Dr S P Pradhan
Premature greying affects your personality overwhelmed by stress. Stress causing rapid depletion of pigment producing stem cells affected by oxidative damage, stress hormonal effect along with inflammation contributes to greying of hair.
What gives normal color to hair?
Melanin gives normal color to hair. Hair color producing pigments are melanocytes. Melanocytes originate from stem cells like melanoblasts.
Stress related Factors Affecting the Greying of Hair?
1.Stress related Norepinephrine hormone overstimulation:
- Norepinephrine is secreted during stress. Stress overstimulates the sympathetic nervous system causing excessive release of epinephrine. A 2020 Harvard study also confirmed that stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, which triggers release of norepinephrine hormone.
- This in turn cause stimulation of stem cells that regenerate pigment-producing cells (melanocytes) in hair follicles.
- As these stem cells are depleted, new hairs grow without pigment, i.e., grey or white hair. 2. Oxidative stress:
- Stress cause damage to the DNA, cell protein of hair cells leading to loss of pigments.Smoking causes additive damage potentially aggravating greying of hair. 3.Stress hormonal effect: Stress hormone like cortisol cause rapid turn over of melanoblasts causing loss of pigment producing cells. Cortisol also aggravate the metabolic disease like diabetes that potentiates greying of hair. Whether it is temporary or Permanent?
- Partial greying of hair strands that reversed after the stressor was removed.
- But once a hair follicle permanently loses its pigment-producing cells like melanocytes; the greying is irreversible for that strand. Chronic Inflammation: Stress causes low grade chronic inflammation affecting young melanocytes or hair follicular cells. This in turn damages the ability to produce the hair pigments. Gradually it leads to depletion of pigments leading to greying or white hair.
Preventive Management:
- Relaxing exercise like meditation, deep breathing exercise, proper sleep. A 7 to 9 hour sleep is needed for reliving stress.
- Eat a balanced diet rich in antioxidants like fruits and vegetables. Green vegetables and fruits not only rich in antioxidants and anti -inflammatory properties but also protect from metabolic diseases like diabetes and life threating cancers.
- Avoid smoking as it causes severe oxidative stress.
