In a recently published paper in Journal Nature Harvard Medical School researchers lead by Ya-Chieh Hsu have discovered that stress accelerates hair greying process. The Guardian science editor Ian Sample writing about the discovery states “because stress can be considered a form of accelerated aging, the discovery has raised hopes for treatments that can slow down or even halt normal age-related greying”. He speculates that “it could shed light on how ageing depletes stem cells throughout the body, and perhaps point the way to general anti-ageing therapies”.

Stress, through activation of the sympathetic nervous system, drives the loss of these melanocyte stem cells, the stem cells that are important in regenerating the pigment for the hair. And once the reservoir has been depleted, that’s it.

Ya-Chieh Hsu, Lead Researcher

Link to The Guardian article by Ian Sample: Stress speeds up hair greying process, science confirms. More details and link to original study can be found: Hyperactivation of sympathetic nerves drives depletion of melanocyte stem cells | Nature.

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