White Hair Soon To Be Reversible To Original Color

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People may no longer fear white hair due to aging and stress, as the latest scientific developments reveal that the process can be reversed, leaving you with glorious dark hair all over again.

Researchers from Manchester University and Lubeck University, in Germany, have created a drug that restores white hair to its natural colour.

The new drug provides hope to people whose hair has turned white because of illness or extreme stress. In order to make the discovery, the research team used a molecule to stimulate the pigment responsible for hair colour. But they said the technique still had to be tested on humans and would not reverse the natural greying process.

However, experts said the development was an encouraging breakthrough. For the study, the boffins recreated a naturally-occurring molecule called K(D)PT, which is very similar to the hormones in the body that stimulate the hair pigment melanin.

“It's important to note that this is laboratory research and not yet ready for use on patients. However, while the research is still at a very early stage, these findings could potentially pave the way for new therapies that restore colour to white hair. At the moment, this research only applies to people whose hair has turned white following illness, but this is an important step for such patients,' BBC quoted Nina Goad, of the British Association of Dermatologists, as saying.

The researchers took hair follicles from six women aged between 46 and 65 and mimicked two conditions which can turn hair white - a skin disease known as alopecia areata and stress-related disorder telogen effluvium. They found that, once treated with the drug, known only as K(D)PT, the amount of melanin in the follicle increased significantly.

Dr Ralf Paus, the study's lead researcher, said the melanin stimulation suggested the technique could be used as an "anti-greying agent". But he warned it was still early days and it was not known if it could be used to restore hair to its full colour.

Some time in the near future we can spare ourselves from the side-effects of hair coloring and rather go for the latest treatment instead.