Why does hair turn white when people get old?
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Transcript
When people get older, why does their hair change color and turn white?
At the root, new hair grows a tiny bit at a time. Right there, a special coloring helper works along with it.
The coloring helper drops in bits of black or brown color as the hair grows. That's why brand-new hair looks colorful right away.
As people get older, that coloring helper can slowly get weaker. Hair that grows without color looks white instead.
When the hair's coloring helper gets weaker, more white hairs start to show up.
For grown-ups: the science
It's because the helper that colors hair can get weaker over time.
Hair color comes from melanin made by melanocytes in the hair root. As people age, melanocytes can slow down or make less melanin, so new hair grows without color and looks white. The timing of graying varies a lot between people, and genetics play a big role too.