Gray hair grows when hydrogen peroxide builds up in your hair follicle. "This causes hair to bleach itself from the inside out," says Debra Jaliman, MD, a dermatologist in New York and spokesperson for the American Academy of Dermatology. Gray hairs are thicker and wirier, so your hair gets coarser as they multiply.
The white hair caused by poliosis is due to a lack of a pigment called melanin in the hair follicles. The condition is usually associated with the hair of the head. It can affect any hairy area of the body, however, including the eyebrows and eyelashes.
Yes, gray hair also grows faster and for a longer time than black hair. A study of scalp and eyebrow hair revealed that the genes responsible for producing two of the main structural proteins in hair are twice as active in white hair as in black hair.
Dr. Kraleti doesn't recommend plucking or pulling the hairs out. “If there is a gray hair you must get rid of, very carefully cut it off. Plucking can traumatize the hair follicle, and repeated trauma to any follicle can cause infection, scar formation or possibly lead to bald patches.”
White (nonpigmented) hair is thicker than black (pigmented) hair. The growth rate of white hair is also significantly higher than that of black hair.
Caucasian hair usually appears thicker since it is more difficult to see through the scalp than other ethnic hair types. However, Asian hair is the thickest and coarsest hair of any ethnic group.
A gene variation of EDAR that arose about 30,000 years ago seems to give some people thicker strands of hair. More than 90% of Han Chinese, 70% of Japanese and Thai people, and 60% to 90% of Native Americans carry the “thick hair" version of the gene.
A new study shows that stress really can give you gray hair. Researchers found that the body's fight-or-flight response plays a key role in turning hair gray. Your hair color is determined by pigment-producing cells called melanocytes.
Plucking white hair does not give you more white hair. Each of your hair strands grows out of a single hair follicle. So if you pull out the white hair only one hair can grow back in its place and possibly it will be white too.
White hairs are completely void of any pigment. Specialist Trichologist Anthony Pearce said this loss of pigment occurs within the hair follicle, which is why greys tend to turn up and stay in the one spot, rather than popping up randomly each time you pluck.
“While gray hair feels coarse and rough, the structure of the strand hasn't actually changed. When those melanin-producing cells run out of steam, the hair follicles also produce less sebum (the natural oils that hydrate hair) which makes gray hair to be drier, giving it that wiry texture,” she explains.
As we age, our hair follicles produce less melanin, the pigment-producing cells in each follicle. If you pull a gray hair, a new gray hair will grow in its place. It has no effect on surrounding hair, because each follicle has its own set of genetics. Still, doctors say you should avoid pulling them.
Despite the claims made online and by product marketers, it's not possible to reverse white hair if the cause is genetic. Once your hair follicles lose melanin, they can't produce it on their own. As melanin production slows, your hair turns gray, and then white when melanin production has completely stopped.
This can lead to your gray hair to fall off as new hair is attempting to grow where hair is already there. Paired with the fact that gray hair is usually weaker than normal hair, you'll see a lot of shedding of gray hair.
Genetics
If you notice white hair at an early age, it's likely that your parents or grandparents also had graying or white hair at an early age. You can't change genetics. But if you don't like the way your gray hair looks, you can always color your hair.
But women's expert Dr. Kirtly Parker Jones says a few gray hairs is perfectly normal, even for women in their late 20s and early 30s. However, stress, genetics and other factors can play a role.
"The white bulb at the end of the hair is keratin (or protein) and is the same keratin that makes up your skin and nails.
The white bulb at the end of your hair is essentially a bundle of protein, known as keratin.
The pigment in our hair is caused by melanin— the same pigment that is also responsible for our skin color. Gray hair is caused by a loss in melanin, whereas white hair does not have any melanin at all. As you age, your hair produces less and less melanin that leads your hair to appear gray, and then eventually white.
Luke's Medical Center, points out that apart from aging, other causes of white or gray hair include genetics, stress, lack of nutrients, and autoimmune disorders. So if your parents developed white hair early, chances are you are prone to premature graying, too.
Although the primary cause of premature hair graying (PHG) is considered to be genetic, certain environmental factors also play a role. Trace element deficiencies such as Vitamin B12, Vitamin D3, and calcium may also be associated with PHG.
Does lack of sleep send my hair grey or white? Lack of sleep can have a negative effect on many aspects of the body, not only can it lead to tiredness and lack of concentration, but longer term effects such as your immune system and stress. Stress has been proven to cause grey hair as mentioned above.
Caucasian, Asian and Indian hair samples were put to the test for the World's Best Hair study. Their results put an end to any splitting of hairs over the issue: in terms of health, the Indian hair is the best, topping other ethnic groups on all four counts.
Caucasians have the highest hair density among the ethnicities studied. Black people have the lowest. Asian people have hair density that falls somewhere in between.
In general, however, the highest rates of male pattern baldness are found among Caucasian men. The second highest rates belong to Afro-Caribbeans. Native Americans, on the other hand, do not struggle much with male pattern baldness. As mentioned, pattern baldness is genetic, that is, hereditary.