The Surprising Link Between Gray Hair & Cancer

…and other items from this week’s health news:

Cancer or gray hair? Your cells get to choose (ish)

This one’s a bodily resource conflict that works in your favor! If your hair grays, anyway.

It’s because both gray hair and melanoma arise from melanocyte stem cells (McSCs), which produce pigment for hair and skin.

When McSCs experience DNA double-strand breaks (a part of aging), they enter senescence-coupled differentiation (seno-differentiation)—a self-protective state where they mature, stop dividing, and are lost, leading to gray hair.

This protective graying process is controlled by the p53–p21 pathway, which stops damaged cells from proliferating—in other words, stops cancer.

However, when McSCs are exposed to carcinogens (such as, in this study, ultraviolet B radiation or the chemical 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene), they resist seno-differentiation and continue renewing themselves despite DNA damage. This blocks the protective response, allowing damaged cells to expand clonally, which increases melanoma risk.

In other words: while gray hair itself does not prevent cancer, graying (and later: gray) hair reflects a defense mechanism that has safely eliminated compromised stem cells.

So if your hair is graying, relax: it’s doing its job 🙂

Read in full: Scientists just found a surprising link between gray hair and cancer

Related: 10 Ways To Delay Aging

Just had your flu shot? Skip these painkillers for a bit

In few words: common over-the-counter drugs like ibuprofen, aspirin, and naproxen can reduce the vaccine’s effectiveness by lowering antibody production.

Why this happens: these anti-inflammatory drugs block the COX-2 enzyme, which supports the production of B-lymphocytes—the white blood cells that make protective antibodies.

That said, if you’re on one of those drugs by prescription, especially for some reason other than pain relief, then do check with your doctor/pharmacist to decide the best course of action.

None of this should affect you getting your flu shot unless your own doctor says otherwise; influenza (of various kinds) still causes thousands of hospitalizations annually in the US alone, especially among children, older adults, and those with chronic conditions, so maximizing vaccine protection matters.

Read in full: Why you shouldn’t take pain relievers after your flu shot

Related: Before You Reach For That Tylenol…

The anti-cholesterol drugs that reduce dementia risk?

Some people have a genetic variant that that affects the same proteins targeted by cholesterol-lowering medications such as statins and ezetimibe, and researchers (Dr. Liv Nordestgaard et al.) have looked at data from 1,056,654 people, discovered that this is associated with a much lower risk of developing dementia—up to 80% lower.

Dr. Nordestgaard and her team say that since these genetic variants lowering cholesterol appear to significantly reduce dementia risk, this suggests that maintaining low cholesterol—naturally or through medication—could be protective against dementia. This would make sense, given that high cholesterol can damage brain health by contributing to atherosclerosis and the formation of small blood clots that impair circulation and oxygen supply to the brain. And as we often say at 10almonds: what’s good for your heart, is good for your brain.

All that said, while genetics point to a very strong link, the research does not prove that cholesterol-lowering drugs themselves directly prevent dementia; long-term randomized clinical trials are needed to confirm this.

An additional thing to keep in mind is that statins and other drugs also often have lots of unwanted side effects (something we’ve written about before at 10almonds), which topic has not been a consideration of this study.

Read in full: Popular cholesterol drugs may help prevent dementia

Related: Statins: His & Hers?

Take care!