A new study in rats has suggested that the old wives’ tale that stress causes grey hair is scientifically true.
Biochemist Professor Luke O’Neill explained that we all know “anecdotally” that stress can cause grey hair, but there is not much scientific evidence.
A study in NatureHowever, they discovered that there could be a real explanation for why our hair changes with our emotions.
“The paper actually begins with an analysis of a 1902 report published in the British Medical Journal, in which a young woman witnessed a tragedy,” Professor O’Neill said. Show me the science.
“She saw someone being murdered in a horrible way and she turned grey.”
He Nature The study “subjected the rats to quite a bit of stress,” Professor O’Neill explained, and monitored any physical changes.
“There were three types of stress to make it scientifically robust,” he said.
Gray hair and stress
The researchers measured “restraint stress” (when they feel very uncomfortable), “unpredictable stress” (when they get a scare) and “mild discomfort.”
“After a few days, the rats started to turn grey,” Professor O’Neill explained.
A stress-inducing injection of capsaicin worked on an empty stomach, turning rats gray within five days.
To understand why his hair turned grey, Professor O’Neill explained that melanocytes affect the pigmentation of our skin and hair through melanin.
“There are two types of melanocytes,” he explained. “The one that produces the pigment and the stem cells that enter the skin and become melanocytes.
“[Researchers] Stress in rats was found to have a particular impact on stem cells.
“Melanocyte replacement was being compromised by stress.”
Stress appears to affect neurons in the skin, releasing a neurotransmitter that puts stem cells under pressure, eventually resulting in gray hair.
Professor O’Neill went into more detail about the causes of grey hair (such as genetics) and the scientific basis of baldness:
