As we age, our hair turns grey, which is only natural, and it actually gives us distinction, as elderly men who are retired, and experienced, have seen and used opportunities to advantage. But several men, particularly those in the movie and performing arts business are worried about this greying and apply potions and lotions in order to look younger and handsome. With women, the story seems different, perhaps thanks to their using traditional and modern medical oils, and bathing, which appears to delay age-dependent greying. Women also do not have moustaches and beards like men do. Is there a sex-dependent reason for this?
An article in the April 16, 2023 issue of Nature mentions that for unknown reasons, the melanocyte stem cells, which produce skin and hair colour in mice and humans, fail earlier than other stem cell populations in the body. During ageing, the article describes how the hair in mice turns grey when certain stem cells involved in making the pigment which gives the mouse its colour, get stuck. The pigment-producing stem cells must keep moving, otherwise the colour stays on. Will this be true for humans, and is there a sex-based difference? The answer is yet to come.
An earlier article titled “The science of grey hair”, published by the Columbine Health Systems for Healthy Aging, of the Colorado State University in March 30, 2022 talks about where and how hair colour comes from. There are two different types of the molecule melanin that are present in hair follicles. One type called eumelanin, when present in significant amounts in the hair cells, leads to black and brown hair while small amounts lead to blond colour. Just as our aged film heroes want to look younger, our lady heroines want the young blond look and try various oils and hair bleaching technologies to look young.
