New Research Links Gray Hair to Lower Cancer Risk

In Brief

• New research reveals gray hair may indicate the body is defending itself against cancer.
• Scientists found that gray hair is sometimes caused by the death of pigment-producing cells.
• The study adds to a growing cancer research exploring unconventional prevention and treatment.

Many people see gray hair as a bad thing, and many choose to dye their hair when gray. Contrary to this, a new study has revealed that gray hair may actually be a blessing, as it is associated with lower risks of cancer.

The study first published in the Nature Cell Biology journal reveals that graying hair might be a sign that the body is defending itself against cancer. It further claims that cancer-inducing factors like ultraviolet light induce graying when natural defensive pathways are created in the hair follicles, leading to premature graying, but the person’s chances of getting cancer becomes slimmer.

Death Rather than Replication, to Fight Cancer

Cancers are caused by a rapid replication of cells in the body, resulting in tumors that eventually become cancerous. The scientists took time to study what happens to the stem cells under the skin that give hair color, when there’s a DNA attack which can be caused by ultraviolet light.

They found out that in such a situation the cells can act in one of two ways. One is that they may cease to grow and divide, which leads to gray hair as there’s no more pigment formation. And the other is that they may also replicate rapidly to form a tumor which can turn cancerous eventually. Cell biologist Dot Bennet commenting on the death of the cells said:

“It’s a sort of exhaustion called cell senescence. It’s a limit to the total number of divisions that a cell can go through, and it seems to be an anti-cancer mechanism to prevent random genetic errors acquired over time propagating uncontrollably.”

While gray hair is mostly associated with old age, scientists at the University of Tokyo were interested in how this same mechanism operates in response to DNA damage. They found that gray hair can be caused prematurely as a defense against cancer when melanocytes — cells that produce melanin — “choose” to die rather than multiply and cause cancer when attacked.

Some More Discoveries on Cancer

A lot of studies have been carried out on cancer worldwide, and several interesting findings have been recorded on the subject. Scientists recently created autonomous robotic flowers that can cure cancer by carrying medication to parts of the body affected by the disease.

With these new discoveries about the disease here and there, there may be hope in the future for curing it with unorthodox means, or preventing it with the understanding of how our bodies work, such as the graying of hair to prevent the disease.