Research Confirms That Stress Causes Gray Hair

People have long assumed that stress causes gray hair. However, little scientific evidence has been provided for this. Now a research team at Harvard University has proved that this is not a myth but a truth.

Throughout history, several legends have emerged that mention stress causing gray hair. The myth created by Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France who died in the guillotine during the French Revolution, is one of the most famous. It is said that her hair turned gray in just one night.

Another famous legend relates to Thomas Moore, who was said to have undergone a significant change in appearance in just one night. Many people have actually ever seen someone else go through a personal crisis and then look like a parent. We now know this to be true: stress causes gray hair.

Stress causes gray hair

The research team at Harvard University in the United States, led by Dr. Ya-Chieh Hsu, published the study in the  journal Nature . In it, they showed after several tests and studies they did that they came to the conclusion that stress can indeed cause gray hair.

Most interestingly, the neurologist team not only confirmed that stress directly affects hair graying, but they  also identified the mechanism that causes it. This is a huge breakthrough.

Stress is a global problem. Many studies have been conducted on this phenomenon in recent decades. Stress has been linked to many ailments and diseases. The change in physical appearance seemed obvious, but this study explores the matter thoroughly, linking the scores together.

A revealing experiment

To arrive at this finding, Harvard researchers conducted experiments on mice. They looked for a possible effect of stress on hair graying and also observed various physiological changes caused by anxiety.

The researchers started by causing a state of stress in the mice. To do this, they spiked mice with a substance called resiniferatoxin. This substance stimulates the production of cortisol, also known as stress hormone.

The experts  started with the hypothesis that stress causes an immunological attack on the animal’s body  and this eventually ended up affecting the pigment-causing cells. They thought this was its way of working. However, they were surprised when some mice no longer had immune cells, but they still turned gray.

Faced with this situation, the researchers decided to remove the adrenal gland of some mice to prevent them from producing cortisol. They then exposed the mice to stressful situations and something unexpected happened: the mice still got gray hair.

Why is this happening?

A group of neurologists began to eliminate opportunities and eventually focused on the sympathetic nervous system. It is responsible for regulating the body’s escape response. The creative nerves of this system branch out and occur in all the hair follicles of the skin.

After several studies, the researchers found that when a person faces a stressful situation, these nerves begin to release a chemical called noradrenaline. Later, the stem cells absorb this substance, which regenerates the hair pigment and are present near these nerves.

Noradrenaline causes excessive activation of such cells. Next, the  same cell produces more pigment than is needed and consumes it to the end of storage. When this happens, the cells will not be able to regenerate. So they use a store of pigment and the hair starts to grow white, without pigment.

What does this mean

The researchers showed that this situation is irreversible. When a person loses these stem cells, he has no going back: the effect is permanent. The study revealed that stress causes gray hair and found out exactly what is happening, but researchers are not yet sure why.

However, this is a huge breakthrough, as it has led researchers to propose new research projects on the effects of stress on various tissues in the body. This research will help to figure out a way to understand stress and its effects in a much more holistic way.

This is a step towards a future where researchers can develop methods by which we can reverse the effects of stress. Currently, the study director has recommended living in peace and less stress. It is clear that over-care only has negative effects.