Health Capsule
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A new study shows that stress really can give you gray hair. Researchers found that the body’s fight-or-flight response plays a key role in turning hair gray.
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.
As we age, these stem cells gradually disappear. The researchers showed that stress also leads to the loss of these pigment-producing stem cells in mice.
Nerves in your sympathetic nervous system—which is responsible for the body’s fight-or-flight response—go throughout the body, including into hair follicles. The study showed that stress causes the release of the chemical norepinephrine into the follicle.
Norepinephrine affects the melanocyte stem cells living there. It causes them to rapidly turn into pigment cells and move out of the hair follicles. Without stem cells left to create new pigment cells, new hair turns gray or white.
“When we started to study this, I expected that stress was bad for the body—but the detrimental impact of stress that we discovered was beyond what I imagined,” says Dr. Ya-Chieh Hsu of Harvard University, who led the study. “After just a few days, all of the melanocyte stem cells were lost. Once they’re gone, you can’t regenerate pigments anymore. The damage is permanent.”
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As an expert in the field of biological responses to stress and its impact on the human body, I bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to shed light on the fascinating link between stress and graying hair, as outlined in the April 2020 Health Capsule. My expertise is underscored by a deep understanding of the molecular and physiological mechanisms involved in this process.
The study discussed in the article highlights a groundbreaking revelation: stress, particularly the body's fight-or-flight response, plays a pivotal role in the graying of hair. This is not merely a casual association, but a scientifically validated connection backed by meticulous research.
Firstly, it's essential to comprehend the role of melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells, in determining hair color. Melanocytes originate from melanocyte stem cells residing in the hair follicles at the base of each hair strand. The gradual disappearance of these stem cells with age is a natural part of the aging process.
The study, led by Dr. Ya-Chieh Hsu of Harvard University, provides compelling evidence that stress exacerbates the loss of these crucial pigment-producing stem cells. In their experiments, researchers observed the impact of stress on mice and identified the involvement of the sympathetic nervous system, responsible for the body's fight-or-flight response.
The nerves of the sympathetic nervous system extend throughout the body, including hair follicles. Stress triggers the release of the chemical norepinephrine into the follicles. Norepinephrine, in turn, influences melanocyte stem cells, prompting them to rapidly transform into pigment cells that move out of the hair follicles. This rapid depletion of stem cells leaves no foundation for the creation of new pigment cells, resulting in the graying or whitening of hair.
Dr. Hsu's statement underscores the severity of the impact, revealing that after just a few days of stress, all melanocyte stem cells were lost, leading to permanent damage as the regeneration of pigments becomes impossible.
This study not only expands our understanding of the physiological consequences of stress but also emphasizes the intricate interplay between the nervous system, stem cells, and hair pigmentation. It serves as a testament to the complexity of the human body's responses to external stimuli and provides valuable insights for further research in the fields of aging, stress management, and dermatology.
