Why does hair turn grey?

Ruby72251

Hair turns grey as a person ages. Most people don't see grey until their late thirties, but a very few turn prematurely grey in their teens. It all depends on genetics & whether the hair has dark or fair pigment. The natural production of hair color pigment is melanin. The production slows down and the natural color loses its color strength but it doesn't happen at the same time, so when some of hair has no color (white) and the rest still has color, the contrast causes the look of grey. When half the hair is white and half still has color pigment, it's called salt & pepper. Hair appears to be more grey the more pigment is lost. Jun 26 04, 6:25 AM

_princess_007

Melanin is the same stuff that makes our skin's color fair or darker. It also helps determine whether a person will burn or tan in the sun. The dark or light color of someone's hair depends on how much melanin each hair contains. As we get older, the pigment cells in our hair follicles gradually die. When there are fewer pigment cells in a hair follicle, that strand of hair will no longer contain as much melanin and will become a more transparent color - like gray, silver, or white - as it grows. As people continue to get older, fewer pigment cells will be around to produce melanin. Eventually, the hair will look completely gray. http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/grownup/getting_older/gray_hair.html Nov 17 06, 3:00 AM

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Why does your hair turn grey when you get older? When a person's hair starts to turn grey, does the old hair turn grey or is it only the new hair growing in that is grey? Why does our head hair keep growing but our other hair doesn't? Why does trimming hair promote faster growth?

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