Premature Graying - Having Gray Hair at an Early Age

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James was a sixteen year old boy in my class in high school, and we refer to him as an elder because he had gray hair. His gray hair earned him the title of elder from classmates and friends, and these made him feel older than the rest of us, and he would always say he had come to the earth before this is current time and that was what earned him the gray hair he has from a young age, also he would tell us that our ability to acknowledge maturity and respect him is why we came up with the nick name. Actually, he liked the name but his supposed self made theory was and is still wrong. So why do young people develop gray hair?

While some people like to go gray, there are a whole set of people who do not like it, and there is an entire industry dedicated to making sure that people do not have gray hair but the color change in hair from dark to gray white is usually associated with genetics and the color of our hair is determined by the pigment color which is produced along the shaft of the hair.

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Hair pigment can exist in two forms which are Eumelanin and Pheomelanin with Eumelanin seen in dark and Brunette hairs while pheomelanin seen in Red heads and Blonde hairs. For this color to be, we need to go back to the hair bulb where cells produce hydrogen peroxide which is broken down to water and oxygen by the enzyme catalase but the presence of catalase begin to reduce as we age in the hair bulb leading to the destruction of the melanocytes by hydrogen peroxides.

As for my classmate that began to develop gray hair in his early age, it wasn't because he had come to the world before and now living as an old man in a young body, neither is it an evidence of wisdom, it is actually referred to as premature graying, and it happens when people below the age of 20 years begin to develop gray hairs. The cause of premature graying can be attributed to genetics with one gene named Interferon Regulatory Factor 4 being the culprit.

Interferon Regulatory Factor 4 (IRF4) is responsible for the production and regulation of melanin in our hair. Now, asides from growing gray hair on the head, gray hair can develop anywhere in the body and this is because the hair in any part of our body is susceptible to oxidative damage which leads to development of gray hair.

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I have been able to explain that of my classmate but have you noticed that when your president get sworn into office, they always come out with gray hair even if they are sworn in at the age of 25 and they leave at 29? This has been attributed to stress on the part of these people and it is also common with executive of companies, so what really is the role of stress when it comes to having gray hairs.

There are a lot of controversy on the issue of stress and gray hair but science has proven that stress leads to oxidative damage in the body leading to premature aging syndrome which also includes melanocyte damage but your president or that CEO isn't the only person growing gray hair quickly, it has been shown that just as smoker are liable to die young, they are also liable to grow gray hair early, and this is because of the oxidative damage caused by smoking.

After all I have written, I am left with one question for you; do you want to have gray hair or you like that color of hair that you have, because for me I just like whatever happens to my hair, either dark or gray.