1: Origin of the claim The claim that people with long white hair are less likely to get cancer originated from an article that claimed Harvard researchers found a lower risk of cancer in mice with long white hair.
2: Actual study However, the study was not conducted by Harvard University but by Japanese researchers on mice.
The researchers found that when DNA is damaged, melanocyte stem cells in the hair follicles do not die but instead convert into mature melanocytes, leading to stem cell depletion.
Mature melanocytes cannot continue to produce melanin, resulting in gray or white hair.
3: No connection to cancer .It is important to note that this study solely explores the mechanism behind hair graying and has no relation to cancer.
