Seung Hwan Paik, Sihyeok Jang, Hee-Kyung Joh, Chun Soo Lim, BeLong Cho, Ohsang Kwon, Seong Jin Jo
DOI: 10.2340/00015555-2974

The association of hair greying with metabolic syndrome is not well known, while association with obesity and coronary artery disease has been suggested. A cross-sectional study was conducted to identify an association between premature hair greying and metabolic risk factors. Of the 1,929 young healthy subjects (1,067 men and 862 women), 704 (36.4%) were categorized in the premature hair greying group. Waist circumference (means of non-premature hair greying vs. premature hair greying, 74.3 vs. 76.3 cm; p < 0.001), systolic (109.2 vs. 111.7 mmHg; p < 0.001) and diastolic (65.0 vs. 66.2 mmHg; p = 0.003) blood pressures, and fasting blood sugar (90.8 vs. 91.6 mg/dl; p = 0.013) were higher and serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (68.1 vs 65.4 mg/dl; p < 0.001) was lower in premature hair greying group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that metabolic risk factors ≥ 2 was independently associated with premature hair greying after controlling for confounding factors (odds ratio 1.725; p = 0.036). The present study revealed an association between premature hair greying and metabolic risk factors.