Effects of aging on hair color
Children born with a certain color may find that it gradually darkens as they grow. Many blond, strawberry blond, light brown, or red haired infants experience this.
A change in hair color typically occurs naturally as people age, usually turning their hair to gray and then white. More than 40 percent of Americans have some gray hair by age 40, but white hairs can appear as early as childhood. The age at which graying begins seems to be almost entirely based on genetics. Sometimes people are born with gray hair because they inherit the trait genetically. Some people use hair dye to disguise the amount of gray in their hair.
Two genes appear to be responsible for the process of graying, Bcl2 and Bcl-w. The change in hair color is caused when melanin ceases to be produced in the hair root and new hairs grow in without pigment. The stem cells at the base of hair follicles are responsible for producing melanocytes, the cells that produce and store pigment in hair and skin. The death of the melanocyte stem cells causes the onset of graying
Artificial factors affecting hair color
A 1996 British Medical Journal study conducted by J.G. Mosley, MD found that tobacco smoking may cause premature graying. Smokers were found to be four times more likely to begin graying prematurely, compared to nonsmokers in the study.
Gray hair may temporarily darken after inflammatory processes, after electron-beam-induced alopecia, and after some chemotherapy regimens. Much remains to be learned about the physiology of human graying.
There are no special diets, nutritional supplements, vitamins, nor proteins that have been proven to slow, stop, or in any way affect the graying process, although many have been marketed over the years. This may change in the near future. French scientists treating leukemia patients with a new cancer drug noted an unexpected side effect: some of the patients' hair color was restored to their pre-gray color.
Other medical conditions affecting hair color
Albinism is a genetic abnormality in which no pigment is found in human hair, eyes or skin. This results in gray, blue, or red eyes. The skin is pale and the hair is white or pale blond.
Vitiligo is a patchy loss of hair and skin color that may occur as the result of an auto-immune disease.
Malnutrition is also known to cause hair to become lighter, thinner, and more brittle. Dark hair may thus turn reddish or blondish due to the decreased production of melanin. The condition is reversible with proper nutrition.
Werner syndrome and pernicious anemia can also cause premature graying.
A recent study demonstrated that people 50-70 years of age with dark eyebrows but gray hair are significantly more likely to have type II diabetes than those with both gray eyebrows and hair.
Changes in hair color after death
The hair color of mummies or buried bodies can change over large time periods. Hair contains a mixture of black-brown-yellow eumelanin and red pheomelanin. Eumelanin is less chemically stable than pheomelanin and breaks down faster when oxidized. It is for this reason that Egyptian mummies have reddish hair. The color of hair changes faster under extreme conditions. It changes more slowly under dry oxidizing conditions (such as in burials in sand or in ice) than under wet reducing conditions (such as burials in wood or plaster coffins)
article source From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monday, June 30, 2008
Natural Hair Colors
Natural hair colors
Natural hair color is black, brown, blonde, or red, depending on a person's ethnic origins. Hair color is genetically associated with certain skin tones and eye colors.
Black hair
Black hair is the darkest and most common color of human hair. Black hair is found in people of all backgrounds and ethnicities. It has large amounts of eumelanin and is less dense than other hair colors. It can be a very dark brown. Black hair is known to be the shiniest out of all other hair colors.[1] In English, black hair is usually described as "jet-black", "raven black", rather than "brunette".
Outside of Europe, many humans have black or dark brown hair. [2] This is likely the original hair color of Homo sapiens, and is found in its greatest distribution in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the pre-Columbian Americas. Among White people, black hair is particularly common in people of Southern European, e.g.: Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian ancestry. Black hair is less prominent in people from Nordic countries. In Africa, many individuals have blond, reddish, brown and black hair colors, as well.
Black hair comes in a variety of textures. Many people of African descent have diverse hair textures ranging from afro-textured hair, to straight, curly or wavy.. Straight black hair is common in Asians and Native Americans, as well. Curly, wavy, straight and coarse hair textures are common among all racialized groups. Within African populations, hair textures vary greatly. This is due to the fact that individuals of African descent have the most ancient alleles (genes responsible for specific physical traits) and the greatest genetic diversity.
Brown hair
Brown hair is the second most common hair color, with black being the most common.
A girl with long brown hair
Brown hair (also referred to as chestnut and cinnamon) varies from light brown to almost black hair. It is characterized by higher levels of the dark pigment eumelanin and lower levels of the pale pigment phaeomelanin. Its strands are thicker than those of fair hair but not as much as those of red hair. People with brown hair are often referred to as brunettes, the feminine form, and brunets (silent t), the masculine term. Brown hair is commonly termed “dark” because of its darker characteristics than that of its blonde or red haired counterparts.
