Why does hair turn white overnight?

In many TV dramas, there is a character whose hair turns white overnight for some reason. Most of the time, it is because they cannot bear the psychological stress after being stimulated, or because they have lost their martial arts and their life span, so their hair turns white. But those are all exaggerated for the effect of the show. However, nowadays, many young people do have the problem of white hair, and it is generally considered to be caused by stress, malnutrition, or certain diseases.

(1) Mental factors: If a person is depressed, in a bad mood, or highly stressed, or overworked for a long time, his hair may turn from black to white. For example, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in my country, Wu Zixu, a doctor of the State of Wu, turned his black hair white overnight in order to pass through Zhaoguan Pass. In his "Les Miserables", the French writer Victor Hugo described the mayor of Udran who, after a fierce and painful ideological struggle, decided to go to court to admit that he was a prisoner, and "his gray hair turned completely white in just one hour." Although both historical legends and literary descriptions are somewhat exaggerated, they do show that people have long believed that the change of hair from black to white is related to spiritual factors.

(2) Nutritional status: Hair is an appendage of the skin. Like other organs and tissues in the body, it requires adequate nutrition. Different races have different hair colors. Caucasians have golden hair, brown people have reddish-black hair, and we yellow people have brown-black hair because the pigment particles in our hair contain copper, cobalt, and iron. If our diet lacks inorganic salts such as copper, cobalt, and iron for a long time, it will naturally affect the synthesis of melanin and turn hair from black to white. In addition, medical clinical observations have shown that if the body lacks protein, vegetable oil, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and vitamin B6 for a long time, the hair will turn from black to white.

(3) Diseases, drugs and genetics: Diseases, drugs and genetics are also factors that cause hair to turn from black to white. Endocrine disorders such as hypopituitarism and hyperthyroidism, wasting diseases such as tuberculosis, typhoid fever, pernicious anemia, and autonomic nervous system dysfunction are all diseases that have been found to be related to the change of hair from black to white. Currently, the main method for treating juvenile gray hair is to take Chinese medicine orally or apply it externally, massage, etc. For example, soak peach kernels in clean water for about 3 days, then remove the skin, put them in white sugar water and cook them into peach kernel candy twice a day, 8 to 10 pills each time, for 2 to 3 months; mix equal amounts of Polygonum multiflorum, Angelica sinensis, Ligustrum lucidum, Cuscuta australis, and Eclipta prostrata, grind them into 10-gram honey pills, take them 3 times a day, 1 pill each time, for 3 months; soak 40 grams of Platycladus orientalis leaves in 100 ml of 60% alcohol for 7 days, then use the medicinal liquid to rub the scalp 2 to 3 times a day for 2 to 3 months; comb your hair and massage your scalp with your fingers 2 to 3 times a day for 5 to 10 minutes each time. Long-term persistence also has a certain therapeutic effect. The most important thing to prevent juvenile gray hair is to eliminate the objective factors that induce gray hair. If you have a few white hairs, don't be too nervous; don't be too tired or nervous; be broad-minded, optimistic, and maintain a good mood; pay attention to scientific meal planning, eat more coarse food, whole grains, dried and fresh fruits and all kinds of vegetables, don't be picky or partial to food; develop good habits of sitting and lying down at regular times and a regular life, etc.

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