JAKARTA - Many people believe that stress can cause gray hair. Whether because of work or family matters, these two stress factors are believed to be the cause of gray hair.

But actually, this belief is true. Although until now there has been little research linking stress and gray hair. However, a 202 study in mice found that the body's response to acute stress played an important role in changing the hair color to gray.

Melanosit's mother cell, which lives in the hair follicle, precisely at the bottom of the hair, produces melanocytes. Hair color is determined by melanocytes that produce melanin pigments.

As we age, melanocyte stem cells gradually disappear. When your hair grows back from follicles that have lost these cells, the pigment or color decreases.

Reporting from the Psychcentral page, Tuesday, October 3, according to researchers, stress causes the stress hormone norepinephrine to be released into the hair follicles. This causes the loss of melanocyte mother cells in mice. Without this parent cell, the new hair will turn gray or white.

In addition, when you are in a stressful situation, the body releases hormones that create a fight, flight, or freeze response. This response motivates a series of changes in the body, such as an increase in heart rate and respiratory rate, a straining muscle, sweat, increased metabolism, and blood pressure

These physical changes are useful when you need to react quickly in life-threatening situations. This response is used by predecessors who need energy explosions to fight or escape predators, such as sharp-stringed tigers. But this emergency response to stress is not always useful in a modern world full of daily stress triggers.

Then, can gray hair due to stress disappear? Research from 2020 shows that gray hair is a permanent effect of stress. After the melanocyte mother cell disappears, you can no longer regenerate pigment.

They also note the need for further research to understand the interaction between the nervous system and the parent cell in various tissues and organs. This will help future research on the impact of stress on the body and the development of new treatments.

Research shows that the body's response to stress plays an important role in turning hair gray. It's okay to feel stressed occasionally. But chronic or persistent stress can cause health problems, including headaches, ulcers, and digestive disorders.

Deep breath exercise, full attention, and regular exercise are several ways to help manage stress. You can also consider talking to a mental health expert if you want additional support in dealing with stress.


The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)