Gray hair indicates excellent health

Spanish scientists studying wild boars have discovered that hair color can affect overall health. They claim that being gray can be good. Researchers say hair color may predict future health.

Lead researcher Ismail Galvan says that given that all higher vertebrates, including humans, produce the same types of melanin in their skin, hair and feathers, the study's findings add to our limited current knowledge of the physiological consequences of pigmentation. Scientists looked at two types of melanin, the pigment that gives color to hair and skin. Eumelanin are brown or black pigments, while pheomelanin produces bright red or rich shades of chestnut.

Unlike eumelanin, pheomelanin requires a chemical called glutathione, or GSH, to produce its color. GSH is an antioxidant, meaning it can stop the chemical reaction of oxidation. Oxidation reactions cause the formation of free radicals, which in turn cause cell damage. This suggests that certain hair colors may have important consequences for the health of mammals.

Pheomelanin, which is responsible for chestnut coloring, can make both animals and humans more sensitive to oxidative damage. Meanwhile, gray hair as a result of the lack of melanin is a sign of good health in wild boars.

Scientists found that the appearance of gray hair was actually a sign of excellent health in wild boars and the lowest levels of oxidative damage. However, other experiments have shown that gray hair in other animals is caused by cellular stress.

Source: zdorovo.ua