# What causes people to get grey hair and thin hair when people get older? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 11, 2021, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666 "2021-03-11T01:41:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2021, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/21 "2021-03-14T00:00:36Z")
I saw my first gray hair when I was 18. I was gray at the temples when I was 30, and fully gray by 50. I am balding, too but it’s not apparent unless you’re looking from above. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/22 "2021-03-16T17:12:53Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > So it seems to me that gray hair is inevitable, thinning isn’t. Thinning or balding seems to be mostly a male thing, while graying is universal. But highly variable - as someone noted, he’s been gray since age 30; someone I worked with in the 1980s had salt-and-pepper hair in his early 20s. We used to joke that every time he told a lie he got another gray hair. I’m 61 and have a few isolated strands of gray, but otherwise have just one patch of white hair: my “Bride of Frankenstein” patch on the left side of my forehead. It’s gradually widening, but not otherwise expanding. Next time I get my hair colored I may have the stylist block off that bit. I think my mother had more gray at the same age but she always kept it colored. When she was under treatment for cancer, she briefly had what looked like a a pure white crew cut (age 74). I think my hair may otherwise be thinning a bit, but that’s hard to tell; it’s always been quite thick and still makes a substantial ponytail but I find strands on my comb every day. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/23 "2021-03-16T22:08:06Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I have some gray hair, but no children. Well, that you know of. 🙂 I’m a late fifties male, no signs of balding but if the light catches my hair right I look like I have a slight graying at the temples. Which I understand would put me into the “distinguished looks” category. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/24 "2021-03-16T22:16:37Z")
Related question: can balding be reversed (aside from transplantation) or do remedies merely slow down the thinning process? Basically, I’m willing to try minoxidil! Anything! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/25 "2021-03-16T22:23:36Z")
It would be awfully hard for me to have a child and not know it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jillwood77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@Jillwood77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jillwood77)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/26 "2021-03-16T22:30:44Z")
It strange why cells melanocytes die that produce melanin in your hair when people get older. But melanin in your skin and eyes do not die. ---
**Author:** ![Jillwood77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@Jillwood77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jillwood77)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/27 "2021-03-16T22:34:39Z")
You mean stress causes grey hair and thin hair? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/28 "2021-03-16T22:40:31Z")
That’s a possible explanation. I think it’s just reverse genetics, you inherit gray hair from your kids. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/29 "2021-03-16T22:55:13Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > It would be awfully hard for me to have a child and not know it. 😉 Thanks for taking that in the spirit given. I’m a smartass and I sometimes forget it doesn’t translate so well to written remarks. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/30 "2021-03-16T23:45:10Z")
> [@Jillwood77](#): > > It strange why cells melanocytes die that produce melanin in your hair when people get older. > > But melanin in your skin and eyes do not die. Actually, they do. > [@](#): > > AGING CHANGES > > With aging, the outer skin layer (epidermis) thins, even though the number of cell layers remains unchanged. > > The number of pigment-containing cells (melanocytes) decreases. The remaining melanocytes increase in size. Aging skin looks thinner, paler, and clear (translucent). > **[Aging changes in skin: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/004014.htm)** > > Aging changes in the skin are a group of common conditions and developments that occur as people grow older. > [@](#): > > Question: What causes the iris of the eye to change color? For most of my life, my iris color in each eye was dark brown. When I was in my 50s, the color began to lighten. I’m now 62, and the iris color is hazel, a mix of brown and green. Also, my father’s eyes slowly changed from hazel to pale blue by the time he was in his 70s. > > Answer: The color of our eyes is based on the number and color of pigment granules (melanin) in our iris. These granules range in color from nearly colorless to dark brown. The darker the pigment, the darker the eye color is. The fewer the granules, the lighter the eye color is. Babies are typically born with blue eyes due to a minimal amount of melanin pigment in the iris at birth. From 10 to 15 percent of the Caucasian population will see a change in their eye color as they age. In the case of you and your father, the eye color changed due either to a gradual decrease in the number of pigment granules in the iris or to a degradation of the granules. Your father had a greater loss of pigmented granules, and this caused his eyes to appear blue later in life. > **[Why eyes change color as you age](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/health/20120702_Why_eyes_change_color_as_you_age__and_why_you_might_need_a_oxygen_tank.html)** > > Question: What causes the iris of the eye to change color? For most of my life, my iris color in each eye was dark brown. When I was in my 50s, the color began to lighten. I'm now 62, and the iris color is hazel, a mix of brown and green. Also, my... ---
