Premature Greying of Hair

The hair has a tendency to lose its natural color with advancing age. It is therefore natural for the hair to turn gray with age. But premature greying is a morbid condition and it makes even the young look older. This causes a great deal of concern to affected persons, especially women. The hair is an appendage of the skin. It is composed of the same kind of cells as are found in the outer layer of the skin, known as epidermis.

It grows from a hair follicle which is a deep recess in the epidermis. The sebaceous glands of the scalp secrete an oily substance called sebum, which is the source of nutrition, lustre and blackness of the hair. The hair cannot be fed externally, for such nourishment as the scalp requires must come to it from the bloodstream.

Causes of Greying

A faulty diet and mental worries are the two primary causes of premature greying of hair. It is mainly due to the lack of some of the B vitamins, of iron, copper and iodine in the daily diet that this hair disorder is caused at a young age these days. Mental worries produce an extraordinary tension in the skin of the scalp which interferes with the supply of vital nutrition necessary for the health of the hair. Similarly, anxieties, fear, jealousy and failures have adverse effects on the hair. They dry out the scapular marrow, the vital sap at the root of the hair.

Other causes of premature greying of hair are unclean condition of the scalp which weakens the roots of the hair as the pores are blocked by the collected dirt ; washing the hair with hot water and drying them with electric dryers which emit a blast of hot air ; the use of hair dyes in the earlier stages when the hair have just started greying ; diseases like chronic cold, sinusitis, anemia, chronic constipation ; and the use of factory- made hair oils, which are generally cleaned with acids and some of the acids have a tendency to remain in the oil. Heredity is another predisposing factor which gives rise to this ailment.

Treatment

Diet is of utmost importance in the prevention and treatment of premature greying of hair and persons suffering from this disorder should take a diet rich in all essential nutrients. The vitamins considered useful in premature greying of hair are pantothenic acid, para-aminobenzoic acid or PABA and inositol. The minimum daily requirement of these vitamins appears to be 10 mg. of pantothenic acid, 100 gm. of para-aminobenzoic acid and 2000 mg. of inositol.