Does Stress Cause Grey Hair. Through many attempts and experiments they have finally come up with a definite answer. A new study provides scientific evidence to support the idea that stress can cause a persons hair to turn gray. However when mice lacking immune cells still showed hair graying researchers turned to the hormone cortisol. Scientists dont know exactly why some people go gray early but genes play a large role.
Heres the simple answer. Stress cant cause hair to turn grey overnight because hair is pigmented in the follicle and it takes three to nine months for that hair to go from follicle to the hair on top of your head. Ya-Chieh Hsu of Harvard University make this very clear. Infographic depicting how stem cells are depleted in response to stress causing hair to turn gray in mice. However when mice lacking immune cells still showed hair graying researchers turned to the hormone cortisol. But if youre middle-aged and your hair is falling out and regenerating more quickly because of stress its possible that the hair that grows in will be gray instead of its original color.
Rather researchers found that genotoxic stress in the form of ultraviolet light and chemicals damages our DNA and could cause the depletion of those melanocyte stem cells.
A recent paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature may put some of these arguments to rest. Scientists dont know exactly why some people go gray early but genes play a large role. Researchers found that in mice the type of nerve involved in the fight-or-flight response causes. The team first hypothesized that stress causes an immune attack on pigment-producing cells. Yes stress can definitely be a factor in hair going gray. A new 2020 study from Harvard University observed the link between stress and gray hair.