Cure for gray hair on the horizon, scientists show in a new study

Just in time for baby boomers entering their twilight years, scientists have found out how to reverse graying hair.

Scientists discovered that going gray is due to a build up of hydrogen peroxide in the hair follicle.

This causes the hair to bleach itself beginning from the inside outwards.

It is a process that scientists term 'massive epidermal oxidative stress.'

Now researchers say that this oxidative stress can be reversed with an antioxidant cocktail that allows for repigmentation of the hair follicle.

The report describes the treatment as a 'sunlight-activated compound made into a 'modified pseudocatalase.'

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Doctors stumbled upon the marvel treatment while investigating a totally separate condition: vitiligo, which causes de-pigmentation of sections of skin.

Vitiligo is the disease singer Michael Jackson claimed made his skin light and blotchy.

The study used a drug called pseudocatalase that was activated with sunlight.

During the study, the researchers found that not only the pigment of the skin returned but also eyelashes.

"For generations, numerous remedies have been concocted to hide grey hair but now, for the first time, an actual treatment that gets to the root of the problem has been developed," said Gerald Weissman, FASEB Journal editor-in-chief, in a statement.

"While this is exciting news, what's even more exciting is that this also works for vitiligo."

The discovery was published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) journal.

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