Scientists could stop hair going gray
Scientists may be able to stop the greying process after researchers uncovered what makes our hair lose colour, according a report on ABC Radio National.
A simple case of too much natural hydrogen peroxide could cause people’s hair to go gray by interfering with melanin, the pigment that colours our hair and skin.
The body also produces the enzyme catalase, which breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen.
As we age, catalase production tails off, leaving nothing to transform the hydrogen peroxide into chemicals the body can release.
So, as hydrogen peroxide builds up, we go grey, say researchers at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom, who published their findings online recently in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal.
The studies were based on analysis of cell cultures of human hair follicles, and the insights could open new strategies for intervention and reversal of the hair-greying process.
In addition to lacking catalase, the follicles of grey-haired people also had far fewer hair-repair enzymes, which in turn drove down production of melanin, the scientists found.
Genetics play a role as well, causing some people, such as Caucasians to grey earlier than others, like Asians.
Scientists are hopeful there may be a way to remix the chemical soup to keep colour in hair, which no doubt is of interest to a hair-care industry that will be worth about US$42.5 billion worldwide by 2010, according to a market report published last year by Global Industry Analysts.
