Scientists Think They Know How Stress Causes Gray Hair
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Acute stress induces hyperactivation of the sympathetic nervous system to release large amounts of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine. Norepinephrine drives rapid depletion of melanocyte stem cells and hair graying. Because stress affects the whole body, researchers first had to narrow down which specific systems were involved. The team first hypothesized that stress causes an immune attack on pigment-producing cells. However, when mice lacking immune cells still showed hair graying, researchers turned to the hormone cortisol.
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Unless you dye, your hair eventually loses its color, usually beginning in your 30s or 40s. Though going gray is natural, many people dread it because of society’s notions about aging. Here’s what researchers know about how and why graying hair happens.
Gray Hair Can Return to Its Original Color--and Stress Is Involved, of Course - Scientific American
Gray Hair Can Return to Its Original Color--and Stress Is Involved, of Course.
Posted: Tue, 22 Jun 2021 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Healthy Aging
To connect stress with hair graying, the researchers started with a whole-body response and progressively zoomed in on individual organ systems, cell-to-cell interaction, and, eventually, all the way down to molecular dynamics. The process required a variety of research tools along the way, including methods of manipulating organs, nerves, and cell receptors. Hair growth demands lots of energy and while strands are growing, cells receive signals from the body, including stress hormones, the authors write.
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Other studies show that people with higher levels of reported stress are more likely to have gray hair. And research also shows that stress can speed up your body’s natural aging processes, including changes in hair color. These studies don’t show a direct cause-and-effect relationship. But they further support the link between stress and gray hair.
“Avoid tight hairstyles and hair accessories that pull on the hair and handle your hair with care to minimise breakage and damage. A range of maladies that include diabetes and cancer have been linked to chronic stress. It may even take a toll on your skin, contributing to breakouts and fine lines. So it won’t surprise you that emotional stress can also wreak havoc on your hair, which may manifest as either stress hair loss or gray hair.
Can Stress Make You Sick? - PsychCentral.com
Can Stress Make You Sick?.
Posted: Tue, 17 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Harvard Health Publishing
The investigators immediately noticed that some gray hairs naturally regain their original color, which had never been quantitatively documented, Picard says. However, mice without adrenal glands still showed stress-related graying. Noradrenaline is also the main neurotransmitter of the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the “fight-or-flight” reaction in response to stress.
With fewer stem cells to turn into pigment cells or melanocytes, less melanin can be produced. Researchers found that the norepinephrine from sympathetic nerves causes the stem cells to activate excessively. The stem cells all convert into pigment-producing cells, prematurely depleting the reservoir. Using florescent labelling, the researchers observed the stem cells change to melanocytes and migrate away from their reserve in the hair follicle. With no remaining stem cells, no new pigment cells can be made, and any new hair becomes gray, then white. In the hair follicle, certain stem cells act as a reservoir of pigment-producing cells.
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The scalp contains a natural oil called sebum, which helps keep the skin lubricated. Sometimes these glands work overtime and produce too much oil, leading to a greasy scalp. Greasy hair can look dull, limp, and lifeless, and it may be more difficult to manage. To treat greasy hair, try washing with a gentle shampoo that is specially formulated to control sebum. As they age, men tend to lose the hair on top of their head, which eventually leaves a horseshoe-shaped ring of hair around the sides. It's caused by genes from both parents – the idea that men take after their mother's father is a myth.
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Zinc pyrithione, an ingredient in many dandruff shampoos, can help a drying scalp even if you don’t have dandruff and may promote hair growth. Early evidence suggests that fish oil supplements can promote hair growth. Normally, our hormones change with age, leading our hair to shed more and grow back more slowly. That stress is prompted by an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants in your body that can damage tissue, proteins, and DNA, Kasey Nichols, NMD, an Arizona physician and a health expert at Rave Reviews, told Healthline.
But stress isn’t the only — or even the primary — reason that most people get gray hair. Harvard’s Office of Technology Development has filed a provisional patent application on the lab’s findings and is engaging prospective commercial partners who may be interested in clinical and cosmetic applications. Ideally, a follow-up prospective study would be next, Picard said. Researchers would follow participants for months, recording their experiences and measuring their stress hormones via saliva before analyzing their hair strands. Even indirect stress, such as malnutrition, thyroid issues, hormonal imbalance and anemia, may impact hair pigmentation, he said.
History is replete with anecdotes, more and less verified, of individuals whose hair turned white or gray due to stress. Reducing stress in your life is a good goal, but it won’t necessarily turn your hair to a normal color. The results were compared with each volunteer’s stress diary, in which individuals were asked to review their calendars and rate each week’s level of stress. The new Harvard research is only a mouse study, so replicating the same results in a human study would be necessary to strengthen the findings. It’s an important bodily function, but the long-term presence of heightened cortisol is linked to a host of negative health outcomes. Marie Antoinette’s hair was said to have turned the color of snow overnight while she awaited the guillotine during the French Revolution.
“To go from the highest level to the smallest detail, we collaborated with many scientists across a wide range of disciplines, using a combination of different approaches to solve a very fundamental biological question,” Zhang said. Live Science is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Stress is a normal reaction to everyday pressures, but it can become unhealthy when it upsets a person's day-to-day function, according to the American Psychological Association. 2018 research shows that regular physical activity may reduce stress and stress-related risk factors.
It's fueled by dihydrotestosterone, a byproduct of the male hormone testosterone. In female-pattern baldness, the hair loss is different – it thins throughout the top of the scalp, leaving the hair in front intact. Some people consider gray hair as something that makes them look distinguished; for others, it's a reminder that they're getting older. However you feel about it, gray or white hair is pretty much inevitable with age (if you're fortunate enough to still have hair in your later years). In short, yes, stress can turn your hair gray — but not in the way you might think. Whether you're dealing with acute stress, chronic stress, or even psychological stress, there's a chance that it can be the cause of your graying hair.
Your hair color is determined by pigment-producing cells called melanocytes. New melanocytes are made from melanocyte stem cells that live in the hair follicle at the base of your hair strand. The research team, led by Dr. Ya-Chieh Hsu of Harvard University, used mice to examine stress and hair graying.
"Understanding the mechanisms that allow 'old' gray hairs to return to their 'young' pigmented states could yield new clues about the malleability of human aging in general and how it is influenced by stress," Picard says. They also note the need for more research to understand interactions between the nervous system and stem cells in different tissues and organs. This will aid future research on the impact of stress on the body and the development of new treatments.
And some degree of oxidative stress is a natural part of life. Reducing stress in your life is a good goal, but it won't necessarily turn your hair to a normal color. The results were compared with each volunteer's stress diary, in which individuals were asked to review their calendars and rate each week's level of stress.
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