Stress causes many side effects on our body, some things that are said are not entirely true, but many others are. This is the case with the well-known myth that stress causes gray hair. It’s not so much like that. The most correct statement would be: stress can accelerate the appearance of gray hair.
Scientifically it is explained that hair turns gray due to the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide in our body. This is caused by the wear and tear of the hair follicles. In this way, the synthesis of melanin is blocked, which is responsible for giving color to our hair and skin. All human beings produce hydrogen peroxide in reasonable amounts, until they reach a certain age, when they begin to produce more. And it ends up turning out to be a hair bleach, which turns it gray.
Stress can be an accelerator of gray hair
The main factors that cause our hair to turn gray are age and genetics, since not all people appear gray at the same time. Thanks to scientific studies, it has been discovered that there are more causes for the appearance of gray hair in our hair, some of which may be the weather, pollutants and stress. The latter produces neurotransmitters. These are not harmful to humans until a certain point (adulthood, generally), when they produce DNA damage, which ends up affecting the color of the hair.
In the same way, stress is associated with sudden hair loss. This is related to an autoimmune response in our body, in which the defense system acts against itself. This can increase even more with stress, which would clearly explain the relationship between gray hair, hair loss and stress.
