Why might young women have gray hair?
Many women may even remember at what age they first noticed gray hair. Some women turn gray after the age of 30 or when they are over 40, although gray hair sometimes appears before the age of 30.
Hair color change with age is a normal process, and keep in mind that mixed gray hair color is noticed not only in older people, but due to certain factors it is quite possible to get it even from a girl 20 years old and younger.
It does not matter if the natural color of your hair is brown, black, red or blonde - the hair acquires color from melanin. Hair color depends entirely on the amount, type and distribution of melanin.
You may be surprised, but there are only 2 types of hair color pigment: dark and light. These two pigments interfere with each other and eventually different colors are formed, for example, dark blonde, black and others.
With increasing age and especially in the elderly less hair follicles are secreted, hence, whiteness appears.
Sometimes the cause of whitening hair is a chemical process. Existing cells naturally produce small amounts of hydrogen peroxide. Under normal conditions an enzyme called catalase dissolves hydrogen peroxide in water and oxygen. It is this natural process that is disrupted during aging, i.e. the body can no longer produce a sufficient amount of catalase, causing an overdose of hydrogen peroxide to accumulate. All this accumulated mass seriously damages the pigment-producing cells and promotes the proliferation of gray hair.
Possible causes of premature hair thinning at a young age are:
- Genetics;
- Stress;
- Deficiency of vitamins in the body (result of unhealthy diet);
- Tobacco;
- Overdose of alcohol;
- Ultraviolet radiation from the sun;
- Polluted environment.
Source:
https://www.chestercountyhospital.org/news/health-eliving-blog/2020/july/why-some-
women-have-grey-hair-earlier
