Why Does Hair Turn Grey - Is It All About Stress?

Why Does Hair Turn Grey - Is It All About Stress?

Technically, hair does NOT turn grey. Did you know that? Once a hair follicle produces hair, the color is what it is. If a single strand of hair starts out brown (or red or black or blond), it is never going to change its color (unless you color it). Your hair follicles produce less color as they age, so when hair goes through its natural cycle of dying and being regenerated, it's more likely to grow in as gray beginning after age 35. Genetics can play a role in when this starts. 

While being under stress can't change the color of individual strands of hair, stress can trigger a common condition called telogen effluvium, which causes hair to shed about three times faster than normal. The hair grows back, so the condition doesn't cause balding. But if you're middle-aged and your hair is falling out and regenerating more quickly because of stress, it's possible that the hair that grows in will be gray instead of its original color. That explains why a lot of US Presidents and other world leaders seem to get very grey while in office.

Illnesses that cause gray hair

The vast majority of people with grey hair have age-related greying. However, sometimes it can be caused by an illness, especially if it occurs at a particularly young age. 

Possibilities could be:

  • vitamin B12 deficiency

  • neurofibromatosis (also called Von Recklinghausen's disease): this group of inherited diseases causes tumors to grow along nerves and abnormal development of the bones and skin.

  • tuberous sclerosis: an uncommon, inherited condition that causes benign tumors in multiple organs (including the brain, heart, kidneys, eyes, lungs, and skin).

  • thyroid disease

  • vitiligo: this condition causes melanocytes (the cells at the base of hair follicles that produce color) to be lost or destroyed — perhaps because the immune system "misfires" and attacks the scalp rather than an infection.

  • alopecia areata: a disorder in which patches of hair may be suddenly lost, especially the colored (non-grey) hairs. This may lead to "overnight" greying because previously present grey or white hairs suddenly become more obvious. When hair growth resumes, it may be white or grey, but colored hair may eventually return.

When and how thoroughly your hair turns grey is influenced mostly by the genes you inherit from your parents. Though stress may play a role in the process, a better indicator of when you may start turning grey would be to ask your parents and grandparents when they did.

Source: Harvard Health Publishing

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