Gray Hair Prematurely: Could It Be a Sign of an Underlying Disease?

Genetics, stress, and bad luck can all contribute to early gray hair.

In most cases, there is nothing to worry about, but doctors warn that in some cases, a sudden flash of gray or white can be a sign of serious health problems.

Some of these symptoms may be caused by a simple vitamin deficiency, which can be corrected simply by getting more sunlight. But in rare cases, gray hair — especially in adulthood — can be a sign of heart disease, autoimmune disease, or even brain tumors.

vitamin D deficiency)

Sometimes the key to maintaining your color is getting more sunlight.

Vitamin D, a nutrient that is absorbed into the skin when exposed to sunlight, plays an important role in the development of melanocytes.

And in a 2013 study, a group of Indian researchers found that vitamin D-deficient teens were more likely to have gray hair.

While this may be a relief for some — as it means the hair pigment can return if a person gets more of the vitamin — it also points to the possibility of a serious deficiency.

Vitamin D plays a key role in the body’s use of calcium, which is essential for bone health.

Conditions such as osteoporosis, where bone density, strength, or structure is weakened, can result from a vitamin D deficiency.

Lack of sunlight can also lead to fatigue, dissatisfaction, muscle pain, weakness, and other symptoms.

In some cases, hair follicles begin to break down and fall out when a person lacks vitamin D.

brain tumors

Tuberous sclerosis is another genetic disorder that causes benign tumors to form in the brain, spine, eyes, lungs, heart, and kidneys.

The genetic disease affects one in every 6,000 children born in America.

And in about one in five such cases, a baby born with the condition has polio, a white patch on the hair that doesn’t line up with the rest of the head.

This condition is caused by a lack of melanin in the hair or the pigments produced by melanocytes, which are responsible for color in many organisms.

A white spot is a mild symptom, but it may indicate a more serious problem in the future.

Tuberous sclerosis tumors grow throughout the body and can interfere with the body’s ability to function.

The growth of tumors around the brain can lead to seizures because it can interfere with brain activity.

Previous studies have also linked tumors to an increased risk of autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

If tumors form in the eyes, they can cause vision problems, and heart and lung tumors can cause symptoms such as shortness of breath and an irregular heartbeat.

Although these conditions are usually discovered in childhood, some of them are not inherited and develop later in life.

They are caused by a random genetic error that occurs in some people.

Von Recklinghausen’s disease

Neurofibromatosis type 1, commonly known as NF-1 or von Recklinghausen, is a disease that causes tumors to grow along human nerves. The disease is inherited and affects one in every 3,000 people.

One of the signs of the disease is the change in hair color that can accompany it, which can be especially troublesome for young children who have it. Because people are usually born with the condition, symptoms can start at an early age.

And Korean researchers published a 2014 report on a five-year-old child with NF-1 who began to develop gray hair above his forehead.

And they say it happened because pebaldism is a symptom of NF-1. Piebaldism is a condition in which cells called melanocytes are missing from the hair and skin.

These cells are responsible for the color of these organs.

This also explains some of the other symptoms of NF-1, such as skin discoloration.

Other symptoms include light brown spots around the skin, freckles under the arms or groin, and small bumps under the skin.

The disease is considered mild, although its symptoms often shock patients. Tumors associated with it are benign and rarely develop into cancer.

vitiligo

Vitiligo is a fairly well-known and common disease that not only causes discoloration of the skin, but can also cause white spots on the hair. It is an autoimmune disease, which means that it is caused by the immune system mistakenly attacking the body’s normal cells.

In this disease, the immune system considers the melanocytes in the body to be foreign. Without melanocytes, white spots would appear on the body around the skin.

Sometimes the body also begins to act on the pigment cells in the hair, causing the color to spread to the hair.
The disease affects about one percent of people with varying degrees of severity. A small proportion of these people will suffer from vitiligo hair.

In some cases, a person’s pigment loss continues to spread throughout their life, while others may have one small spot that never grows back.

Source: Daily Mail

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