Why Do People Get Premature Gray Hair?
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Heredity
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An article published in a 2005 issue of the "Journal of Investigative Dermatology" reports that heredity seems to be the primary determining factor when it comes to the age people begin to notice those first gray hairs. Actually, while it is not uncommon for Caucasians to show some signs of graying by their mid-thirties, most 50-year-olds despite race or gender are already at least half way there. Premature graying occurs in a person's twenties or thirties, but even teenagers can sometimes find a gray hair or two. If your parents' hair turned gray at an earlier age, then chances are that you will see gray hair at a younger age, too. Since hair turns gray slowly, you can rest assured that you are not going to wake up one morning to look in the mirror and discover a full head of gray hair. The process occurs over time and is related to pigment cells in the hair follicles dying. For most people, it can take more than 10 years for all of their hair to turn gray. Naturally, gray hair is more noticeable on people who have darker hair. Individuals who have lighter color hair can begin to go gray at a younger age, but the gray simply is not as visible.
Hair Pigment
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Melanin is the natural pigment that gives hair its color. The more melanin found in hair, the darker the color. Over time, cells at the root of the hair shaft produce less melanin, making hair transparent. What looks like the color gray is really hair that has little pigment. White hair has no pigment, and therefore, is transparent. The transparent hair just looks gray or white against the darker hair still on your head. If a person begins to lose hair color before the age of 35, she is considered to be prematurely graying. Graying usually begins near the temples before spreading to the crown and back of the head. Existing hair strands do not turn gray. However, once hair follicles begin to produce fewer pigment cells, the growth of any new hair will appear gray in color.
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Autoimmune Disorders
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Medical conditions, such as Vitamin B12 deficiency, anemia or a thyroid imbalance, can cause hair to gray. People who begin to see gray hair at an early age might want to consider their family health history. Vitamin B12 deficiency, pernicious anemia and other autoimmune disorders have been associated with premature graying. Individuals with diagnosed with pernicious anemia are unable to adequately absorb Vitamin B12 because of antibodies that damage stomach cells. Zinc deficiency can cause some people to gray at an early age as well. Small, white spots on the fingernails accompanied by hair loss are other signs that a person might have zinc deficiency.
Some people get gray hair early because of a thyroid dysfunction that causes either an overactive or underactive thyroid. The results of a study reported in an August 2008 issue of the "Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism" suggest that the two key thyroid hormones, T3 and T4, affect the growth of the human hair follicle. Both of these hormones also stimulate the production of melanin; therefore, low levels of thyroid hormone can lead to less hair color.
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