Does Stress Govern The Problem of Hair Color? Do you Agree or Not?

The incidence of the hair loss and changes in the hair color is increasing day by day. Not only is this but the early age transforming of black hair to grey hair also rising sharply. As described by different medicinal approaches one of the key factor held responsible for this transformation of black hair to grey or white is the stress.

However, some research group denies these facts and holds several metabolic diseases, nutritional deficiencies and genetic makeup of the individual responsible for the changes in hair color. In the current world, nobody can get a space where he can get rid of stress.

Definition of the stress also holds a vast canvas covering the financial pressure, increased responsibilities, family matters, etc. and also including the biological matters also.

Stress even does not give any relief to President Barak Obama for changing hair color

Before becoming the president of US, Barack Obama had shiny black hair, but now in 2014, he has a mixture of black and gray hair; Credit: wikipedia

One big and evident example of the stress as a key factor for the whitening of hair is about Barack Obama, the President of United States of America, we all know before being president was having good shiny black hair and his barber swears that he hasn’t used any dye for them.

After getting this responsibility of statesman a sharp change in his hair color could be observed. Many other examples also favor these findings.

Let’s get to know some scientific facts about the difference of hair color

Ethnic origin is also an important factor defining the hair color. The Africa and Asians usually have dark black hair and they are more resistant to change in the hair color as compared to American and Europeans.

This shows there is some genetic predisposition which governs the hair color. The albinism, a condition in which lack of the melanin is observed turns the whole of the skin and hair of the individual white providing clues for the key culprit responsible for the changes in hair color.

Another theory about the explanation of the change in hair color is the free radical mediated damage to the hair follicles, which compromise the color imparting quality of the melanocytes leading to the grey color.

Free radicals are generated in the metabolic processes and the body have antioxidant enzymes that neutralize their effects. The use of external antioxidants may also augment the decrease in the free radical mediated damage they include Vitamin C, Vitamin B especially nicotinamide.

Chinese folk medicine denies the stress as a contributor of the graying of hair rather relates an imbalance between kidneys and blood.

So the debate is still in infancy and no particular outcome has been made yet regarding the hair discoloration, however few apparent examples are there in support of both the conditions i.e. either only stress is involved or not.

It could be concluded that if really stress is responsible for the graying of hair it doesn’t do it directly, rather it does so indirectly by halting various mechanisms of the melanin pigmentation.