Gray Hairs At An Early Age?

[Terbie]

People are starting to point out that I'm getting a few gray hairs and I'm only 24. No one else I know my age is experiencing this problem. Could it be related to celiac because of the years of malasorbtion? I've been a gluten-free diet for about a year now.

Any thoughts as to why this might be? No one in my family has a history of getting gray hairs before their early 30s.

Thanks!

[munkee41182]

I'm 26 and have found a couple already too It might be malnutrition or someone somewhere long the line in your family did go gray early. I only noticed the grays when I started to grow out my hair from all the dying i use to do to it.

[Michi8]

  Terbie said:

People are starting to point out that I'm getting a few gray hairs and I'm only 24. No one else I know my age is experiencing this problem. Could it be related to celiac because of the years of malasorbtion? I've been a gluten-free diet for about a year now.

Any thoughts as to why this might be? No one in my family has a history of getting gray hairs before their early 30s.

Thanks!

Could be related to celiac or other autoimmune disorders. It can also be luck of the draw. I've been greying since I was 18. At almost 40, I've got so much grey I have to colour my hair so that I don't look 10 years older than I actually am.

Michelle

[Phyllis28]

No clue if gray hair is related to Celiac or not.

My grandmother was completely gray by 25, my mother by 30. I am the one with Celiac and I did not start getting grey hair until my late 30's. I am 50 now and still only about 30% gray. At least in my family there is not a relationship.

[Jestgar]

Premature graying can be a sign of (any) autoimmune disorder.

[ShayFL]

B Vitamins help a lot.

[LuvMoosic4life]

I'm 22 and people have pointed out grey hairs on me before I even turned 20

[KristaleeJane]

I am 28, and at 22 my mom who is a hairdresser pointed out my first gray hair, but that is the only one I have had so far. I think it probably does have something to do with celiac.

[Kaycee]

Thank you for that comment Michelle. I at 50 now feel that I have grown into my grey hair.

It was going grey in my late 20's and I have dyed it so many times, but gave up about three years ago, when I got married.

Still today a 6 year old said I didn't look like a grandma, upon asking her why, she said I was too tall. I tell you, 5'3" is now the new tall!

Cathy

  Michi8 said:

At almost 40, I've got so much grey I have to colour my hair so that I don't look 10 years older than I actually am.

Michelle

[darlindeb25]

Actually, gray hair is not a celiac symptom at all--it may be a vitamin deficiency, who knows. Try googling....gray hair...and see what you find out. My sister in law was totally gray at 18, as was her mom, and neither are celiac. It just happens to some people. I have had gray hairs for years, I'm 52! I have been coloring my hair for a long time now, and often get told I do not look my age. When I tell people I have 8 grandchildren, they are amazed. My sister will be 50 this summer, and doesn't have hardly any gray hairs! We are both celiac's, and have both been gluten free for 8 yrs, and had been sick with celiac disease for years and years, probably since childhood! Our mom is a natural redhead, and I honestly think I have a lot more gray then she does!!!

[susieg-1]

  Terbie said:

People are starting to point out that I'm getting a few gray hairs and I'm only 24. No one else I know my age is experiencing this problem. Could it be related to celiac because of the years of malasorbtion? I've been a gluten-free diet for about a year now.

Any thoughts as to why this might be? No one in my family has a history of getting gray hairs before their early 30s.

Thanks!

I found my first gray hair one week before my 16th birthday!! I used to have a very cool looking white streak in my hair as a result and left it till I was 30 then had to dye hair, now 49 and am constantly having to touch up gray!! There are worse things, I would rather have lots of hair to dye then thinning hair that doesn't need color!! It does tend to run in my family so I don't know if related to celiac.

[Mom23boys]

  susieg_1 said:

I found my first gray hair one week before my 16th birthday!!

16 here too

[dollamasgetceliac?]

