工作狂要小心：壓力太大會導致一夜白頭！

If you’re worried about going grey – try to relax. Scientists have found too much stress really does turn our hair white.
如果你擔心頭髮灰白——試着讓自己放鬆。科學家們發現壓力太大真的會讓頭髮變白。

Researchers discovered the cells that give hair its colour disappear when the body is exposed to stress hormones. And unfortunately for those affected, these ‘colourful’ cells are unlikely to return, leaving the hair grey for good.
研究人員發現當身體處於壓力荷爾蒙環境下，那些使頭髮着色的細胞就會消失。不幸的是，如果‘着色’細胞受到影響後就不可能再新陳代謝、恢復到從前的狀態，所以頭髮就會永遠變成灰白色的了。

US scientists carried out experiments on mice which showed the startling effect that stress has on our hair. They began with the premise that when the human body is injured, stem cells responsible for producing melanin – the dark pigment that protects us from sunlight – move from hair follicles to the skin, to help limit the damage. In their tests on mice, the same permanent draining of colour occurred when the animals were exposed to stress hormones.
美國科學家在老鼠身上做了實驗，結果顯示壓力對我們的頭髮的影響效果是驚人的。研究人員首先假設人體處於陽光暴曬的環境下，身體幹細胞負責生產黑色素，在陽光紫外線的照射下，黑色素會對我們有保護作用，毛囊中的黑色素沉澱到皮膚上，會起到減少皮膚傷害的作用。在他們對小白鼠做的實驗中，當小白鼠處於壓力荷爾蒙條件下，同樣出現永久褪色的狀態。

The researchers said this could explain why stress can also cause pigmentation which makes the skin appear darker. Most of us spot our first grey hairs around the age of 25, and everything from genes to alcohol and smoking have been blamed for kicking off the process. There are tales of people going grey overnight after bereavement or shock.
研究人員說，這可能會解釋爲什麼壓力也會導致色素沉着使皮膚顯得更黑。我們大部分人大約在25歲會初次看到有了灰色頭髮，有多種因素導致我們出現白髮，基因、吸菸、喝酒、壓力等因素都會使頭髮變白。經歷大的變故的人或經歷喪親之痛休克後，一夜之間頭髮就會變得灰白。

Dr Mayumi Ito from New York University, who led the latest study, said there was evidence that stress could make melanin ‘migrate’ away from the hair follicle to the skin.‘We thought it would be interesting to speculate that excessive stress might promote this migration too much,’ he said. The study, which was published in the journal Nature Medicine, concludes: ‘Stress hormones are known to promote skin pigmentation, yet paradoxically and anecdotally, they are believed to promote hair greying.‘Our results may provide insight into the relationship between stress hormones and hair greying.’
紐約大學麻由美-伊藤博士領導了這項最新研究，指出有證據表明壓力會使毛囊中的黑色素‘沉澱’到皮膚上。我們原本認爲壓力過大黑色素沉澱過多這個說法是個很有意思的推測而已，’他說。該項研究發表在《自然醫學》雜誌上，報告總結：‘已知壓力荷爾蒙促使皮膚色素沉澱，但卻反而認爲促使頭髮變得灰白。’‘我們的研究結果可以爲壓力荷爾蒙和頭髮灰白之間的這一關係提供洞察依據。’