Why we get gray hair and how to stop it

US researchers may have found the reason why human hair turns gray with age. It was previously known that the pigment melanin is responsible for hair color and that melanin production decreases with age. This causes human hair to gradually turn gray.

So far, however, it was not known why the concentration of melanin decreases. The study by the New York University Grossman School of Medicine research group has therefore started exactly at this point and has come to a surprising result:

During a study, the team of researchers discovered that the precursors of pigment cells, the so-called melanocyte stem cells, are responsible for graying hair. The melanocyte stem cells behave differently than other stem cells in the body.

Study shows why we get gray hair

For the research, the team studied the behavior and development of individual hairs and hair follicles on the ears of mice for two years. Using a fluorescence gene, the researchers marked individual melanocyte stem cells and observed how they developed over the course of a hair life cycle.

The scientists observed that the melanocyte stem cells remain in their original form or regress instead of migrating to the hair root, where the melanocyte stem cells then transform into pigment cells that give the hair its color.

The melanocyte stem cells become more and more sluggish with age and no longer fully mature, explain the researchers at NYU Langone Health. As a result, no more pigment would be produced that colors the hair. The result: the hair turns grey, white or silver.

“Our study adds to our fundamental understanding of how melanocyte stem cells work in hair coloring,” study leader Qi Sun, a post-doctoral researcher at NYU Langone Health, told Nature.

Reverse Gray Hair? Researchers think this is possible in the future

So, research shows that melanocyte stem cell mobility is the key to colored hair. Although the research was carried out in mice, the scientists believe the results could be extrapolated to humans.

The team behind the study even sees the study results as an approach to preventing or even reversing graying of the hair in the future if these cells can be made to move again.

Meanwhile, gray hair is also very trendy and will be more popular than ever in 2023. Dye gray hair? That was once. Many celebrities and models are now sporting their gray hair proudly, showing that aging is something that should be celebrated. According to Glamor Magazine, gray or silver hair is “one of the most talked about phenomena of the past year.”