How Stress Can Affect Hair Loss And What To Do About It
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At the end of this stage, the follicle shrivels, the keratinocytes and melanocytes undergo programmed cell death (apoptosis), and the follicle enters a resting phase, during which the hair falls out. “Acute stress, particularly the fight-or-flight response, has been traditionally viewed to be beneficial for an animal’s survival. But in this case, acute stress causes permanent depletion of stem cells,” said postdoctoral fellow Bing Zhang, lead author of the study.
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Elaborate sympathetic innervation (magenta) around melanocyte stem cells (yellow). 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. "The cortisol causes the melanocytes to replicate more rapidly into pigment cells, permanently killing off all the melanin-producing cells from the dermal papilla, creating a white or gray hair fiber formation," Hill says.
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But the Harvard research has implications far beyond graying hair, with the hair color change merely one obvious sign of other internal changes as a result of prolonged stress. The researchers’ initial tests looked closely at cortisol, the “stress hormone” that surges in the body when a person experiences a “fight or flight” response. Going gray is a part of the natural aging process for some, but can stress contribute to the early onset? To find out once and for all if there's a connection, we tapped some experts.
Stress turns hair gray by triggering the body’s fight-or-flight response
Additionally, a 2020 study conducted on mice found the connection between stress and gray hair may be plausible. Researchers found that under acute stress, hair in mice turns gray because an overactive sympathetic nervous system (“fight or flight”) can lead to the rapid depletion of melanocyte stem cells, the cells involved in creating pigment. 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. The mice were exposed to three types of stress involving mild, short-term pain, psychological stress, and restricted movement.
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
As we grow older, black, brown, blonde or red strands lose their youthful hue. Although this may seem like a permanent change, new research reveals that the graying process can be undone—at least temporarily. "We've seen that people who are stressed two to three years report that they turn gray sooner," he says. At any given time, around 80 to 90 percent of the hairs on a person's head are in an active growth phase, which may last anywhere from two to seven years.
When your hair regains its color, stem cells called melanocytes are probably at work. We don’t know whether people have only a set number of melanocytes or can be replenished by stem cells from another part of the body. 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. Scientists experimenting with mice recently showed that three specific genes can help maintain stable numbers of melanin-producing cells.
Each slice, about 1/20th of a millimeter wide, represents about an hour of hair growth. 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. In the hair follicle, certain stem cells act as reservoirs of pigment-producing cells.
Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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. According to researchers, stress causes the stress hormone norepinephrine to release into hair follicles.
Stress as a Cause of Premature Graying of Hair - BioTechniques
Stress as a Cause of Premature Graying of Hair.
Posted: Mon, 10 Feb 2020 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Facts That Will Change Everything You Think About Going Gray
The trait may have evolved partly to help pre-humans stand out from each other and attract mates, and to help regulate body temperature by absorbing or reflecting sunlight. "If you use your eyes to look at a hair, it will seem like it's the same color throughout unless there is a major transition," Picard says. "Under a high-resolution scanner, you see small, subtle variations in color, and that's what we're measuring." 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.
Having established a link between stress and graying, the scientists then explored several potential causes. They first tested whether immune attack might be responsible for depleting melanocyte stem cells. But stressing mice with compromised immune systems still led to hair graying. The team then investigated the role of the stress hormone corticosterone, but altering its levels didn’t affect stress-related graying.
How stress turns hair gray - Science News Magazine
How stress turns hair gray.
Posted: Thu, 23 Jan 2020 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Ahead, trichologists help us understand if stress can really make your hair turn gray or if there are other factors at play here. Just like the reasons for graying, when a person starts to go gray depends on that individual. For instance, Caucasians are more likely to experience gray hair younger than Africans or Asians. With that being said, a 2006 study claims that by 50 years old, half of people have up to 50 percent grey hair.
“Gray hair tends to turn a dull yellowish color that can age you, so try keeping it shiny and bright.” You can do this by using toning, purple-colored shampoos. Popular options include Aveda’s Blue Malva Shampoo, Davines Alchemic Silver series, and Joico’s Color Endure Violet. A 2013 study showed that smokers were two and half times more likely to develop premature hair greying than non-smokers. Even indirect stress, such as malnutrition, thyroid issues, hormonal imbalance and anemia, may impact hair pigmentation, he said. These findings suggest “that there is a window of opportunity during which graying is probably much more reversible than had been thought for a long time,” says study co-author Ralf Paus, a dermatologist at the University of Miami.
In mice, stress can deplete hair-pigmenting cells known as melanocytes, according to a 2020 study in the journal Nature. Melanocytes are produced by stem cells that live in hair follicles. Research from 2020 suggests that graying hair is a permanent effect of stress. Once the melanocyte stem cells are lost, you can’t regenerate pigments anymore.
Noradrenaline is also the main neurotransmitter of the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the “fight-or-flight” reaction in response to stress. When graying begins usually is determined by genes, so if your mother or father became gray early, you may, too. If you are one of those people who don't find gray hair distinguished, you can easily cover your gray with one of the many different hair dyes available.
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