Stress is making your hair turn grey: Study

Scientists have discovered why does stress speed up the process of hair turning grey in a recent study conducted by Harvard University.

The researchers say they might have also discovered a potential way of preventing it from happening without using the dye.

The study highlights how stem cell depletes throughout the body due to ageing.

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Researchers discovered that in the case of mice, ''permanent damaged is caused to the pigment which regenerates stem cells in the hair follicle by the kind of nerve involved in their fight-or-flight mechanism''.

For the research, the micewere restrained for four hours a day and five days a week.

Combinations of rapid change in lighting, damp bedding and tilting their cages were done in the research.

Initially, scientists suspected this triggered an immune attack on cells which produced hair pigment.

But they had to rule it out when the hair of mice without an immunestill turned grey.

Eventually, the researchersdiscovered that it was stress that caused the sympathetic nervous system to pump out a hormone called noradrenaline.

This hormone transforms a huge number of stem cells into melanocytes and makes them drift away from the hair follicle due to which there are insufficient or no stem cells left.

It is because of this reason that hair does not regenerate.

This study proved that intense stress damaged the stem cells that control the colour of hair and skin.