Grey Hair
The onset and progression of greying hair correlates closely with
ageing and affects every human to some degree (regardless of gender
or race), the age of onset is genetically controlled and inherited:
Average age for Caucasians – mid thirties,
Asians – late thirties
Africans- Mid Forties.
Hair is only said to be prematurely grey if it occurs before the age
of:
20 in Caucasians,
25 in Asians, and
30 in Africans.
Although not formally tested the rule of thumb is that by 50 years,
50% of people will have 50% grey hair. Of course this is more
predominant and noticeable on people with darker hair..and is
usually not grey either, rather interplay of the white hair and the
darker ones surrounding it.
Greying hair is often coarser, wirer and more ‘unmanageable’ than
pigmented hair, this would reflect a change in chemical and physical
properties before/after pigmentation of the hair, in addition grey
hair is often unable to hold a ‘set’ and is more resistant to
incorporating hair dyes,
Conclusion
The reason that the science of greying hair has been stalled for so
long is that the melanocytes are basically individual
sub-populations which up until now have been impossible to isolate
and therefore study,
There is no upward trend in early greying hair
in men or women, though there is most definitely more people who
notice their hair more and that includes the ‘natural’ colour of it.
Professor Tobin and co-workers have developed novel methods to study
these cells outside the body (i.e.: in vitro) and are aiming to
unlock the mysteries of the melanocytes and greying hair that this
review has only gleamed!
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