**Author:** ![Jillwood77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@Jillwood77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jillwood77)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/31 "2021-03-18T07:38:23Z")
But I guess the scary thing is the scientist do not know how to stop cells from dying that produce melanocytes. And so there is no treatment or cure. I just think the US has a very strange culture the FDA can stop Apple bringing out a smart watch but allow companies to sale creams and gels that say you will have more hair and you will look younger. Well it is a similar thing with your skin the collagen starts breaking down and dying and your skin is more wrinkled and less elastically. And older people their face, arms and hands are wrinkled and less elastically but really sagging and you look really old. There is no cream or gels that will increase your melanocytes or collagen. But the FDA allows them to sale products that say they work and they do not work. Same with the medication that claim to increase melanocytes or collagen. All the ads that claim to make you look younger and yet the FDA and government allow this to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/32 "2021-03-18T18:48:50Z")
> [@Jillwood77](#): > > But I guess the scary thing is the scientist do not know how to stop cells from dying that produce melanocytes. And so there is no treatment or cure. Even scarier. Scientists don’t know how to stop brain cells from dying either. > [@Jillwood77](#): > > the FDA and government allow this to happen. The FDA isn’t allowed to prevent it. And that can be blamed on the government, Orrin Hatch in particular. ---
**Author:** ![Jillwood77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@Jillwood77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jillwood77)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/33 "2021-03-18T21:02:37Z")
> [@Jillwood77](#): > > collagen Looks like it some protein. Keep in mind diseases can cause brain cells to die. > **[How and Why Do Brain Cells Die?](https://magazine.scienceconnected.org/2016/10/brain-cells-die/)** > > Science Connected Magazine is an editorially independent, non-profit newsroom producing open-access science journalism and scientific fact-checking for the global public. Their research groups found that—despite very different causes and symptoms—injury, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and the rare, fatal genetic disorder Huntington’s disease have a shared form of “programmed” brain cell death. The team looked closely at a protein called mitochondrial Apoptosis-Inducing Factor (AIF), a specialized part of a cell outside its nucleus that causes the cell’s programmed death. They knew that when AIF leaves its usual place in the energy-producing mitochondria of the cell and moves to the nucleus, it sparks the carving up of the DNA housed in the nucleus and leads to cell death. ---
**Author:** ![Jillwood77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@Jillwood77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jillwood77)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/34 "2021-03-18T21:07:08Z")
Well smoking or spending a lot of time out side in the sun seems to make the collagen break down and make your skin look very wrinkled and less elastically and look very old. But I do not think one can spend their life in doors and never leave their house. Not sure if stress and diet plays a part or not. ---
**Author:** ![Jillwood77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@Jillwood77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jillwood77)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/35 "2021-03-20T09:53:58Z")
Well here is interesting article today that got posted on people who have thin hair or no hair. It looks like doctors are looking into stem cells that may have better cure or treatment than these creams or gels. > **[Unbalanced cell division offers a new target for treating baldness](https://newatlas.com/medical/aberrant-cell-division-hair-loss-bald/)** > > Much mystery surrounds the biological processes that lead to hair loss in humans, but scientists continue to make discoveries that unravel these secrets and lay the foundation for technologies that may one day treat it. Researchers in Japan have shed... The only thing I do not understand is your hair has millions of hairs so you will need millions of stem cells? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/36 "2021-03-20T18:23:33Z")
Heh. My husband, who is 20 years my junior, now has more gray hair than I do. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666/37 "2021-03-22T01:17:40Z")
> [@Jillwood77](#): > > allow companies to sale creams Nitpick: Nobody sales anything. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-people-to-get-grey-hair-and-thin-hair-when-people-get-older/937666.md?page=1)