Jun 23, 2021 18:10:00

Stress-induced gray hair may return to its original color when stress is relieved

As the results of a mouse study that 'noradrenaline released by stress affects melanocytes ', it is a real possibility that hair becomes white due to stress. A new study by scientists has revealed that 'whitened hair returns to its original color.'

Quantitative mapping of human hair graying and reversal in relation to life stress | eLife
https://elifesciences.org/articles/67437

It's true: Stress does turn hair gray (and it's reversible)

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-06-true-stress-hair-gray-reversible.html

Martin Picard and colleagues at Columbia University's Irving Medical Center picked hair from 14 volunteers and asked how stressed each of the few events they had experienced over the past year.

Then, when the change in hair color was measured using a method developed independently and compared with the events experienced by the volunteers, it became clear that the hair became white at the same time as the stressful day. It is said that it became.

Picard also said, 'In some cases, the stress was relieved,' said Picard, who found that five hairs from one volunteer had returned from white to their original color during the volunteer's vacation. It became clear that the color would change as a result of being volunteered. '

In addition, when a mathematical model was created by linking changes in hair protein and changes in hair color , the relationship between stress, hair color, and mitochondria was different from that seen in mouse experiments. It turned out that it was. 'The change in hair color is reversible and works by a different mechanism than in mice. Based on mathematical models, stress has a threshold, and when the stress level exceeds the threshold, Picard et al. I think my hair will turn white. '