28 replies to this topic

[j03]

Is there anything you can do to reduce or even reverse gray hair other than dying it?

[tintinet]

Is there anything you can do to reduce or even reverse gray hair other than dying it?

AFAIK, no.

Some people have posted anecdotes regarding reversal of graying with resveratrol and other supplements, but I don't think there's any reliable consistent evidence anything currently available reverses hair graying.

[adamh]

Is there anything you can do to reduce or even reverse gray hair other than dying it?

Find the answer to that and you might become richer than Bill Gates. Only about 90% of the people over 40 would be interested. Better yet if it was some natural substance that couldn't be patented. Then no riches but many would thank you.

[4eva]

I usually notice more gray hairs if I'm deficient in copper. Copper is needed to color both the skin and the hair.

There may also be some possibility of a pantothenic acid problem. But I think a problem with copper is the first thing to consider.

Its possible to have a biounavailable copper problem. That's having both a toxicity and a deficiency at the same time. This is more likely than just a deficiency, but either is possible. Too much copper prevents the adrenals or the liver to produce ceruloplasmin, making blood copper levels low.

[Inaara]

Is there anything you can do to reduce or even reverse gray hair other than dying it?

It is said that there is no natural way to prevent or stop the hair from graying.
The cause is simple:gradual loss of a little enzyme.Hair cells produce tiny amounts of color-erasing hydrogen peroxide that are offset by the enzime.As our body ages, we produce less of the enzyme so grayness escalates.Someone should figure out a way how to defuse the hydrogen peroxide - then we would have a cure for gray hair.

Anyway, there is a chinese herb called fo-ti (or ho shou wu) which is said to stop or even reverse graying hair (and hair loss and premature aging, and..and..) Well, at least it can't do any harm...

[Chaos Theory]

Is there anything you can do to reduce or even reverse gray hair other than dying it?

Find the answer to that and you might become richer than Bill Gates. Only about 90% of the people over 40 would be interested. Better yet if it was some natural substance that couldn't be patented. Then no riches but many would thank you.

There are some drugs that have been found to restore color to hair.

A "side effect" of a leukaemia drug is restoration of hair color:
http://news.bbc.co.u...lth/2180244.stm

There's also another drug in the pipeline that has been shown to restore hair color.
http://www.dailymail...nal-colour.html

If I had to guess I would think due to the demand and potential for profit there should be a drug available in 10 years or less.

[niner]

Is there anything you can do to reduce or even reverse gray hair other than dying it?

Find the answer to that and you might become richer than Bill Gates. Only about 90% of the people over 40 would be interested. Better yet if it was some natural substance that couldn't be patented. Then no riches but many would thank you.

There are some drugs that have been found to restore color to hair.

A "side effect" of a leukaemia drug is restoration of hair color:
http://news.bbc.co.u...lth/2180244.stm

There's also another drug in the pipeline that has been shown to restore hair color.
http://www.dailymail...nal-colour.html

If I had to guess I would think due to the demand and potential for profit there should be a drug available in 10 years or less.

Interesting. The first link is about Gleevec, an expensive tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has way too many safety issues to be considered for hair color. Topical application, on the other hand, might get around many if not all the problems. The second link is about a tripeptide, K(D)PT; here's the abstract:

Br J Dermatol. 2009 Feb;160(2):433-7. Epub 2008 Oct 25.
The alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone-related tripeptide K(D)PT stimulates human hair follicle pigmentation in situ under proinflammatory conditions.

Meyer KC, Brzoska T, Abels C, Paus R.

Department of Dermatology, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany.

