Shock of grey

Sun, May 11 12:05 AM

Model ADITI was ready to start her day. One last look at the mirror, and she'd be off.

She rather liked what she saw. Till she ran a hand through her hair and there they were.

Several strands of grey. Aditi's day was ruined.

After all, she was just 27 years old. Too young to have gone grey.

Or was she? Yes and no, say experts. While grey hair has always symbolised the over 50 person, these days there are more cases of premature greying of hair, making 30 the new 50.

In the genes "Things have changed," says dermatologist Dr Mukesh Girdhar, senior consultant, Max Healthcare. "Blame it on genes, lifestyles, food habits or pollution, but the age to age or rather, look aged with prominent strands of grey in your hair, has now come down to 30 years.

" Normally, hair turns grey when we're over 50 because our bodies stop producing sebum in quantities. Sebum is an oily substance secreted from the sebaceous glands of the scalp that is responsible for the health, lustre and blackness of our hair.

But what happened to Aditi was not normal. She was under 30, not 50.

Could the premature greying of her hair have been genetic? "The gene affects 90 per cent of the people who have it," says Dr Girdhar. "However, it doesn't necessarily manifest in everybody it is passed on to.

While you may grey early because you carry the gene, your sibling could escape it and you may not recognise that your greying is genetic." All in the genes If it is genetic, there's nothing you can do about it, says Dr Girdhar.

But if your premature greying has some other reason, you can sort it out. auses of premature greying include the over-use of hair products, stress, lack of protein in your diet, too much tobacco, high levels of pollution and high levels of lead in water.

"Pollutants, chemicals etc., cling to hair shaft and roots," says dermatologist Dr Vinay Singh.

"If the hair is not washed properly, these chemicals become oxidised and ruin the hair texture, colour and growth." That apart, dermatologists maintain that products like hair colour, which contain chemicals like ammonia and oxibenzone, are essentially bad for the hair.

"They cause decolourisation of the hair shaft," says Dr Singh. But hair and beauty expert Ambika Pillai defends hair colours.

"Yes, chemicals are present, but when we colour hair, we also nourish it," she says. "Besides, colour is only used on the hair shaft, so it can't harm the roots or the new hair.

" Wite to black Is there a cure for premature greying? There could be, say doctors. "Proper hygiene and diet, and only minimal use of chemically stimulated hair cosmetics can usually take care of the problem," says Dr Girdhar.

"It is possible that the layer of grey hair will be replaced by a new layer that is black.".

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