Researchers Solve Mystery Of Why Hair Turns Gray

A team of European scientists from the Universities of Bradford, Mainz and Luebeck have finally solved a mystery that has perplexed humans throughout the ages: why we turn gray. Despite the notion that gray hair is a sign of wisdom, these researchers show in a research report published online in The FASEB Journal that wisdom has nothing to do with it. Going gray is caused by a massive build up of hydrogen peroxide due to wear and tear of our hair follicles. The hydrogen peroxide ends up blocking the normal production of melanin, our hair's natural pigment. Melanin is the pigment responsible for hair color, as well as skin color, and eye colour. The researchers made this discovery by examining native hair and cells isolated from human hair follicles. They found that the reduction in melanin production was the result of a complex series of events involving four different enzymes in the hair follicle cells.