• Why do we go gray?
  • Proud of gray hair, the color silver is imposed

A few months after his arrival at the White House, the hair of former US President Barak Obama began to grow gray. Obama is undoubtedly one of the most representative cases of the one known as 'Marie Antoinette Syndrome ', named 'in honor' of the famous queen consort of France who, they say, woke up with completely white hair in the morning in the one that was going to be executed in the guillotine.

Traditionally, stress has been pointed out, together with age and genetic predisposition, as one of the main culprits for gray hair, a process whose secrets have just been revealed by a group of researchers from Harvard University (United States) .

In his study, published on January 22, in 'Nature', he begins by explaining that the human scalp has an average of 100,000 hair follicles whose color is determined by cells called melanocytes , which produce different combinations of melanin pigments when absorbed the light. Derived from melanocyte stem cells (MeSC), they are found in a part of the follicle called the hair lump.

Before entering material, Harvard experts remember that the normal hair cycle is divided into three stages : hair follicle regeneration (anagen), degeneration (catagen) and rest (telogen).

HORMONAL RESPONSE

Melanocyte production begins in the anagen phase. As people get older, the MeSC set gradually runs out, causing changes in the hair pigment, which changes from a kind of 'salt and pepper' color to gray until it finally turns completely white to there is a complete loss of the pigment .

Well, in an experiment with mice, the team led by Professor Bing Zhang observed that corticosterone (a hormone that is released along with cortisol in response to situations of danger or anxiety and that pushes us to flee) causes excessive activation of This system produces pigment cells , which eventually depletes its reserves prematurely.

The authors of this scientific work are convinced that their findings can help clarify the effects of stress on organs and tissues , opening the way to studies that contribute to modify or block the damage it produces.

Mercedes de la Rosa, co-founder of Zentro Urban Yoga.

Although the premature appearance of gray hair is one of the minor evils that stress brings, there is no doubt that it is one more reason to take things more calmly .

How to regain calm

Drop down

Fighting and overcoming stress is much simpler than it seems. The tool 'more at hand' to achieve it is our breathing. Mercedes de la Rosa, co-founder of Zentro Urban Yoga (Barcelona and Madrid), teaches us how to use it to heal our emotions: «Sit comfortably in bed with your eyes closed. Breathe consciously 10 times: visualize when you inspire for three seconds by swelling the abdomen and do the same when you breathe for another three, putting it in. Do it by focusing on your breathing. If your mind gets distracted, start over from the beginning. It will change your day!

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