causes of having white or gray hair?

I belive that a shock or trauma can cause a person's hair to turn white or grey overnight. I am sure that are actually some documented cases to prove this. My hair has turned grey but more gradually over the period of a few years.. nothing to do with shock there I don't think._Derek

I too believe that stress can cause white or gray hair . Sometimes it could be due to genetics where most of your relatives has a lot of gray hair already even when they are still not that old.

genetics and age, started coloring my hair at age 25

Hiya asliah, Once I knew someone who had raven black hair which turned snow white when their Father left their Family Home. It turned completely white overnight practically. He never went back to see them either. I would say that this is a definite case of stress. This can happen to any of us. No one is free from this kind of thing. My Grandmother had raven black hair with very silvery strands the silvery strands would fall out but not the black hair itself. I don´t why that is and what makes it work like that but all I remember is that the silvery strands would come out only on the brush and comb.

I think going Grey is natural, having said that I've seen a lot people who have a lot of responsibility going Grey very quickly.

There is a condition called,"premature grey hair" and my aunt suffered from this ans started getting a little grey hair at the age of 18 but that does not mean a short life as she is almost 70 now and in good health it just happens to some people

The main for gray hair is stress now a days. Even a 10 year kid will have gray hair. Gray hair is not the sign of ageing but the cause of stress which is shown on our hair.

I do have a few strands of white hair but I believe that's due to aging. Apart from aging and genetic factors, hair color can change due to deficiency of certain important vitamins. Deficiency of vitamin B12 can be considered as one of the most common premature white hair causes. In such a condition, taking vitamin B12 supplements or including foods rich in this vitamin can prevent further graying of hair.

when my uncle was declared missing during world war 2, my grandmother's hair turned white. so its shock that turned her hair white' as for grey hair, it comes with age.

I think that it is old age that brings a person gray or white hair. From age 30 years old I have seen a few white hairs on my head. It is such a shame that when I grow much older I will have white hair. I believe that iron gray hair would suit me a lot more. My natural hair color is dark brown. I imagine that some people go gray or white before others lose their natural color of hair. When I was in my first year of teaching a boy in my class had an older brother that had lost all his hair due to worry. Therefore I guess lots of worry might make a person's hair white or gray. The person would be over 30 years old.

Well,definitely,aging is the root cause of grey hair. But there are some other reasons One reason is heredity.Some people's hair is prematurely grey because one of their parents got the same problems as they. And of course, overworking,especially overworking beside the computers will affect your hair.I have saw lots of such people who often stay up very late,and they get fewer hairs and grey hair. Being ill is also the cause of grey hair.Especially when your kidney got some problems.

Age is also a factor, some people go gray earlier than others. There are products on the market that can help to lessen the gray and highlight the other hair. Stress can induce gray hair but its not the sole cause. I don't have any gray hair and I'm in my 40's. I guess its different with each person.

Hair really change especially as we age. I think stress has something to do with the change too. If you are under stress for so long, levels of chemicals in our body changes too. This affects the pigment in our body to lighten which in turn affects the hair to become gray.

Stress can lead to graying hair. Also too when a younger person has gray hair, it usually is as a result of genetics. I do remember a 13 year old boy who was graying more then an elder person. This was hereditay and nothing to prevent it. A person could color their hair but the graying in this type of instance is inevitable.