Blond hair
Blond hair ranges from nearly white (platinum blond, tow-haired) to a dark golden blond. Strawberry blond, a mixture of blond and red hair found predominantly in Ireland, is an especially rare type containing the most phaeomelanin. Blond hair can have almost any proportions of phaeomelanin and eumelanin, but both only in small amounts. More phaeomelanin creates a more golden blond color, and more eumelanin creates an ash blond. Blond hair is common in many European peoples, but rare among others. Many children born with blonde hair may develop darker hair as they age.
Red hair
Red hair (also referred to as auburn, ginger or titian) varies from a deep orange-red through burnt orange to bright copper. It is characterized by high levels of the reddish pigment pheomelanin and relatively low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. People with red hair are often referred to as redheads.[1] Approximately 1% to 2% of the human population has red hair.[2][3] It occurs more frequently (between 2% and 6% of the population) in northern and western Europeans, and their descendants, and at lower frequencies throughout other parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Red hair appears in people with two copies of a recessive gene on chromosome 16 which causes a change in the MC1R protein. It is associated with fair skin color, freckles, and sensitivity to ultraviolet light, as the mutated MC1R protein is found in the skin and eyes instead of the darker melanin. Cultural reactions have varied from ridicule to admiration; many common stereotypes exist regarding redheads, and they are often portrayed as the “fiery-tempered redhead”.
As well as in humans, red hair can be found in other mammalian species such as orangutans, squirrels, goats, and highland cattle. Red hair or fur can be found in some breeds of dog and cat, and certain species of fox and deer.
Gray and white hair
Gray hair color typically occurs naturally as people age (see "Effects of aging on hair color", below). The same can be said for white hair. In some cases, gray hair may instead be caused by a deficiency of B12 or a thyroid imbalance
article source From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Natural hair color is black, brown, blonde, or red, depending on a person's ethnic origins. Hair color is genetically associated with certain skin tones and eye colors.
Black hair
Black hair is the darkest and most common color of human hair. Black hair is found in people of all backgrounds and ethnicities. It has large amounts of eumelanin and is less dense than other hair colors. It can be a very dark brown. Black hair is known to be the shiniest out of all other hair colors.[1] In English, black hair is usually described as "jet-black", "raven black", rather than "brunette".
Outside of Europe, many humans have black or dark brown hair. [2] This is likely the original hair color of Homo sapiens, and is found in its greatest distribution in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the pre-Columbian Americas. Among White people, black hair is particularly common in people of Southern European, e.g.: Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian ancestry. Black hair is less prominent in people from Nordic countries. In Africa, many individuals have blond, reddish, brown and black hair colors, as well.
Black hair comes in a variety of textures. Many people of African descent have diverse hair textures ranging from afro-textured hair, to straight, curly or wavy.. Straight black hair is common in Asians and Native Americans, as well. Curly, wavy, straight and coarse hair textures are common among all racialized groups. Within African populations, hair textures vary greatly. This is due to the fact that individuals of African descent have the most ancient alleles (genes responsible for specific physical traits) and the greatest genetic diversity.
Brown hair
Brown hair is the second most common hair color, with black being the most common.
A girl with long brown hair
Brown hair (also referred to as chestnut and cinnamon) varies from light brown to almost black hair. It is characterized by higher levels of the dark pigment eumelanin and lower levels of the pale pigment phaeomelanin. Its strands are thicker than those of fair hair but not as much as those of red hair. People with brown hair are often referred to as brunettes, the feminine form, and brunets (silent t), the masculine term. Brown hair is commonly termed “dark” because of its darker characteristics than that of its blonde or red haired counterparts.
Blond hair
Blond hair ranges from nearly white (platinum blond, tow-haired) to a dark golden blond. Strawberry blond, a mixture of blond and red hair found predominantly in Ireland, is an especially rare type containing the most phaeomelanin. Blond hair can have almost any proportions of phaeomelanin and eumelanin, but both only in small amounts. More phaeomelanin creates a more golden blond color, and more eumelanin creates an ash blond. Blond hair is common in many European peoples, but rare among others. Many children born with blonde hair may develop darker hair as they age.
Red hair
Red hair (also referred to as auburn, ginger or titian) varies from a deep orange-red through burnt orange to bright copper. It is characterized by high levels of the reddish pigment pheomelanin and relatively low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. People with red hair are often referred to as redheads.[1] Approximately 1% to 2% of the human population has red hair.[2][3] It occurs more frequently (between 2% and 6% of the population) in northern and western Europeans, and their descendants, and at lower frequencies throughout other parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Red hair appears in people with two copies of a recessive gene on chromosome 16 which causes a change in the MC1R protein. It is associated with fair skin color, freckles, and sensitivity to ultraviolet light, as the mutated MC1R protein is found in the skin and eyes instead of the darker melanin. Cultural reactions have varied from ridicule to admiration; many common stereotypes exist regarding redheads, and they are often portrayed as the “fiery-tempered redhead”.
As well as in humans, red hair can be found in other mammalian species such as orangutans, squirrels, goats, and highland cattle. Red hair or fur can be found in some breeds of dog and cat, and certain species of fox and deer.
