Sorry
hair stylists, you may have a few less clients soon. It seems a team of
European researchers believe they may have accidentally stumbled on a
permanent fix for gray hair.
While researching a cure for vitiligo,
a condition that causes the loss of skin pigment, researchers found a
treatment to reverse the pigment loss, only to discover (accidentally)
that it reversed gray hair at the root as well.
According to a study published in The FASEB Journal,
gray hair develops from the buildup of hydrogen peroxide in the hair
follicle caused by “massive oxidative stress” (cellular wear and tear) —
the same thing believed to trigger some forms of vitiglio and gray hair.
As we age, our levels of an enzyme called Catalase goes down. People with the disease vitaligo are born with low levels of the enzyme. Catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide, which causes gray hair. So the scientists created a cream with pseudo catalase,
put it on the skin and hair and had participants sit in the sun to
activate it. The newly strengthened enzyme eradicated the sample patches
of gray hair and pigment-free skin.
“For generations, numerous remedies have been concocted to hide gray hair,” said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, “but now, for the first time, an actual treatment that gets to the root of the problem has been developed.”
From
do-it-yourself kits to high-end salons, the hair color industry is a
multi-billion dollar business. Consumers report sometimes spending an
upward of over six figures in two decades just to cover premature gray
hair.
The safety of hair dyes is a hotly debated topic. Some
consumer groups warn of the health risks of hair dyes with potentially
toxic mixes of chemicals linked to various health problems. The
Environmental Working Group, a consumer watchdog group, urges consumers
to avoid “hair dyes with ammonia, peroxide, p-phenylenediamine,
diaminobenzene– all dark permanent hair dyes.”
Although we’re sure
more testing and approval will be forthcoming for this breakthrough new
hair product, if all works out, a tide of change could mean a lot less
spending on our do’s and a lot more on anything else.
