Tuesday, June 22, 2021

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


When I was out of work for more than a year and a half in the recession of 1990 - 1992, I started getting white hairs.  This stopped when I was able to get a job.

 

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-06/cuim-its062221.php

 

News Release 22-Jun-2021
Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Legend has it that Marie Antoinette's hair turned gray overnight just before her beheading in 1791.

Though the legend is inaccurate--hair that has already grown out of the follicle does not change color--a new study from researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons is the first to offer quantitative evidence linking psychological stress to graying hair in people.

And while it may seem intuitive that stress can accelerate graying, the researchers were surprised to discover that hair color can be restored when stress is eliminated, a finding that contrasts with a recent study in mice that suggested that stressed-induced gray hairs are permanent.
Columbia University Irving Medical Center


•••••


No comments:

Post a Comment