Hair Tells the Story

Gray can look good though (CNN photo)

The coronavirus has caused death, unemployment, mental depression, weight gain, and isolation from friends and family, but let's not forget something that matters to thousands of people, namely premature graying: {bold added]

Across the Bay Area, residents are reporting an invasion of gray hair — with whole patches growing out of their parts, seemingly overnight skunk stripes, and even beards that have grown almost completely white. The phenomenon has also coincided with another physical effect reported by many: hair loss.

For the many people who have skipped regular hair care or salon appointments during the pandemic, the presence of gray hair may be simply what was hidden underneath, said Dr. Shadi Kourosh, a dermatologist at Harvard Medical School. But widespread graying is also happening for those well below the ages they would normally expect to see gray. Hair is generally said to gray prematurely when it happens before the age of 20 in people of Caucasian descent, 25 in those of Asian descent and 30 in those of African descent.

...A team of researchers at Harvard found that in mice, stress activated nerves that triggered the fight-or-flight response, which then caused damage to stem cells that differentiate to create specialized cells called melanocytes, which produce the color we see in our hair. The study, published in Nature, found that stress caused those cells to deplete, and the effect was permanent — and resulted in gray.

Those melanocytes naturally die off in the aging process, experts say, but it seems stress can sometimes speed up the process. Scientists have long pointed out the link between stress and other ailments, including inflammation, weight gain, insomnia or even overactive immune response.

Hair tells the story of my year: mostly
intact with a few streaks of gray

The year-long lockdown has been detrimental to everyone, but to introverts like me the stress (whisper) has actually gone down.

Not having to get dressed up to go to a meeting (Zoom meetings are much more casual), not fighting traffic, and having fewer appointments on the calendar make for a more pleasant daily routine.

Don't misunderstand--I do want things to get back to normal--but life during the lockdown had a few upsides.