How stress causes gray hair National Institutes of Health NIH

Table Of Content

• healthy habits to live by
• About NIH Research Matters
• For some people, some of their hair can naturally go back to its original color.
• What Are Risk Factors for Premature Gray Hair?
• Is stress making my hair turn gray? A study shines new light on a 'gray' area.
• What color is your tongue? What's healthy, what's not?

“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.

Does Stress Cause Gray Hair? Here's What the Experts Have to Say - Vogue

Does Stress Cause Gray Hair? Here's What the Experts Have to Say.

Posted: Thu, 08 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

healthy habits to live by

"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.

About NIH Research Matters

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.

For some people, some of their hair can naturally go back to its original color.

“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.

Studies have cited DNA damage and a buildup of hydrogen peroxide in the follicles as possible causes of this disruption in melanin production. Without melanin, the new hair that grows in has no pigment, which makes it appear gray, white, or silver. "Hair that has already grown out of the follicle won't change color due to stress or any other external factors," board-certified trichologist Helen Reavey says. In the study, researchers provoked a stress response in the mice.

What Are Risk Factors for Premature Gray Hair?

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.

Is stress making my hair turn gray? A study shines new light on a 'gray' area.

Without stem cells left to create new pigment cells, new hair turns gray or white. In experiments on laboratory mice, the researchers found that hair-raising experiences cause sympathetic nerves to release norepinephrine, which causes excessive activation of stem cells. Those cells migrate from the storehouse and become pigment cells or move to the skin.

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.

What color is your tongue? What's healthy, what's not?

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.

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.

Some people start to go gray young, known as premature graying. “We know that peripheral neurons powerfully regulate organ function, blood vessels, and immunity, but less is known about how they regulate stem cells,” Chiu said. After systematically eliminating different possibilities, researchers honed in on the sympathetic nerve system, which is responsible for the body’s fight-or-flight response. The study, published in Nature, advances scientists’ knowledge of how stress can impact the body.

What's Causing My Gray Hairs at 26? - InStyle

What's Causing My Gray Hairs at 26?.

Posted: Mon, 15 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

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.

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.