Study Confirms: Stress Produces Gray Hair

In a study carried out by a team of neurologists at Harvard University, it was shown that stress causes gray hair. This is related to the sympathetic nervous system. Read on to find out how this happens. 

The link between stress and gray hair has long been known,  but until now there has been no scientific evidence to support it. A group of neurologists at Harvard University has now succeeded in scientifically confirming this fact: stress produces gray hair.

There are many legends on this subject. The best known of these is probably the story of the French Queen Marie Antoinette, whose hair is said to have turned so white overnight during her imprisonment at the time of the French Revolution that it looked like an old woman. Similarly, Thomas More is said to have turned gray in just one night.

Indeed, there are many witnesses who can observe that a person gets white hair at a very difficult time in his personal life. We now know that there is indeed a link between stress and gray hair. 

Stress produces gray hair

A group of scientists from Harvard University (USA) led by Dr. Ya-Chieh Hsu published a very interesting study in the journal Nature . In it, the researchers point out that there is indeed a connection between stress and gray hair.

It is particularly interesting that the neurologists were not only able to demonstrate a direct influence of stress on hair color, but  also identified the underlying mechanism. So it is an important step forward in this area.

Many people worldwide suffer from stress, which is why numerous researchers are also devoting themselves to this topic. We know that stress has a wide variety of effects on our health, which can also be seen in our appearance. But the study quoted goes a little further and connects various points.

A very interesting study

To get the results they achieved, the scientists first experimented with mice. They tried to find out possible influencing factors that produce gray hair. Among other things, they examined various physiological changes that are triggered by stress and nervousness.

The researchers stressed the mice by giving them resiniferatoxin. This substance stimulates the production of cortisol, also known as the stress hormone.

The experts started from the hypothesis that  stress leads to an immune attack on the organism of the animals  and that this in turn affects the cells that are responsible for the production of color pigments. But they were very surprised to find that some mice had no immune cells at all, but still turned gray.

The researchers then stimulated the adrenal glands of some mice to prevent cortisol production. Then they put the test animals under stress again and discovered something astonishing again: The mice turned gray anyway!

Stress produces gray hair: how does it come about?

The neurologists then began to rule out various options and eventually focused on the sympathetic nervous system. Because this is responsible for regulating the fight or flight response of the organism. The nerves of this system branch out and are  also present in every hair follicle of the skin. 

After doing various researches, the scientists were finally able to find that these nerves release a chemical substance called norepinephrine in stressful situations. This substance is then taken up by specific stem cells that produce the hair pigments and are located in each of these nerves.

Norepinephrine leads to excessive cell activation. Therefore  , these cells produce more pigments than necessary and use up their reserves in the process. If this is the case, they can no longer produce new pigments and as a result the hair turns gray.

What do these research results mean?

The scientists point out that this situation is irreversible. This means that once these stem cells are lost, there is no going back. The gray hair remains gray. So this study was able to show why stress produces gray hair. However, it is not yet clear why this mechanism works.

But it is an important advance in this matter that has already launched new  research projects on stress and its effects on various body tissues. We can gradually better understand the consequences of stress and how the underlying mechanisms work.

This is an important step  in developing future methods of reducing the effects of stress. Until then, the head of the study recommends taking life a little more calmly. Because excessive worry has a negative impact on our health.