Gray and white hair
Gray hair color typically occurs naturally as people age (see "Effects of aging on hair color", below). The same can be said for white hair. In some cases, gray hair may instead be caused by a deficiency of B12 or a thyroid imbalance
article source From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
History
Genetics and biochemistry of hair color
There are two types (three subtypes) of pigment that give hair its color: eumelanin and phaeomelanin. Eumelanin is black and brown while phaeomelanin is red. The amount of eumelanin in hair determines the darkness of its color. A low concentration of brown eumelanin in the hair will make it blonde, whereas more brown eumelanin will give it a brown color. Much higher amounts of black eumelanin will result in black hair, and a low concentration of black eumelanin in the hair will make it gray. All humans have phaeomelanin in their hair.
Phaeomelanin is more chemically stable than black eumelanin, but less chemically stable than brown eumelanin, so it breaks down more slowly when oxidized. This is the reason bleach will cause darker hair to turn reddish-brown during the artificial coloring process. As the phaeomelanin continues to break down, the hair will gradually become orange and later yellow, and then white.
Light hair map ("light" hair refers to blonde, red, and light brown). The yellow represents 80%+ light hair, light orange is 50-79% light hair, light brown is 20-49% light hair, dark brown is 1-19% light hair, and black represents no presence of light hair in the indigenous population.
The genetics of hair colors are not yet firmly established. According to one theory, at least two gene pairs control human hair color. One gene, which is a brown/blonde pair, has a dominant brown allele and a recessive blonde allele. A person with a brown allele will have brown hair; a person with no brown alleles will be blonde. This also explains why two brown-haired parents can produce a blonde-haired child. The other gene pair is a not-red/red pair, where the not-red allele (which suppresses production of pheomelanin) is dominant and the allele for red hair is recessive. Since the two gene pairs both govern hair color, a person with two copies of the red-haired allele will have red hair, but it will be either auburn or bright reddish orange depending upon whether the first gene pair gives brown or blonde hair, respectively.
The two-gene model does not account for all possible shades of brown, blonde, or red (for example, platinum blonde versus dark blonde/light brown), nor does it explain why hair color sometimes darkens with age. Several gene pairs control the light versus dark hair color in a cumulative effect. Therefore, the more of these that are dominant, the darker the hair will be. A person's genotype for a multifactorial trait can interact with environment to produce varying phenotypes (see quantitative trait locus).
Article source From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There are two types (three subtypes) of pigment that give hair its color: eumelanin and phaeomelanin. Eumelanin is black and brown while phaeomelanin is red. The amount of eumelanin in hair determines the darkness of its color. A low concentration of brown eumelanin in the hair will make it blonde, whereas more brown eumelanin will give it a brown color. Much higher amounts of black eumelanin will result in black hair, and a low concentration of black eumelanin in the hair will make it gray. All humans have phaeomelanin in their hair.
Phaeomelanin is more chemically stable than black eumelanin, but less chemically stable than brown eumelanin, so it breaks down more slowly when oxidized. This is the reason bleach will cause darker hair to turn reddish-brown during the artificial coloring process. As the phaeomelanin continues to break down, the hair will gradually become orange and later yellow, and then white.
Light hair map ("light" hair refers to blonde, red, and light brown). The yellow represents 80%+ light hair, light orange is 50-79% light hair, light brown is 20-49% light hair, dark brown is 1-19% light hair, and black represents no presence of light hair in the indigenous population.
The genetics of hair colors are not yet firmly established. According to one theory, at least two gene pairs control human hair color. One gene, which is a brown/blonde pair, has a dominant brown allele and a recessive blonde allele. A person with a brown allele will have brown hair; a person with no brown alleles will be blonde. This also explains why two brown-haired parents can produce a blonde-haired child. The other gene pair is a not-red/red pair, where the not-red allele (which suppresses production of pheomelanin) is dominant and the allele for red hair is recessive. Since the two gene pairs both govern hair color, a person with two copies of the red-haired allele will have red hair, but it will be either auburn or bright reddish orange depending upon whether the first gene pair gives brown or blonde hair, respectively.
The two-gene model does not account for all possible shades of brown, blonde, or red (for example, platinum blonde versus dark blonde/light brown), nor does it explain why hair color sometimes darkens with age. Several gene pairs control the light versus dark hair color in a cumulative effect. Therefore, the more of these that are dominant, the darker the hair will be. A person's genotype for a multifactorial trait can interact with environment to produce varying phenotypes (see quantitative trait locus).
Article source From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sunday, June 29, 2008
What's hair color
Hair color is the result of pigmentation due to the chemicals eumelanin and phaeomelanin. In general, the more melanin present, the darker the hair color; the less melanin, the lighter the hair color. Considerable differences in color and texture exist between individuals of similar ethnicity. Immigration and global travel have greatly increased the diversity of hair characteristics among many countries. A person's hair color may also change over time and may be more than one color at a time.
article source From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
article source From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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