Hair turning gray: Science finally explains the phenomenon (and how to avoid it)

A study conducted by several departments at New York University has already found that the cause of gray hair in mice … and the system is the same as in humans. A major discovery that could explain a phenomenon that affects thousands of people each year.

Stem cells and gray hair: explaining the link

It may seem strange to change hair colour Towards gray would be due to… cells staying stuck in the wrong place. Research by New York University scientists on mice (which have the same type of cell as humans) has already shown that the normal functioning of a Follicular stem cells It is the movement between the different follicular parts on the hair as it grows. When they reach certain parts, they receive signals that make them reach maturity, and then they become cells capable of manufacturing pigments responsible for hair color.

As we age, follicular stem cells lose their ability to move. They find themselves trapped in the follicle, unable to move between follicular chambers. And then it becomes impossible for them to mature, and this is where it matures Gray hair.

Near the end of gray hair?

This major discovery opens a door to a possibility that was unimaginable not so long ago: we can prevent hair from turning gray and say goodbye to gray hair, or even allow it to regain its color. This is anyway the opinion of Qi Sun, head of the study. “This mechanism that we have just discovered in mice suggests that it is possible that the same thing exists in humans and that melanocyte stem cells have the same behavior, and that they are also blocked in the same place,” he explains–if we find this mechanism in humans, then we may have the means. to find a way to do this Gray hair preventionOr, frankly, to make them restore their color, by helping the clogged cells to move again between the parts of the hair follicle.”

It therefore remains to be shown that follicular stem cells behave in the same way in humans. It will then be necessary to find a way to stimulate them despite their age, so that they regain their mobility and are no longer blocked in the way. Suffice it to say, the gray hair style still has a bright future ahead of it. But if your hair makes you complex, you always have the option of hair color!