Experts debunk myths about what causes hair to turn grey
Everyone will see their hair turn grey as the years go on, but what other factors can contribute to hair turning grey prematurely?
As you enter your golden years, your hair might not be as golden as it was when you were a young adult.
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Whether or not you decide to keep it grey is a personal preference.
It might not be common, but many people turn grey before they even turn 20, and no one is 100% sure why.
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Is it genetics? Is it an indicator of something more sinister being wrong under the surface?
We've seen the cartoons of people turning grey after a big scare, or heard a parent say their child is causing their grey hairs.
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Here's everything you need to know about the original 50 shades of grey, as experts explain the science behind hair losing its colour.
How hair turns grey
The simple explanation is that hair turns grey when it loses the pigment called melanin.
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Dr Akhil Wadhera, a dermatologist with Kaiser Permanente in Northern California, explains that the most common reason for premature greying is genetics.
Similar to balding, if your parents went grey at a young age, your hair is likely to turn grey earlier as well.
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The young adults whose parents retained vibrant hair colour into old age can still experience premature greying for various reasons.
Except for genetics, it can result from lifestyle choices or environmental factors.
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Does stress cause grey hair?
People joke that their hair is going grey when they are under lots of stress.
However, there is some truth to it.
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Dr Wadhera shares that "there was a study with over 1,000 young Turkish adults that showed that perceived stress scale scores correlated with premature hair greying severity.”
But you won't turn grey after one bad workweek.
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Dr Ehsan Ali, an internal physician at Beverly Hills Concierge Medicine and Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre with specialised training in geriatric medicine, explains that acute or chronic stress is required to cause premature greying.
Acute/chronic stress can trigger your fight-or-flight response.
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Dr Zafer Çetinkaya, head hair transplant surgeon at EsteNove in Istanbul, told HuffPost that when the fight-or-flight response is triggered, our bodies release stress hormones, including norepinephrine.
Norepinephrine can stop pigment-producing cells in our hair.
Once this ‘reservoir’ of stem cells is empty, the follicle can no longer produce colour, causing hair to gradually turn grey.
Can a scare or shock cause grey hair?
Luckily, this is only a concern if you are a series or movie character, not a real human being.
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“The idea of hair turning white overnight from fright is often referred to as Marie Antoinette syndrome,” because the queen’s hair supposedly suddenly turned white before her execution, Çetinkaya said.
What you might not have known is that hair cannot change colour if it has already grown out of the scalp.
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Someone jumping out from behind a door isn't enough to scare your hair grey, but extremely stressful situations can trigger a condition called alopecia areata.
Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease that causes patchy hair loss anywhere on your body, but it most commonly affects the hair on the skin that covers your head (scalp).
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There are many different classifications of alopecia areata, and Dr Zafer Çetinkaya also explains that the autoimmune disease attacks pigmented hair.
If someone with existing grey hair develops this disease, they will lose the darker hair, leaving only the grey hair.
This creates the appearance of sudden greying, when in reality the steady loss of dark hair makes the grey hair more noticeable.
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Can environmental or external factors cause grey hair?
Yes, it can.
Dr Akhil Wadhera says, “Hair follicles are particularly sensitive to oxidative stressors in the environment such as pollution, ultraviolet light, smoking, hydrogen peroxide and ionising radiation, all of which can result in premature greying."
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Oxidative stress caused by exposure to these elements disproportionately affects the cells responsible for hair pigment.
"Over time, this damage reduces the follicle’s ability to maintain consistent colour," according to Dr Corey Maas, a hair transplant specialist at the Maas Clinic in California.
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It is important to note that these external factors tend to play a very small role in the greying process, and the severity of the effects on your hair colour depends on a variety of factors that vary extensively from person to person.
Greying is the result of a complex interaction between genetics, cumulative exposure, and how well an individual’s body is able to repair and replace damaged processes of youthful pigmentation. The environment can nudge the process along, but when and how quickly depends on the individual.
Can medical conditions cause premature greying?
There are several medical conditions that contribute to premature greying, such as:
- Vitamin B12 deficiency
- Pernicious anemia
- Thyroid dysfunction
- Rare autoimmune conditions such as vitiligo
- Neurofibromatosis (also called Von Recklinghausen's disease)
- Tuberous sclerosis
- Alopecia areata
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These conditions lead to hair turning grey earlier because they can disrupt the hair follicle's metabolic environment, e.g., by attacking the cells that produce colour pigments.
According to Dr Wadhera, low levels of vitamin D3 and deficiencies in minerals such as iron and zinc can also cause premature greying.
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Is going grey a cause for concern?
If you know you've reached that age where it's expected, it's time to choose to embrace it or just worry about choosing your new hair colour.
If you notice more than one or two premature grey hairs (before your mid-30s), experts recommend you investigate.
A bunch of grey hairs appearing very early in life or very quickly could be an indication of a more serious underlying issue, and you should consult your primary physician to make sure.
Rob Forbes and Rozanne McKenzie wanted to know how listeners feel about grey hair and shared their opinions:
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