January 1974 in “OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information)” Oxidative stress causes hair graying by damaging hair follicle melanocytes more than skin melanocytes.
February 1945 in “New England Journal of Medicine”
67 citations
,
August 2013 in “International Journal of Cosmetic Science” Hair greying is caused by oxidative stress damaging hair follicles and melanocytes.
56 citations
,
December 2010 in “The journal of investigative dermatology/Journal of investigative dermatology” Hair follicle cells age faster and lose pigment due to less catalase, causing hair to turn gray.
9 citations
,
July 1982 in “International Journal of Dermatology” A 31-year-old man's hair turned white suddenly, likely due to alopecia areata.
October 2022 in “Southeast Asian journal of health professionals” Hair greying is seen as a sign of aging; temporary fixes like hair dye are used, but a balanced diet and hair care can help manage it.
13 citations
,
January 2014 in “Postępy Dermatologii i Alergologii” Patchy alopecia areata can affect only pigmented hairs, leaving gray hairs untouched.
1 citations
,
January 2014 in “Elsevier eBooks” Melanocytes produce melanin; their defects cause vitiligo and hair graying, with treatments available for vitiligo.
January 2014 in “Journal of Pigmentary Disorders” Women's hair gets thinner and grayer as they age, with treatments available for hair loss and graying.
July 2002 in “Dermatologic Surgery” Some people's hair turned white or gray after using intense pulsed light for hair removal, and for some, it was permanent.
5 citations
,
February 2022 in “Frontiers in physiology” Hair graying is influenced by factors like nerves, fat cells, and immune cells, not just hair follicles.
January 2026 in “Stem Cell Reviews and Reports”
September 2014 in “Springer eBooks” Aging causes hair to gray and thin, with the timing of graying varying by race, and factors like oxidative stress and genetics can lead to hair loss.
September 2016 in “Springer eBooks” Gray hair is caused by oxidative stress damaging hair cells.
13 citations
,
May 2022 in “Cell discovery” The study found new details about human hair growth and suggests that preventing a specific biological pathway could potentially treat hair graying.
July 2025 in “Pigment International” Follicular vitiligo causes hair to gray without skin color loss.
January 2026 in “Frontiers in Medicine” PP-PTKL may help treat hair greying, but more testing is needed.
1 citations
,
December 2017 in “The Medical journal of Basrah University” People with metabolic syndrome get gray hair earlier.
Hair can naturally regain color, and stress might influence greying and its reversal.
2 citations
,
January 2015 January 2023 in “Faculty of 1000 Research Ltd” Androgen loss may speed up hair greying.
2 citations
,
January 2023 in “International journal of biological sciences” Gray hair can potentially be reversed, leading to new treatments.
February 2026 in “American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (Global Society of Scientific Research and Researchers)” Gray hair requires special coloring techniques and care to maintain quality and strength.
260 citations
,
January 2020 in “Nature” Stress can cause hair to turn gray by depleting stem cells.
January 2004 in “Giornale di Metafisica: revista bimestrale di filosofia” Increased Wnt signaling causes hair graying by depleting melanocyte stem cells in aged mice.
217 citations
,
February 2009 in “The FASEB Journal” Gray hair is caused by hydrogen peroxide buildup, which damages hair color repair.
152 citations
,
December 2003 in “Micron” As people age, their hair follicles produce less pigment, leading to gray and white hair, due to factors like reduced enzyme activity and damage to melanocyte DNA.
2 citations
,
March 2020 in “Developmental cell” Stress can cause hair to turn gray by depleting pigment-producing cells through the release of a stress hormone.
4 citations
,
September 1944 in “The American Journal of the Medical Sciences” 9 citations
,
November 2015 in “JAMA dermatology” A 91-year-old woman's hair turned black in one spot, with skin changes underneath.