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While over 99% of people over the age of 80 have white hair, in exceptional cases some people have little or no gray. Find out in this article why people have no gray hair at 80. To begin with, we will discuss the origins of hair bleaching. Then in a second part we will see why it is possible to have a total absence of gray hair at 80 years old.

What causes hair to bleach?

The canities mechanism

Before you find out why you don't have gray hair at 80, it's helpful to simply remind yourself of the phenomenon of hair bleaching in order to understand the mechanisms involved. Gray hair almost everyone ends up having it, it is inevitable. This process is called canities. It is a natural mechanism that occurs when the melanocytes, the cells which are responsible for the pigmentation of the hair, decrease or stop their production of melanin. To explain it another way, your hair continues its life cycle, but without being pigmented and therefore without coloring. Your hair will then turn graying or white.

The arrival of the first gray hairs is around 35 years for Europeans and can vary by more or less 10 years. This data is of course an average, the individual reality is quite different. The occurrence of white hair varies from person to person and will often depend on genetics, but also internal or external causes.

Causes of hair that turns white

• The natural aging of the body and melanocytes.
• Genetic. Often the hair turns white at the same age as that of your parents.
• An autoimmune disease, a physiological disorder or a specific pathology: thyroid disorder, vitiligo, Vogt-Koyanagi syndrome or Waardenburg syndrome, some cancers.
• Nutritional deficiencies. A deficit of certain nutrients (Zinc, copper, iron, amino acids) and a lack of vitamins (group A and B).
• A bad way of life: stress, tobacco, bad diet, excessive and continuous fatigue ...
• An emotional shock.

However, it happens in very rare cases that some people do not have gray hair all their life or until old age such as 80 years old.

Why don't you have gray hair in your 80s?

The differences in the development of canities between individuals is sometimes very significant. While some already see the arrival of gray hair in adolescence, others do not have it until much later. And still others never see their hair turn white. But where does this particularity come from? There is no official answer on this phenomenon, despite everything some data on this subject has been provided by scientific research. You will find them below.

You have no gray hair at 80 thanks to genetics

Our genetic inheritance constitutes a fundamental role in the appearance of canities more or less prematurely. Three reasons can explain why you don't have gray hair at 80:

• Researchers have identified the gene that activates hair bleaching: the IRF4 gene. A team of researchers has studied more than 6 individuals from Latin America with very diverse origins and therefore diverse hair types. They came to the realization that this discomfort is involved in triggering the canities mechanism. It would be likely to activate in a different way in individuals and outright never act on others. This would have the consequence of causing a total absence of white hair. However, this study is still in its infancy. Other genes and multiple factors could also be involved in the disparities in the arrival of white hair between individuals.

• It is proven that the ethnic group acts on the more or less rapid development of canities. On average, the appearance of white hair in Europeans is around 35 years old, while for Asians it is around 40 years old and Africans around 45 years old.

• The aging of cells is not the same in individuals. Consequently, in some melanocytes never die or very late thus the process of canities is delayed or non-existent. The melanocytes produce the color of the hair indefinitely and therefore even at 80 years old you do not have white hair appearing.

You have a total absence of gray hair at 80 because of your lifestyle

There are internal factors that influence hair bleaching, as we have just seen. However, there are also external factors which play an essential role. Healthy living has always been a factor in understanding hair bleaching. The fact that some individuals have no gray hair, even at 80 years old, may be due to a healthy and harmonious lifestyle. Indeed, the melanocytes would have a sensitivity to oxidative stress. Food, tobacco and chronic stress all take their toll on the body. These can activate the oxidation of cells and sometimes cause inflammation which lowers the production of melanin. As a result, if you've had a great healthy lifestyle since you were young, it may have had a huge positive impact on your not having gray hair at age 80.