Grey Hair

I noticed a while ago that my hair is slowly turning grey. It is rather interesting because I am only 32 and I didn't actually expect my hair to turn grey at this point in my life. Perhaps I am merely getting a-head of myself (ergh).

When my late grandfather started to use a walking stick for support, he commented to me that all of a sudden there are so many people copying him by carrying walking sticks with them. Once you start to do something new, you tend to notice many others doing the same or similar thing - they were there all along, but you just didn't have cause to notice them. Well, it seems like a lot of people are going grey just to copy me. I seem to notice other people's greying hair more and more often - like nobody had grey hair before and now there are so many of them walking around. I must also be a trend-setter.

It fascinates me that even though I don't consider myself particularly vain, I catch myself checking the progress of the grey hair in the mirror. The truth is, I don't actually mind the fact that I'm going grey. I sort of like it, in a way. Perhaps I'll look distinguished with a grey mop-top. Or perhaps not. You see, in my constant look-out for grey hair, I have developed a number of categories to define the different types:

- White hair
- Silver grey hair
- Dirty grey hair
- Balding grey hair
- Flecky grey hair (also "Salt n' Pepper)
- Temples-only grey hair
- Grey hair, coloured beard
- Coloured hair, grey beard

So far I think that I fall into the temples-only grey hair category. I believe that sometime soon I will advance. I'm hoping to achieve a silver-grey look, although I suspect it isn't entirely up to me.

According to Wikipedia:

The change in hair color is caused by the gradual decrease of pigmentation that occurs when melanin ceases to be produced in the hair root, and new hairs grow in without pigment. Two genes appear to be responsible for the process of greying, Bcl2 and Mitf. The stem cells at the base of hair follicles are responsible for producing melanocytes, the cells that produce and store pigment in hair and skin. The death of the melanocyte stem cells causes hair to begin going grey.

My older brother once had a classmate who had a natural tuft of white hair in the center of his fringe. The principal of the school once demanded that, on pain of suspension, he not colour his hair. When he explained that it is a hereditary thing, the principal did not believe him - until he saw this kid's brother, who was also sporting the family tuft.

It seems that lots of people I know are now starting to go grey. I look around and see people who thus far have very healthy heads of hair, but have started to show signs of dying melanocyte stem cells.

I wonder how long on average it takes for a person to go from a couple of grey hairs to a full head of grey hair. I suppose it would be a little difficult to get a consistent sample of people, but the statistic would be interesting. In my informal study of grey hair, I have noticed that once the greying achieves a certain percentage of the person's head (say, 20%) the procedure seems to speed up. Before you know it, the poor guy's head is covered in grey. However, there are those who would say that they would much rather go grey than lose their hair. Which brings me to this next joke, which my wife likes to tell:

A balding man walks into a barber shop and says that he would like to have a haircut. The catch is that he only has three strands of hair left, which is a very sensitive issue for him. After reassurances from the barber, the man sits down in the chair and the barber gets to work combing these three hairs. All of a sudden, one of the hairs is accidentally plucked from his head. The balding customer is now upset, but after further reassurances, he agrees to sit back down so the barber can continue. Unfortunately, one of the two remaining strands of hair falls out. Now the balding customer is furious. He takes a hand-mirror and quickly surveys the damage. He is now so upset that he shouts at the barber, "Forget it! Just leave it messy!"

The truth is, I don't really mind that my hair is greying. But there are obviously lots of people who do care. In fact, this article from BBC Health news discusses a possible pill for stopping, or slowing, the greying process. Do you get that? There is actually research going on to figure out how to stop hair from turning grey. Get this:

Desmond Tobin, a reader in cell biology at the University of Bradford who has carried out research in this area, said he would await the paper with interest.

Which means that there's more than one study about grey hair. Moreover, someone is actually funding the research. Which means that someone is actually spending money to find this out. Imagine the prestige. You walk into a conference for medical research professionals in a fancy hotel somewhere in fashionable New York City:

Other Guy: Hi. I'm Bob. I am conducting research on how to cure cancer/leukemia/the common cold. What do you do?
You: I'm researching grey hair.

As the "Aging Hipsters" website so eruditely puts it:

Being the "self-absorbed" generation that we are, we'll probably find a way to ignore the cancer findings and go straight for the cure for gray hair.