It seems that Presidents go through 50 shades of gray between Inauguration , terrorist attacks , economic meltdowns and running for re-election . No matter what party they are in or what era they oversee . Commanders in Chief age before our eyes .
But is it inevitable ?
According to the latest science , yes . It's been only a decade since researches have been able to tease apart exactly how hair follicles work to sprout new , properly hued hair during much of our lifetimes . The short explanation is that the follicles simply can't do it forever . Stem cells that make melanocytes , which deposit pigment in nascent hair , lose their ability to replenish themselves as we age , so beginning in our 30s , follicles are gradually deprived of color .
Because most of our Presidents reach office in their 40s or 50s , just as more of these stem cells is dying off , some of the graying that's visible is due to normal aging .
But it turns out that these same stem cells are also senitive to physiological changes that can prompt them to peter out prematurely . Elaine Fuchs , a cell biologist at Rockefeller University and a leading researcher in hair growth , says it's plausible that stress can accelerate the death of these stem cells and cause whiter hairs to bloom . "Once a hair grays , even though you may not be stressed , you still end up with gray hair ," she says . "So graying has to be related to something , like stress , that kills off the melanocyte stem cells permanetly."
The leading culprits are hormones like cortisol and the production of free radicals that tend to surge asd the body responds to crises . Of course , wrestling daily with other politicians might trigger that response too . The thought alone is a few gray hairs .
Thanks Dad for the article ... Hair Today ...Gray Tomorrow ... what a lucky woman I am to have you ...
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