Why does hair turn gray? Researchers have new findings

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Why does our hair turn gray as we age? Many of us have probably asked ourselves this question. So far, however, there have been no satisfactory answers. However, US researchers have found a possible reason within the framework of a new study.

New findings: This is why our hair turns gray
The question of why our hair turns gray and how this aging process can be stopped has been addressed by a team of researchers from the USA as part of a recent study. And in the process, they have gained valuable insights. Because according to their information, they may have discovered the reason for gray hair. As the study results show, stem cells, particularly, have something to do with color change. These age with us and thus lose essential abilities to maintain our natural hair color.

Specifically, we are talking about the pigment melanin, which is responsible for our hair coloring. The production of this pigment becomes less the older we humans become. Until now, it was unclear why this is so. But as the scientists of the New York Unversity Grossman School of Medicine found out through their research, it is connected with stem cells – namely with the so-called melanocyte stem cells, which influence the pigment cells of melanin.

According to the research results, these stem cells behave differently with age than others. The study suggests that stem cells get stuck as hair ages and lose their ability to mature and maintain hair color. The so-called melanocytes can therefore move less actively, get stuck, and cannot migrate to the hair root, where they would develop into pigment cells. This, in turn then, leads to a gray coloration of the hair.

Can we soon reverse gray hair – completely without dying?
With this study, the research team around study leader Qi Sun has made a special discovery. In the longer term, the researchers’ findings could even help develop treatments to modify cells to stop or possibly even reverse the graying process. The researchers say that preventing melanocyte stem cells from losing their mobility could be the key to healthy hair that doesn’t turn gray. How can this work? The scientists now want to address this question in further research.