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Stress, a factor behind gray hair

Scientists have long understood that there is a link between stress and gray hair. Researchers at Harvard University in the United States have now conducted extensive studies to find the exact mechanism behind stress and gray hair.

The researchers initially looked at cortisol, the ‘stress hormone’ that surges in the body when a person experiences a stressful situation. Cortisol has an important bodily function, and the prolonged presence of heightened cortisol is linked to a host of negative health outcomes. However, scientists could not directly link cortisol to gray hair

Further research revealed another potential culprit, the sympathetic nervous system, which is also associated with the body’s ‘fight or flight’ response under stress. These nerves are all over the body, including making inroads to each hair follicle. Digging deeper the scientists found that chemicals released during the stress response — specifically norepinephrine — causes pigment producing stem cells to activate prematurely, depleting the hair’s color ‘reserves’.

The researchers found that after just a few days, all of the pigment-regenerating stem cells were lost. Once they are gone, the body cannot regenerate pigments anymore and the damage is permanent.

But stress is not the only, or even primary, reason that most people get gray hair. In most cases, it is simply due to genetics. Gray hair is caused by loss of melanocytes (pigment cells) in the hair follicle. This happens as we age and, unfortunately, there is no treatment that can restore these cells and the melanin pigment they produce. Genetic factors determine when you go gray.

That does not mean that environmental factors — such as stress — do not play a role. Smoking, for instance, is a known risk factor for premature graying. Other contributing factors to premature graying include deficiencies in protein, vitamin B-12, copper, and iron as well as aging due in part to an accumulation of oxidative stress.

Changes you can pursue to delay premature grays include eating a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids such as walnuts and fatty fish, not spending too much time in the skin-damaging and hair-damaging ultraviolet light of the sun, and taking vitamin B-12 and vitamin B-6 supplements.

By understanding precisely how stress affects stem cells that regenerate pigment, the researchers have laid the groundwork for understanding how stress affects other tissues and organs in the body. Understanding how our tissues change under stress is the first critical step towards eventual treatment that can halt or reverse the detrimental impact of stress.

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