Hair: Here’s why it turns gray with age, according to science

American scientists believe they have found out why hair turns gray with age. These will be cells that can no longer move during their growth, and which will no longer allow hair color to be preserved.

Soon the end of salt and pepper hair? For several years, scientists have been researching the issue of gray hair, without conclusive results. But according to a recent US study, researchers have finally understood the mechanism of graying, which should make it possible to develop a treatment to stop the process in the future, reports The Guardian. Watchman.

According to this study by the University of Medicine in New York, work done on mouse stem cells showed that as they age, they can no longer move as they grow, which no longer allows them to maintain hair color.

“The new mechanisms raise the possibility that the same fixed placement of melanocyte stem cells exists in humans,” Kei Sun, the principal investigator of the New York Medical College study, told Nature.

Prevent or reverse the process

Also according to the study, understanding the origin of hair pigmentation with age will make it possible to find a treatment to reverse or stop the process. Thus, both men and women can maintain their original hair color throughout their lives.

“If this is the case, it offers a potential path to reversing or preventing graying of human hair by helping the clogged cells transition between developing hair follicle compartments again,” said the researcher.

In addition, this work on melanocytes “could also help understand and treat some types of cancer and other medical conditions,” the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) notes. BBC.