Can you actually get old and develop gray hair if you are ill for long periods of time?

Gray hair: Yes. Persistent illness often leads both to nutritional deficiencies and to side-effects from medications. A common example is patients who have cancer where their chemotherapy causes severe hair damage. Think of chronic illness as a process that accelerates aging. Focusing on a healthy diet with routine vitamin supplementation is probably the best thing one can do in this situation.

YES. Reasons to gray: Early. 1. Genetics. 2. Age 3. Stressors. The age of initial graying is largely a matter of genetics. However stressors such as nutritional deficiencies, traumatic head injuries, low vitamin b levels, zinc deficiency, severe illness, surgery and marked emotional stress may impact earlier depigmentation in people who are already predisposed to gray hair. In general – genetics plays the biggest role.