Yahoo Lifestyle Scientists find cure for grey hair
Women (and men) may soon be able to save money on costly hair dyes as scientists develop cure for greying hair
Despite Nicole Richie's bizarre choice to dye her bouffant steely grey for this year's Met Ball, most women around the world are doing the very opposite: searching out and covering every white or grey hair with hair dye.
But a team of European researchers have developed a new compound called a 'pseudocatalase' that reverses the oxidative stress responsible not only for greying hairs but also the skin condition vitiligo.
A classic sign of ageing, the oxidative stress comes from an accumulation of hydrogen peroxide in the hair follicle which causes hair to bleach from the inside out, says the research report published online in The FASBEJ Journal.
According to the report, it can be remedied with a proprietary treatment developed by the researchers and described as "a topical, UVB-activated compound". The study showed that the same treatment works for the skin condition, vitiligo. Michael Jackson claimed he suffered from the skin disease.
"For generations, numerous remedies have been concocted to hide gray hair," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, "but now, for the first time, an actual treatment that gets to the root of the problem has been developed. While this is exciting news, what's even more exciting is that this also works for vitiligo.
"This condition, while technically cosmetic, can have serious socio-emotional effects of people. Developing an effective treatment for this condition has the potential to radically improve many people's lives."
