Most of us don’t mind getting some gray around the temples as we age. I know I’ve been seeing a bit more of it in the mirror over the years.
But I just had to tell you about a recent study into why we go gray, because it’s a perfect example of how medicine today is focused on treating the symptoms – and not the root causes – of health issues.
Why does hair turn gray?
The study, published in the online journal of The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, found that gray hair is caused by too much hydrogen peroxide.
In essence, we’re bleaching our hair from the inside.
You see, we produce hydrogen peroxide naturally, but then our bodies break it down. As we age, we keep making all that hydrogen peroxide – but we start to lose the ability to break it down. So it builds up in our hair, bleaching it.
I believe every word of this – but here’s the problem. The researchers concluded that in order to battle gray hair, we need to find ways to block the production and storage of hydrogen peroxide in our bodies.
Gray hair is a SYMPTOM
If that sounds like the wrong approach to you, well, it is.
Hydrogen peroxide and resulting gray hair are symptoms, not causes. Our bodies develop these symptoms when they’re trying to tell us that something is not quite right.
As a doctor, I’d be much more interested in finding out why a patient can’t break down hydrogen peroxide any more. There may be a hormonal or nutritional deficiency, for example, that could cause problems far beyond gray hair. That’s what needs to be corrected.
Modern medicine focuses on symptoms instead of causes
But, instead, medicine today is completely focused on controlling symptoms. That’s why, when you’re diagnosed with arthritis, you just get a painkiller. Forget what’s causing your painful condition – just treat the symptom. The same holds true for most modern illnesses.
And, really, this is why many people who visit doctors never get well. Medicine today is focused on symptom control and not true healing. I broke away from that approach several years ago, and my Montana clinic is completely focused on correcting the underlying causes of illness.
Now many of my patients still have gray hair – but at least I know I’M not causing it.
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Reni says
March 24, 2011 at 4:11 pmHow do we know if it is a hormonal problem or nutritional deficiency. Can we do something ourselves to help break down hydrogen peroxide ?
Lori says
March 24, 2011 at 5:47 pmHuh. I always thought it was free radical damage and/or stress. Have you noticed how gray President Obama has become? I’d say that’s stress. Here’s an interesting article – and the comments are very interesting as well.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-stress-causes-gray-hair