If you look at photos of President Obama taken before he ran for president and then more recently, you’ll notice a distinct difference: where there used to be only dark brown hair, there are now areas of gray dotting the landscape. It seems that the stress of running a country would turn any person’s hair gray. But is stress really to blame? And why does hair turn gray, even for those of us who don’t have jobs quite as stressful as President Obama’s?
Stress doesn’t actually turn hair gray—the color can't change once produced by hair follicles, so hair cannot suddenly turn gray if you are under a great deal of stress. If a single strand of hair starts out brown (or red or black or blond), it's never going to turn gray. Your hair follicles produce less color as they age, so when hair goes through its natural cycle of dying and being regenerated, it’s more likely to grow in as gray beginning after age 35. Genetics can play a role in when this starts. President Obama is in his mid-40s, so aging could explain his graying. But stress may have played a role, too.
Stress can trigger a common condition called telogen effluvium, which causes hair to shed at about three times the rate it normally does. The hair grows back, so the condition doesn’t cause balding. But if you’re middle-aged and your hair is falling out and regenerating more quickly because of stress, it’s possible that the hair that grows in will be gray instead of its original color.
When and how thoroughly your hair turns gray has mostly to do with the genes you inherit from your parents. Though stress may play a role in the process, it would be more helpful to look to past generations rather than your current stress levels to help you predict when or if you’ll go gray. That’s true whether you’re the President of the United States or someone with a less stressful job.
Source: http://health.msn.com/health-topics
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