Could pill to prevent gray hair put your health at risk?

Good news! L'Oreal is developing a pill that can actually prevent gray hair. Bad news: it won't work if you've already started going gray. It won't even work if you're going to go gray in five years. You've got swallow the pill everyday for at least ten years before your expected "gray date" (which can be anywhere from your 20's to your 40's to never). Then you'll have to keep taking the pill forever, or as long you want to stave away the hairy signs of aging.

We haven't even gotten to the really bad news yet. The pill might have some dangerous side effects. A few dermatologists have started voicing concerns over the impending pill, suggesting the possibility of health risks.

"How is it going to affect the skin and the organs?" Dr. Maria Colavincenzo said in an interview with MSNBC. "You can put anything in a capsule and market it as making your hair grow back and someone will buy it. I get upset about a vulnerable market - and people worried about going gray are going to go for this."

It's not clear what damage a pill like this could wreak on your body. And it could be years before anyone actually figures it out. Tests on the kind of long-term reactions doctors worry about could take decades.

In the meantime, the pill is slated to hit the market in 2015. That means a generation of today's teenagers could effectively eradicate gray hair from the planet. But at what cost?

The thought of taking a pill everyday for the rest of your life just to prevent a few grays seems extremely vain and highly suspect, but when you consider the time and money spent on touch-ups (laden with mystery chemicals), a pill doesn't seem so absurd. Factor in the plethora of anti-aging supplements on the market right now (Propecia for balding, Reversatrol for wrinkles), and why not add another pill to the regimen? L'Oreal's product is technically a fruit extract that combats the oxidant stress that causes graying. Seems like an easier, safer-sounding sell than, say, botulism injections in your face.

That's not to say doctors shouldn't be concerned about the potential for side effects of the supplement. But it's hard to find a pill to swallow these days that doesn't pose some kind of horrifying risk you never imagined was possible outside of horror movies.

Until we have some more facts on the risks and rewards of this futuristic pill, it's all speculation. In the meantime, let's introspect: Would you take a potentially risky pill for the rest of your life if meant no more grays?

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