The study rumored to be conducted by Harvard University claims that growing gray hair will lead to a lower risk of cancer, is it true or not?

The answer is no, the so-called gray hair to reduce the risk of cancer rumors of academic research is not Harvard University. Rather, Japanese researchers in 2009 published a mouse experiment, the study found that after DNA damage, melanin stem cells in mice will be converted into mature melanocytes, and then let the color of hair gray.

The story quoted the head of Harvard's dermatology department interpreting the study as suggesting that the mechanism by which gray hair turns gray allows for a lower risk of cancer. But he was comparing the effects on the body of melanin stem cells continuing as stem cells or turning into melanocytes, not comparing the risk of cancer in people with dark hair and those with gray hair, which are fundamentally different. And the author of the story is not a Harvard researcher, just a staffer at the Daily Mail.

The mechanism of cancer is actually very complex, a cancer-causing factor may lead to a variety of cancers, such as smoking may lead to lung cancer, esophageal cancer and other cancers. At present, the causes of cancer can be mainly categorized into external factors (environmental factors), such as chemical, physical and biological cancer-causing factors; and internal factors (self-factors), such as mental, endocrine, nutritional and immune status.