Why do people in Europe have light skin color, and people in Africa brown, and sometimes almost black? Why do people who are related differ in the color of their eyes and hair? A component called melanin is responsible for these differences. What is Melanin? What is worth knowing about it and what functions does it perform in our body? In the article below, we will try to present the most important information about melanin.
Melanin is a pigment in the human body that, as we mentioned in the introduction, is primarily responsible for the color of our skin, hair and the color of the irises of our eyes.
The word melanin comes from the Greek word “molasses” which means “brown” or simply “dark”. This pigment occurs not only in humans, but also in many other animals, including those that we cannot see with the naked eye.
Melanin is not just one specific substance. There are many different melanins known, but humans have three of them. These are neuromelanin, pheomelanin, and eumelanin.
The first is a dye produced by nerve cells and is most often found in the so-called black substance and a bluish spot. It is a pigment that we still don’t know everything about. It is not known, among other things, what exactly role it plays in our body. Pheomelanin is yellowish-red in color, while eumelanin is black-brown, and is the most common melanin in the human body.
Melanin is produced by melanocytes, which are just a special type of cell. We can find most of them in one of the layers of the epidermis.
Melanin accumulates in the so-called melanosomes that can be transported to the higher layers of the skin. In order for the pigment to form, tyrosine, which is one of the amino acids known to us, is necessary first of all.
The production of melanin in the human body depends not only on the melanocytes themselves, but also on some external factors. The most important of these is UV radiation. The larger it is, the more melanin the body produces.
The increased secretion of melanin is also influenced by the alpha-melanotropic hormone, as well as adrenocorticotropin. In addition to them, minerals are also important, including iron and calcium, as well as vitamins A and B. We can support the synthesis of melanin by using the Double Action Serum for mature skin on a regular basis.
Melanin plays an extremely important role in the human body, fulfilling many different functions. One of the most important is to protect human skin against various factors, including UV radiation.
Ultraviolet radiation can be extremely dangerous to human skin as it can damage the DNA of cells. This, on the other hand, may even lead to the formation of dangerous neoplasms. Such functions of melanin are mainly related to its radiation scattering and absorption properties. Melanin, which is found in the eyeballs, plays a similar role. It is thanks to it that the eyesight is protected against the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays. In recent years, research has also been carried out on the ability of melanin to bind and neutralize heavy metals.
We have already partially answered this question, but it is worthwhile to deal with this issue in more detail. Of course, we can find melanin in human skin and hair, and what color they will eventually have depends both on how much melanin is in the cells, as well as on which of the above-mentioned melanin prevails.
The more eumelanin, the darker the hair or skin color, while the increased amount of pheomelanin is associated with blonde hair or lighter colored skin. The amount of melanin produced also decreases with age. Then we deal with graying of the hair. If we want to delay this process, it is worth reaching for the Set of cosmetics delaying graying of hair, which you can buy at Medonet Market at a promotional price.
Neuromelanin, as already mentioned, is primarily a component of the nervous system, but not only. In addition, it also occurs in the irises, responsible for their color, and in the adrenal glands.
There are many diseases and conditions that are associated with excess or reduced amounts of melanin in the human body. One of the best-known ailments of this type is albinism, also known as vitiligo. This is the state where the amount of melanin is particularly low, especially the skin and hair.
When it comes to the increased amount of melanin, it is worth paying attention to darker spots and freckles appearing on the body, which indicate that more melanin has accumulated in a given area.