What Causes Gray Hair?

"Smokers are 4 times more likely to have gray hair than nonsmokers and smoking has been conclusively linked to accelerated hair loss."

Brief Synopsis:

Causes of gray hair is not always related to ones age as hair can turn gray as young as teens and range into our late 50s.

At some stage in our lives, both men and women will experience the on set of gray Hair.

Contrary to popular belief graying hair is not always related to ones age. Gray hair can occur as young as in our teens and range into our late 50's and even older.

Some people start to gray in their early 20's or 30's; this is called premature graying. Their gray hair may look the same when they are older as it did in their 20's or 30's. Some that come to mind are Taylor Hicks from American Idol or Steve Martin, the comedian. Other people do not become gray until they are in their 50's or later.

When there is more salt than pepper in your hair, it is a constant reminder that you are no longer young. This reality can be very upsetting. Reactions vary. Should you decide to concentrate on the salt, accept the inevitable and relegate yourself to being a spectator in life, then no particular action is necessary. However, if the pepper side calls to you, then aggressive steps are needed to retain a high performance.

Everybody is different but the pigment of our hair is generated in the same way.

Initially, hair is white. The cells in our hair follicles called “Melanocytes” generate pigments the main one being Melanin. This gives our hair its “Color”.

In general, the more melanin present, the darker the hair color; the less melanin, the lighter the hair color.

When these Melanocytes stop producing the pigment the result is a transparent hair. The transparent hair against your healthier darker hair gives the appearance of Gray hair. In reality the hair is not Gray but transparent.