I thought that Gray Hair has to do with heart disease, but even kids turn gray and that indicates a disease if it is more than one here and there , but I forgot which disease? My question is I have been dying my hair for the last few years, it really makes me look more my age. Now I worry if there are too many toxins in the Dye? The one from the health foodstore has coconut in it and even though that is not a nut but a fruit it is cassifeid as such. Someone suggested Henna which is derived from a natural source what is it I dono? I worry about Lead and ofcourse Gluten? Any Suggestions. I really like to die my hair I think now I am almost gray people think I am in my late or mid thirties, I am getting letters from A A R P. Bummer I was 26 yesturday

[AliB]

I would not be at all surprised if it wasn't to do with Celiac/GI. Likely malabsorption - we all present differently - maybe those who went grey young ARE Celiac and just don't know it yet!

My Nan, who died at the age of 64 with breast cancer was completely white by the time she was 30! Knowing now that my Mum was Celiac, I suspect that my Nan probably had it too.

My Mum still had most of her colour when she died at 64 from Multiple Organ failure (obviously her hair was one of the few things that wasn't affected by Celiac - although it was always very fine and flyaway). I went grey around the normal age - I started seeing one or two in my late 20's and early 30's and now, in my 50's I am mostly grey. It was thick, curly and luxuriant when I was young, by the time I hit my mid thirties it had gone thin and lifeless and all flat on the top of my head and I could do nothing with it. I used to look at my Mum's hair when I was young and think, thank goodness my hair isn't like that. By the time I reached the same age, my hair had gone exactly the same, darn it!

My Dad lost his hair by the time he was 30 - I am sure he was very GI, if not Celiac, and my ex-son-in-law, who has had certain health problem related to Celiac so I am sure he has it too, went bald by the time he was 20. Although totally unrelated they both had a very strange thing. On their left ears was a small lump - on the outside edge around or just under halfway down. Isn't that weird! I've only just remembered. I just happened to look at them both when they were sat at the table next to each other one day and it was so noticeable!

Any other Celiacs with lumps on your ears? Any Celiacs who went bald very early, with lumps on your ears???

(I have visions of hundreds of people all going off and checking their ears in the mirror!!! )

[Terbie]

Well, it looks like I'm not the only one, so that makes me feel good (I guess...).

My friends keep pointing them out to me and ask if I want them to pull them out. I told them, "No! I earned those gray hairs so they are going to stay there!"

I have to admit, I did check my ears and there are no lumps. Maybe one day.

[darlindeb25]

Here we go:

Open Original Shared Link

  Quote

Why does hair turn gray??

Hair turns gray as we age because the follicles at the base of the hair shaft cease to produce melanin. Each follicle contains a finite number of pigment cells. These pigment cells produce melanin, a chemical that gives the hair shaft (the visible strands) its color (black, brown, blonde, red, and all shades in between.) The darkness or lightness of your hair depends on how much melanin each strand contains. Melanin is the same pigment that makes skin tan upon exposure to the sun.

With age, the pigment cells in the follicle gradually die off. As they do so, that strand will no longer contain as much color and will show up as silver, gray, or white as it grows. Eventually, all the pigment cells will die and the hair becomes completely gray.

The age at which you go gray is determined by your genes. A ballpark guess can be made by observing the ages at which your parents or grandparents went gray. Some people go gray at young ages--as early as high school--whereas some may not go gray before their forties or fifties. For example, most Caucasian women show their first gray hairs during their mid thirties.

Graying typically occurs over a long time. From the time that a person notices the first gray strands, it can take ten years or more to complete the process.

While genetics is the most common cause of gray hair, other things can contribute to graying. Lack of B vitamins (particularly pantothenic acid, poor nutrition, anemia, (lack of iron in the blood), thyroid problems, and even smoking can contribute to graying. Smokers are believed to gray at an earlier rate because smoking depletes oxygen in the bodies tissues.

Treatment for diseases, such as cancer, or AIDS, can also cause hair to turn gray.

It has been said that a shock can cause people to go gray overnight but that theory has generally been discounted.

Although parents often like to claim that the stess of having children has caused them to go gray, this theory has also been discounted.

[Nancym]

  Terbie said:

People are starting to point out that I'm getting a few gray hairs and I'm only 24. No one else I know my age is experiencing this problem. Could it be related to celiac because of the years of malasorbtion? I've been a gluten-free diet for about a year now.

Any thoughts as to why this might be? No one in my family has a history of getting gray hairs before their early 30s.

Thanks!

It is linked to thyroid problems. You might want to look into that.