BACKGROUND: Alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) is a well-tolerated immunomodulator with cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory effects that is known to stimulate melanogenesis and proliferation of follicular melanocytes. As human hair follicles (HFs) locally synthesize alpha-MSH, pharmacologically more easily handled alpha-MSH-related tripeptides, such as K(D)PT, may imitate this endogenous regulation, and may show a favourable side-effect profile on clinical use. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of the synthetic, alpha-MSH-related peptide K(D)PT [which is identical to interleukin (IL)-1beta(193-195)] on melanogenesis in human anagen HFs, under normal and proinflammatory growth conditions. METHODS: Normal human anagen VI scalp HFs were microdissected and organ cultured with different concentrations of K(D)PT with or without coadministration of a proinflammatory, catagen-inducing stimulus, interferon (INF)-gamma. Masson-Fontana histochemistry and NKI/beteb immunohistochemistry were employed to assess changes in the degree of human HF pigmentation and melanocyte dendricity. RESULTS: As confirmed by quantitative (immuno-)histomorphometry, compared with controls, K(D)PT alone did not affect human HF pigmentation in organ culture. However, in the presence of a strong, prototypic proinflammatory stimulus (IFN-gamma), K(D)PT significantly stimulated HF melanin content and melanocyte dendrite formation in situ. CONCLUSIONS: The IL-1beta- and alpha-MSH-related tripeptide, K(D)PT, displays interesting hair pigmentation-stimulatory activities under proinflammatory conditions. These might become exploitable for innovative antigreying strategies, notably in postinflammatory poliosis (regrowth of white hair, e.g. during recovery from alopecia areata), where no effective clinical therapy is yet available.

PMID: 19016700

K(D)PT, if it needs an IFN-gamma stimulus to work, is probably a non-starter. The aspect of these two compounds that I find really interesting, though, is that they show that gray hair can be reversible. It's just a matter of finding a safe chemical that would work topically, or a super-safe chemical that would work orally, but getting an oral compound through the necessary safety studies might cost too much for a drug that would not be covered by insurance. It would also have to compete with hair dyes, which are cheap and effective, though often not entirely natural looking. Considering how huge the market would be, there must be a lot of people looking for a compound that would work.

[Gerald W. Gaston]

Threads here (EXT Life Sciences/CATSKL, etc):
http://www.imminst.o...showtopic=28006
http://www.imminst.o...showtopic=28604
http://www.imminst.o...showtopic=30687

TB4-7:
http://www.adistem.com/peptide.html
http://www.actistem.com/

The big hair color thread:
http://forum.lef.org...amp;p=53#m65762

[Logan]

Is there anything you can do to reduce or even reverse gray hair other than dying it?

It is said that there is no natural way to prevent or stop the hair from graying.
The cause is simple:gradual loss of a little enzyme.Hair cells produce tiny amounts of color-erasing hydrogen peroxide that are offset by the enzime.As our body ages, we produce less of the enzyme so grayness escalates.Someone should figure out a way how to defuse the hydrogen peroxide - then we would have a cure for gray hair.

Anyway, there is a chinese herb called fo-ti (or ho shou wu) which is said to stop or even reverse graying hair (and hair loss and premature aging, and..and..) Well, at least it can't do any harm...

Fo-ti also inhibits the MAO B enzyme which breaks down dopamine. This is a good thing for preventing brain aging and is a big reason why people take deprenyl. Fo-ti is not as powerful a MAO B inhibitor as deprenyl of course, but it may be effective and much safer in the long run.

[tintinet]

If Fo-ti really worked, I think we'd have heard more about it by now.

[Logan]

If Fo-ti really worked, I think we'd have heard more about it by now.

Are you referring to using fo-ti for mao b inhibition or for the graying of hair?

Fo ti merely has trace minerals that may supplement people who are deficient in them, possibly causing hair to gray prematurely. It most likely will not be helpful for the graying of hair in most or all people. But there is that MAO B inhibition, and, anthraquinones, lecithin, phosphotidyl inositol, and stilbenes that may make it worth considering for supplementation.

Edited by morganator, 10 February 2010 - 09:11 PM.

[nancyd]

Ann Wigmore claims to have reversed her gray hair by drinking wheatgrass juice (twice per day IIRC).

