In a new online research report published in The FASEB (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology) Journal, those who go gray develop ‘massive epidermal oxidative stress’ through the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide in the hair follicle, causing their hair to bleach itself from the inside out, Daily Mail news report said.
The inside-out bleaching, or greying, process can be cured with a proprietary treatment described as a topical, sunlight-activated compound made into a ‘modified pseudocatalase,’ which stops the graying, according to the report.
For generations, numerous remedies have been concocted to hide gray hair,’ said Dr Gerald Weissmann, the editor-in-chief of The FASEB Journal.
‘But now, for the first time, an actual treatment that gets to the root of the problem has been developed.
‘The study also shows that the same treatment works for the skin condition vitiligo which causes de-pigmentation of sections of skin.
‘This condition, while technically cosmetic, can have serious socio-emotional effects of people,’ Weissmann said.
‘Developing an effective treatment for this condition has the potential to radically improve many people’s lives.’
In the current study was conducted on an international group of 2,411 patients with vitiligo.
After treatment of the pseudocatalase activated via sunlight, the pigment of the skin and eyelashes on the subjects returned, the researchers said.
‘To date, it is beyond any doubt that the sudden loss of the inherited skin and localised hair colour can affect those individuals in many fundamental ways,’ said Dr Karin U Schallreuter, the study’s author from the Institute for Pigmentary Disorders in the Netherlands.
‘The improvement of quality of life after total and even partial successful repigmentation has been documented,’ said Schallreuter who worked with researchers from E.M. Arndt University of Greifswald, Germany and the Centre for Skin Sciences, School of Life Sciences at the University of Bradford, United Kingdom.
Schallreuter did not say when the graying and vitiligo treatment would become available for regular consumers to purchase.