Why the colour of hair change after certain age
Each hair on our heads is made up of two parts:
- ashaft— the colored part we see growing out of our heads
- aroot— the bottom part, which keeps the hair anchored under the scalp
The root of every strand of hair is surrounded by a tube of tissue under the skin that is called the hairfollicle. Each hair follicle contains a certain number of pigment cells. These pigment cells constantly make a chemical calledmelaninthat gives the growing shaft of hair its color of brown, blonde, black, red, and anything in between.
The dark or light color of someone's hair depends on how much melanin each hair has.
As we get older, the pigment cells in our hair follicles gradually die. When there are fewer pigment cells in a hair follicle, that strand of hair will no longer contain as much melanin and will become a more transparent color — like gray, silver, or white — as it grows. As people continue to get older, fewer pigment cells will be around to produce melanin. Eventually, the hair will look completely gray.
People can get gray hair at any age. Some people go gray at a young age — as early as when they are in high school or college.How early we get gray hair is determined by our genes. This means that most of us will start having gray hairs around the same age that our parents or grandparents first did.
Each hair on our heads is made up of two parts:
- ashaft— the colored part we see growing out of our heads
- aroot— the bottom part, which keeps the hair anchored under the scalp
The root of every strand of hair is surrounded by a tube of tissue under the skin that is called the hairfollicle. Each hair follicle contains a certain number of pigment cells. These pigment cells constantly make a chemical calledmelaninthat gives the growing shaft of hair its color of brown, blonde, black, red, and anything in between.
The dark or light color of someone's hair depends on how much melanin each hair has.
As we get older, the pigment cells in our hair follicles gradually die. When there are fewer pigment cells in a hair follicle, that strand of hair will no longer contain as much melanin and will become a more transparent color — like gray, silver, or white — as it grows. As people continue to get older, fewer pigment cells will be around to produce melanin. Eventually, the hair will look completely gray.
People can get gray hair at any age. Some people go gray at a young age — as early as when they are in high school or college.How early we get gray hair is determined by our genes. This means that most of us will start having gray hairs around the same age that our parents or grandparents first did.
