Are You Losing Hair? Study: Stress and Cortisol Level in Your Hair Might Be the Cause

A study confirms correlation between stress and cortisol levels in hair. The higher stress someone experiences, the higher the cortisol level. Anxiety might be causing us to lose hair. (Prostock-Studio / iStock via Getty Images Plus)

A published study in the International Medical Journal of PLOS Global Public Health discovers a correlation between stress and cortisol level in human hair. That means the high stress you experience, the higher the cortisol level in your hair will be.

Since coronavirus has infected the world, everyone has experienced pandemic fatigue. Working from home also causes an imbalance between professional and personal life.

As our society adapts to the new “normal,” people become burnt out, and overworked. Stress becomes high and constant. Not only does it affect our daily life but also physical and mental health.

Long-term stress can also cause premature aging, chronic diseases, depression, and even death.

The research discovered that stress affects our hair directly. It can cause grey or white hair and hair loss.

A research team collected hair samples from 1,279 women and measured their cortisol levels. Of 1279 participants, 881 females were from Mexico, and 398 were from Iceland.

For any hair specimen that were longer than three centimeters, researchers took samples starting from the roots. Human hair grows a centimeter per month. So the first three centimeters closest to the scalp represent physical conditions in the most recent three months.

Researchers then conducted a 10-question stress survey to assess the participants’ stress levels. They were asked to rate each question on a scale of one to five, with one representing the most overwhelming, unpredictable, uncontrollable events in their lives. After that, researchers categorized the subjects based on their results.

What Are the findings?

The findings confirm a positive correlation between perceived stress and hair cortisol concentrations in the two different groups of Mexican and Icelandic females. The more stress a subject perceived in their lives, the more cortisol was found in their hair.

What is Cortisol?

Cortisol is a primary steroid hormone secreted by adrenal glands and belongs to glucocorticoids. Cortisol works to suppress inflammation of body tissues and control metabolism in our muscles, fat, liver, and bones.

When stressed, cortisol secretion increases, which is also why it is known as the stress hormone. Stresses can come from work or home. They can also be physical stresses from a car accident, a heavy fall, or being in danger.

What is a Stress Hormone?

According to Clevelandclinic.org, almost all tissues in our body have glucocorticoid receptors. Cortisol affects the nervous system, immune system, cardiovascular system, respiratory and reproductive systems. Stress hormones are vital for our body to regulate adrenaline levels or flight responses. Whenever a stress hormone is released, it signals our body to regulate to maintain function.

How Badly Can Stress Hormone Affect Us?

Cortisol level elevates in dangerous situations, chronic stress, or traumatic events. The more concentrated the stress hormone, the more likely we are to experience grey or white hair or hair loss.

Other symptoms also include weight gain, inflammation, high blood sugar, and hypertension.

So next time, when you feel like you want to pull your hair out after a hard day’s work, you might want to regulate your cortisol.