Anti-grey hair shampoos and conditioners, hair colours and anti-grey hair oils are increasingly finding a place on the shelves of grocery stores. City-based doctors say that, over the past few years, there has been a marked increase in the number of young people with a grey hairline.
While there have been several studies carried out to evaluate and analyse the cause of premature greying, doctors say inadequate nutrition, untreated thyroid are factors which perhaps trigger it.
Swagata Chakrabarty, a dermatologist who has done a study on premature greying, says plenty of young people are reporting over five strands of grey hair, bringing them under the premature greying category.
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The study, which covered 2,000 patients with grey hair in Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi, revealed that over 1,000 were below the age of 25. She attributed the increase in grey hair to deficiency in vitamin B 12 and Vitamin D, high cholesterol, hypothyroidism and stress.
Explaining the physiological condition that causes premature greying, she says every hair follicle contains pigment cells known as melanocytes (that contain melanin), which gradually degenerate or reduce in number resulting in greying.
Dr. Chakrabarty says adequate nutrition and diet, a balanced lifestyle, regular exercise and reducing stress levels could slow down the process.
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The increasing number of pot-holes on the city’s roads coupled with poorly laid out humps and speed-breakers are taking a toll on people’s health. Needless to say, bone joints and the vertebral column are taking the impact.
With the monsoon setting in, roads are likely to be further . Added to this is the sedentary lifestyle followed by most youngsters.
City-based neuro surgeons confirm that they are seeing more people, particularly those driving two-wheelers, aged between 20 years and 50, complaining of backache and spondylitis. “Most youngsters do not like to walk and want to park their vehicle in front of the shop or office they want to get into. Rather than walk up the stairs in a building, they prefer the elevator,” one of them said.
“These unhealthy practices coupled with poorly maintained roads, unscientific speed-breakers are the main culprits,” says S. Balaji Pai, Head of the Department of Neurosurgery at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI).
Motorists who use these roads frequently, end up with spinal problems. “Jerky rides put pressure on the disc joints in the vertebral column. If this happens repeatedly, the discs start degenerating, causing further problems,” Dr. Pai says.