Scientists Reveal The Reason Why Your Hair Turns Grey As You Age

NEW YORK, April 22: Scientists have discovered the reason why human hair loses its colour and turns grey as we age, reported New York Post. According to a team of scientists, melanocyte stem cells become stuck inside the hair follicle and are unable to produce pigment.

The findings were published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed, scientific journal Nature. For the study, scientists spent two years tracking individual cells in the fur of mice in order to determine how hair turns grey and closely examined the melanocyte stem cells known to control hair colour. They used special scans and lab techniques to study the cell-ageing process.

They discovered that the pigment-producing part of a stem cell would change as the mice would mature. "The melanocyte stem cell system fails earlier than other adult stem cell populations, which leads to hair greying in most humans and mice," the study says.

As hair ages, sheds and grows back, melanocyte stem cells get stuck in a part of the hair follicle called the hair follicle bulge. As the stem cells stop roaming around the follicle and become fixed, they fail to mature into fully-fledged melanocytes. The hair then turns grey, white or silver because no pigment is being produced.

Mayumi Ito, the author of the study and dermatology professor at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine, said, “This is a really big step forward in understanding why we grey.”

He explained, "It is the loss of chameleon-like function in melanocyte stem cells that may be responsible for greying and loss of hair colour."

The researchers also suggested that if their findings hold true for humans, they could open up a potential way to reverse or prevent grey hair.

The study's lead investigator, Qi Sun, said, ''The newfound mechanisms raise the possibility that the same fixed-positioning of melanocyte stem cells may exist in humans. If so, it presents a potential pathway for reversing or preventing the greying of human hair by helping jammed cells to move again between developing hair follicle compartments.”

China Records World's First Human Death From H3N8 Bird Flu: WHO

BEIJING, April 12: A Chinese woman has become the first person to die from a type of bird flu that is rare in humans, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said, but the strain does not appear to spread between people.

The 56-year-old woman from the southern province of Guangdong was the third person known to have been infected with the H3N8 subtype of avian influenza, the WHO said in a statement late on Tuesday.

All of the cases have been in China, with the first two cases reported last year.

The Guangdong Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported the third infection late last month but did not provide details of the woman's death.

The patient had multiple underlying conditions, said the WHO, and a history of exposure to live poultry.

Sporadic infections in people with bird flu are common in China where avian flu viruses constantly circulate in huge poultry and wild bird populations.

Samples collected from a wet market visited by the woman before she became ill were positive for influenza A(H3), said the WHO, suggesting this may have been the source of infection.

Though rare in people, H3N8 is common in birds in which it causes little to no sign of disease. It has also infected other mammals.

There were no other cases found among close contacts of the infected woman, the WHO said.

"Based on available information, it appears that this virus does not have the ability to spread easily from person to person, and therefore the risk of it spreading among humans at the national, regional, and international levels is considered to be low," the WHO said in the statement.

Monitoring of all avian influenza viruses is considered important given their ability to evolve and cause a pandemic.

Delhi Reports 980 Fresh Covid Cases, Positivity Rate Nearly 26 Percent

NEW DELHI, April 11: Delhi logged 980 fresh COVID-19 cases on Tuesday with a positivity rate of 25.98 per cent, meaning one in every four people tested returned a positive result, according to data shared by the city government's Health department.
The national capital also reported two more Covid deaths, the bulletin said.

However, it added that COVID-19 was not the primary cause of death in one of the fatalities while the case sheet on the other death was awaited.

Delhi logs 699 fresh Covid cases, 4 deaths; positivity rate at 21.15%

NEW DELHI, April 9: A day ago, the city saw as many as 535 fresh infections, and 733 on April 7, the highest in more than seven months.

On Sunday, Delhi's daily Covid tally climbed to 699, reported news agency ANI citing the Delhi government's data, according to which the total number of cases in the national capital was at 2,014,637. Also, in the past 24 hours, the city logged as many as four related fatalities, with the overall death count rising to 26,540, as per the data.

The positivity rate, meanwhile, was recorded at 21.15%, with as many as 3,305 tests conducted in the past 24 hours. In the same period, 467 people recovered from Covid or were discharged, taking the total recovery count to 1,985,637.

The number of active patients, on the other hand, stood at 2,460. Recoveries, deaths and active cases account for 98.56%, 1.32%, and 1.32% of the overall infection tally.

On April 8, Delhi added 535 fresh Covid infections to its tally, and 733 on April 7, in what was the highest single-day rise in months. In fact, in a 7-day period from March 30 to April 6, the city reported more than 3,000 (3,069) infections in total.

In recent days, daily Covid cases have been on the rise across the country. A few states have brought back the mask mandate, and on April 10 and 11, mock drills will be held in hospitals to check their preparedness.

At 26%, Big Jump In Covid Positivity Rate In Delhi, 509 New Cases

NEW DELHI, April 5: Delhi today reported 509 fresh Covid cases, however the positivity rate (confirmed cases every 100 tests) has zoomed to 26 per cent from 15.64% a day before.

The positivity rate is taken as an indicator of how fast the disease is spreading through the community.

With the new cases, the city's infection tally has increased to 20,12,064. The data showed that 1,918 Covid tests were conducted on Tuesday.

Earlier today, city Mayor Shelly Oberoi said all civic-run hospitals are "fully prepared" to deal with the coronavirus situation and appealed to people not to panic.

"The situation is fully under control and people should not panic. Our hospitals, doctors and staff are all equipped to handle the situation," said Ms Oberoi, adding the Delhi government is making arrangements and the MCD too is "fully prepared".

The Delhi government is keeping an eye on the rise in Covid cases in the national capital and is "prepared to face any eventuality", Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said last week.

Delhi has witnessed an increase in the number of fresh Covid cases over the last few days amid a sharp rise in the figure of H3N2 influenza cases in the country.

The number of fresh cases had seen a decline over the last few months in Delhi, and it had dropped to zero on January 16, the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic.

A total of 4,435 fresh COVID-19 infections were reported across the country in the last 24 hours, a significant jump from Tuesday's tally of 3038 cases, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday. It is the highest single-day rise in the last nearly six months, the ministry said.

India's active Covid caseload currently stands at 23,091 with a daily positivity rate of 3.38 per cent, the ministry said.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued revised guidelines for Covid in the wake of the surge of cases in the past week across the country.

India Records 4,435 Covid Cases In 24 Hours, Highest Since September-End

NEW DELHI, April 5: India on Wednesday recorded 4,435 new COVID-19 infections, the biggest single-day jump in 163 days (five months and 13 days), while the number of active cases increased to 23,091, according to Union health ministry data.
A total of 4,777 cases were recorded on September 25 last year.

With the fresh cases, India's COVID-19 tally climbed to 4.47 crore (4,47,33,719). The death count increased to 5,30,916 with 15 deaths, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Four deaths were reported from Maharashtra; one death each was reported from Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Puducherry and Rajasthan; and four were reconciled by Kerala.

At 23,091, the active cases now comprise 0.05 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.76 per cent, according to the health ministry website.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 3.38 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 2.79 per cent.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,79,712, while the case fatality rate stood at 1.19 per cent.

According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.