How does gray hair form and what are the causes?

Many friends will have white hair when they reach middle age or old age. The appearance of white hair is mostly caused by a decrease in hair pigmentation. In addition to pigmentation, there are also influences from genetics and some diseases.

What causes gray hair?

Modern medicine believes that graying of hair is mainly caused by a decrease in the formation of hair melanin, a weakening of the function of melanocytes to form melanin, and a decrease in the activity of tyrosinase. Excessive emotional tension, overuse of the brain, anxiety, panic, nerve trauma, etc. may cause gray hair. In addition, gray hair may also appear when suffering from chronic wasting diseases.

Vitiligo : If it occurs on the scalp, the hair will also turn white. Some people believe that the more you use your brain, the earlier your hair will turn white. For some young people, a large amount of hair turns white in a short period of time, which is related to serious mental trauma such as excessive anxiety, sadness, or mental fatigue.

Congenital premature graying of hair. People with this type of premature graying of hair often have a family history of the disease. They are often born with gray hair, or their hair turns gray earlier than others. In addition, there were no other abnormal manifestations.

Acquired premature graying of hair. There are many reasons for this: malnutrition, such as lack of protein, vitamins and certain trace elements, can cause hair to turn white; certain chronic wasting diseases such as tuberculosis, due to nutritional deficiencies, can also cause hair to turn white earlier than normal people.

Disease factors: Some patients with long-term fever will have yellow and brittle hair or even turn white and fall out; some endocrine diseases, such as pituitary or thyroid diseases, can affect the ability of pigment cells to produce pigment particles and cause premature graying of hair; encephalitis, nervous system diseases, etc. can also cause hair to turn white; the skin, hair and eyebrows of patients with albinism are all white.