Serum Iron, Ferritin, and Calcium Levels in Premature Canities
January 2016
in “
Hair therapy & transplantation
”
TLDR People with early graying hair often have lower levels of iron, ferritin, and calcium.
In a cross-sectional study involving 50 patients under 20 years old with premature canities (early graying of hair), researchers found that the levels of serum iron, ferritin, and calcium were significantly lower in these patients compared to 50 age and sex-matched controls without canities. The study participants with canities had varying degrees of severity, with 34% mild, 60% moderate, and 6% severe cases, and a female to male ratio of 1.38:1. A positive family history of canities was noted in 62% of the cases. The findings suggest that supplementation of these trace elements might prevent the progression of canities, but the authors call for larger scale studies to confirm these results.
