Is grey hair reversible? Scientists are putting color back into strands

Haircare experts are going for a silver metal.Emerging research says that it may be possible to reverse the effects of greying hair without dye-ing for a solution.That’s according to Spanish doctors who recently noticed that as their lung cancer patients began to recover thanks to new immunotherapy drugs, their hair began gaining pigment, too.

At first, the scientists thought it was a fluke — until they realized that even patients outside their care were getting their hair color back after taking new treatment drugs like Keytruda, Opdivo and Tecentriq.That led University of Alabama scientist Melissa Harris to start digging into ways to help anyone with an automated Clairol refill on Amazon.

So, when will going grey be passé? Sooner than you think.For starters, less than 25% of people have a significant amount of grey hair by age 50, according to a 2012 study in the British Journal of Dermatology.But nearly 90% of us do have some pigment loss before hitting the big 5-0.

That’s due to melanocytes, the pigment cells living inside your hair follicles that pump color into every strand as it grows.They’re supposed to keep getting fueled by a backup crew of melanocyte stem cells, but factors like stress, fatigue, and our bodies’ aging repair cycles get in the way.

Eventually, the pigment cycle gets depleted beyond repair, and the body doesn’t create new melanin, the colorful cell byproduct that also determines our skin and eye color.Another big factor is genetics, which means if your grandmother was Cruella de Vil, you’ll inherit more than her spotted fur coat — you’ll also get her signature shock of white hair.(Speaking of dogs, they, too, can go grey, getting a “sugar face” around the muzzle or, in the case of some huskies and hounds, a white streak along their back.)Scientists think that immunotherapy drug treatments help with greying hair because they’re designed to reawaken and strengthen the body’s existing stem cells, which act as tin...