[tintinet]

The raw foodists do seem to post many anecdotes of reversal of gray hair, especially with wheatgrass juice ingestion, it appears.

[SloMoSandy]

Wheat grass juice is an old "super drink", I'm not sure how effective it is at anything, but anecdotical stories sound positive. COuld be placebo..
Anyway, my friend who's approaching 40 started getting gray hair. To get around this he bleached his hair and got a nice stylish haircut (he already has been sportin' clothes that goes well with that look). Looks cool now and overall younger. Obviously it's not for everyone, but worth considering..

[atp]

http://dsc.discovery.../gray-hair.html

[tintinet]

http://dsc.discovery.../gray-hair.html

Nice for the lab, but I've not seen any practical applications yet.

[atp]

http://dsc.discovery.../gray-hair.html

Nice for the lab, but I've not seen any practical applications yet.

wait at most ten years.

[Logan]

So if stress can cause catalase production to be lowered, then stress may actually contribute to premature graying of hair.

[JLL]

So if stress can cause catalase production to be lowered, then stress may actually contribute to premature graying of hair.

Yes, I think this has been known to be true for quite a while. The case for hair loss and stress is much weaker.

[happy lemon]

http://www.skinactiv...aspx?prodID=190

[tintinet]

http://www.skinactiv...aspx?prodID=190

Any reports on this actually working?

[platypus]

If having extra catalase helps I wonder if Glisodin and similar substances have an effect. I guess it depends whether extra catalase is generated in the right place...

[Chaos Theory]

Yes, I think this has been known to be true for quite a while. The case for hair loss and stress is much weaker.

I've read just the opposite actually.. Stress can induce transient hair loss. I'm not sure if that would mean anything for a person who was predisposed to androgenic alopecia since most of their prevention methods revolve around maintaining the hair they have.

The animal studies I've seen failed to show any accelerated hair greying as a result of stress. I don't feel it's good science to extrapolate everything involving catalase production until it has been shown to take place directly in the scalp independent of normal genetic factors.

[Logan]

If having extra catalase helps I wonder if Glisodin and similar substances have an effect. I guess it depends whether extra catalase is generated in the right place...

What about ashwagandha, rhodiola, ginkgo, bacopa, and apple polyphenols.

http://www.google.co...mKd8J3C59846J2w

[Logic]

I know this is a very old thread but isnt L-methionine supposed to help the body produce more catalase?
This in turn would lower the H2O2 levels right?

Also this stuff looks interesting:
buymelanotanii.com
Its said to have turned dogs jet black!
I suppose I should post in in that pale skin thread too.

[cherrysilver]

Also this stuff looks interesting:
buymelanotanii.com
Its said to have turned dogs jet black!
I suppose I should post in in that pale skin thread too.

I'd be really careful about that Melanotan stuff -- if you've got beautiful blonde, red or light/med brown hair, you could end up with something *much* darker that you don't want to deal with.

Also, a friend who tried it for a while (light-skinned dark redhead) ended up with having it bring out a whole lot of very dark freckles and moles. She's been off it for a while, but the spots haven't gone away that quickly.

[Logic]

Also this stuff looks interesting:
buymelanotanii.com
Its said to have turned dogs jet black!
I suppose I should post in in that pale skin thread too.

I'd be really careful about that Melanotan stuff -- if you've got beautiful blonde, red or light/med brown hair, you could end up with something *much* darker that you don't want to deal with.

Also, a friend who tried it for a while (light-skinned dark redhead) ended up with having it bring out a whole lot of very dark freckles and moles. She's been off it for a while, but the spots haven't gone away that quickly.

Yep; further reading shows lots of side effects.
Apparently Melanotan I is much closer to the natural molecule, but still wouldnt try it though.

[cyrusbrian]

I guess Dying is the only option !

[nowayout]

I guess Dying is the only option !

Really? I don't think you said what you meant...