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Asked by koonertwh to David, Helen, Ian, rhysphillips, Sarah on 21 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by charlottebeale123.
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Rhys Phillips answered on 14 Jun 2011:
It’s to do with the loss of pigment in the hair but I don’t think we yet fully understand why we lose this pigment as we get older.
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Ian van der Linde answered on 15 Jun 2011:
One theory is that the follicle that adds the colour to hair becomes clogged up. There was a report a year or two ago of some scientists who claimed that they were coming close to being able to “cure” grey hair by designing a lotion that unclogged the follicles! Not sure what sort of progress they’ve made in the mean time – if any!
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David Corne answered on 15 Jun 2011:
Here’s my theory. In certain cultures it is important to know how old someone is. In Japan, for example, if you meet someone for the first time, one of the first things they will ask you is how old you are! In western culture this is very rude, but in Japanese culture itis completely normal – they need to know how old you are in order to engage with you appropriately. The older you are, the wiser you are, and the more you should be revered. So, if a Japanese person asks how old you are, tell them “120”. The point is, it is helpful in such cultures if your age can be figured out just by observing what shade of grey your hair is.
Then again, it could just be something to do with the hair follicles getting all worn out with age and being less able to produce melanin, the hair pigmentation molecule.
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Helen Fletcher answered on 21 Jun 2011:
Loss of pigment 🙁 the pigment producing cells just don’t renew themselves anymore. When and why cells get old and stop working is a huge area of research. Grey hair is one thing but that same ageing process is happening to every cell in the body!
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