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View Full Version : Stop grey hair???



littlenvy
January 28th, 2011, 12:39 PM
I came across this article this morning...

http://besthealthmag.ca/look-great/hair/can-a-pill-stop-grey-hair

Does this make any sense to you guys? Is it possible? Could it be that simple?

Btw, I feed my DH all the other ingredients that are in those pills and nothing. No hair re-growth and no reversing greys.


(If this has been metioned already, please feel free to close this thread. :))

Othala
January 28th, 2011, 02:00 PM
No, I don't think it is possible.

Panth
January 28th, 2011, 02:18 PM
Personally I think it's a load of rubbish.

As far as I remember from my year out from uni, when I worked in a dermatology research lab and had to read lots of papers about skin and hair and hair follicles, the current theory for why hair goes gray is that the melanocytes (the cells that make the pigment melanin, which is then put into the hair) are derived from a population of melanocyte stem cells that live in the very bottom of the hair follicle (the bulb). Over time, it is thought that this population dies out, eventually leaving the hair follicle with nothing from which to produce melanocytes and so no melanin. Melanocytes cannot regenerate themselves, they are only produced from melanocyte stem cells. And melanocytes have a finite lifespan so need the stem cells to maintain their population.

Yes, as far as I remember from my reading, hydrogen peroxide does play a role in melanin and graying... off the top of my head I can't remember precisely what role it has.

Catalase is an enzyme that breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. BUT ... all our organs produce lots of catalase all the time to destroy excess hydrogen peroxide. Unless you have a metabolic problem, you are not deficient in catalase. Equally, when you consume proteins in the diet, they are broken down in the gut by various enzymes into their constituent amino acids which are then absorbed. I very much doubt (without actual evidence of it) that catalase taken in supplement form does what they say it does...
How would it evade the digestive enzymes of the gut?
How would it be taken up by the gut, which generally does not take up large proteins?
How would it get from the gut cells to the bloodstream?
Would it, having hypothetically got this far, evade storage in the liver?
How would it specifically get out of the blood stream into the hair follicle?
How would it then get specifically into the melanocytes?
How would it not affect any other processes in the body in which hydrogen peroxide (in controlled conditions) is used to the body's benefit (e.g. immune system)?

</science rant>

PROVISO: Yes, I've done a year in a dermatology research lab. But, that was about 3 years ago. And it wasn't on hair growth or hair graying. And it only involved reading articles that any person who has university (or other) access to science journals could get hold of and read...

...sorry. Faux science really pisses me off and I'm a bit stressed atm. Feel free to ignore my ranting. *hugs*

littlenvy
January 28th, 2011, 02:59 PM
Thank you :)

I had very huge doubts about this and knew someone will be able to confirm it for me.