That’s not something new! The idea that stress and traumatic events boost the growth of white hair is known everywhere. Yet this belief has never been justified by science. But, now, it is. An experiment conducted on laboratory mice has enabled Brazilian and American researchers to establish this link. These mice were exposed to different stress factors. The result? Each stress factor led to the appearance of white or grey hairs on the animals.
The researchers then focused on the melanocytic cells located at the base of the hair follicles, space from which hair grows. These cells were found to be linked to neurons in the sympathetic nervous system. The neurons release the norepinephrine neurotransmitter during times of stress or fear. Once this system is activated, the neurotransmitter acts on the melanocyte cells responsible for hair color. Once we run out of stock for melanocyte cells, the creation of pigments in the follicular bulbs is no longer possible. As a result, the hair produced by the follicle will be permanently white.
All of this is pretty technical. To defend their hypothesis and strengthen their arguments, the scientists treated the mice for high blood pressure in order to block the norepinephrine action. And guess what? The appearance of gray or white hairs stopped. Now that you know it all, are you still going to stress about something? Mmmm, I don’t think you wanna have these embarrassing white baby hairs here and there!