Library of Congress, on file. 4Source on file.
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