A BATTLE WITH TIME: Gray Hair — a Sign of Catastrophe or a Natural Defense?
Photo by Taylor Smith on Unsplash
Why do we go gray? The answer to this question seems obvious. All living things pass through different stages of biological existence, and these stages have external markers. For example, over time, the leaves of trees change their color, and the fur of animals changes its coloration. In this sense, something similar happens to humans. Yet our graying is clearly a more complex matter, which is reflected in both science and culture.
GRAYING DIFFERENTLY ACROSS CULTURES
O
ne of the most tolerant definitions of gray hair can be found in the Bible: «Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life» (Proverbs 16:31). The assumption is that with gray hair and age comes wisdom. At the same time, the fact is ignored that for many people, unfortunately, age and gray hair come alone. Perhaps this is why different cultures display different attitudes toward gray hair. Among North American Indigenous peoples, for example, gray hair is a sign that a person is capable of establishing a connection with the spirit world. For this reason, a completely gray-haired shaman is far more revered than a colleague not yet touched by gray.
In Ancient Greece, attitudes toward gray hair were ambivalent. On the one hand, a gray-haired philosopher was unequivocally perceived as a sage. On the other hand, the Greeks, with their cult of a healthy and athletic body, associated gray hair with physical weakness. In Ancient Egypt, gray hair was seen as nothing good at all. As a result, «eternal youth» was imitated in every possible way, using dyes and wigs. One might say that, in preparing for eternal life, the Egyptians partially mummified themselves while still alive.
«THE HEARTLESS DICTATOR»
Gray hair was treated in much the same way in Victorian England. During World War II, one cosmetics brand in the United States ran an advertising campaign that called gray hair a «heartless dictator», clearly alluding to Hitler. The perception of the fight against gray hair as an epic «battle with time» has persisted to this day. The well-known writer Susan Sontag noted that for the modern woman «every gray hair is a defeat».
Of course, in recent years, various celebrities have tried to challenge stereotypes about aging and have appeared in public with naturally gray, undyed hair. Yes, Meryl Streep, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Queen Letizia of Spain can afford to do so — their behavior seems to suggest that at the top of the social ladder the laws of nature somehow work differently. In other words, this symbolic gesture affirming the standards of a «new femininity» is merely the reverse side of the same cultural norm.
DYES THAT DEFY TIME
It is hardly possible to nullify a millennia-old trend of hair coloring with the hashtags #grannyhair («grandma hair») and #greyhairdontcare («gray hair don’t care»). Our subconscious, without any special effort on our part, will invariably read a new gray hair as a danger signal. And if culture is understood in a broad sense as our way of fighting time and death, then all cultural means are good for this purpose. Especially since different people go gray in different ways.
This process usually starts around the age of 35, proceeds more slowly in women than in men, and begins earlier in Europeans than among the peoples of Africa and Asia. But between the ages of 45 and 65, it inevitably affects 75% of people, involving roughly one-third of the head. At that point, people have historically had no choice but to resort to dyes — henna, turmeric, buffalo blood boiled in oil, or, at the very least, ordinary ink, streptocide, and hydrogen peroxide. Without coloring, it is impossible to stop the process: pigment is formed very deep inside the follicle.
REHABILITATING GRAY HAIR
That said, physicians argue that the graying process can still be slowed by leading a healthy lifestyle, getting enough sleep, and ensuring adequate intake of B vitamins, copper, and zinc. And most importantly — avoiding stress! There are studies suggesting that after the impact of stress on the body ceases, the number of gray hairs can sometimes decrease. However, a new argument has recently emerged that allows us to rehabilitate the much-maligned gray hair in our eyes. After all, what is the graying process, essentially?
The lifespan of melanocyte stem cells contained in hair is finite. Gradually, their numbers decrease, as does the number of melanocytes they produce, causing hair to lose its color. At the same time, a wide variety of DNA defects may accumulate, including those associated with the risk of malignant tumors. This sounds rather frightening, yet such defects perform an exclusively useful function — they act as signals that trigger a safety system suppressing the division of malignant cells.
GRAY HAIR — PROTECTION AGAINST CANCER?
At least, this is precisely the effect discovered by Japanese scientists from the University of Tokyo in laboratory mice when individual hair cells were exposed to ionizing radiation. If the hair turned gray, the likelihood of tumor formation decreased. When the graying process was artificially inhibited, the risk, on the contrary, increased. Undoubtedly, it is psychologically difficult for many of us to come to terms with the aging process. But as we can see, wise nature has ensured that the appearance of gray hair is not merely a challenge to beauty and youth, but also a sign that anti-cancer protection is at work in the stem cells of our hair follicles. So, going gray is, in the literal sense, good for one’s health. Although, of course, no one has canceled henna, turmeric, buffalo hide, and other cultural means of «fighting time».
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