Spot a grey hair at 25, blank on a colleague’s name at 35, and the worry arrives fast: am I getting old early? Two Indian neurologists who spoke to HT Lifestyle say the answer is usually no, though stress deserves some of the blame.
Dr Neha Pandita, a senior consultant neurologist and unit head at Fortis Hospital in Noida, put it plainly. “Stress won’t age the brain overnight,” she said, “but chronic unmanaged stress can affect the systems that support healthy brain function.”
What stress does inside the body
The body answers stress with a fight-or-flight reaction that releases hormones meant for immediate challenges. Trouble starts when the reaction never shuts off. Pandita said long exposure to those hormones can wear down sleep, raise inflammation, shift metabolism and dull brain function.
The brain is an easy target. Stress can affect the hippocampus, which handles learning and memory, she explained. The result may be trouble concentrating, mental fatigue, or a memory that feels less sharp than before.
She also cautioned against jumping to conclusions. Many young people with brain fog are short on sleep, burned out, missing nutrients or glued to screens, Pandita said. A forgotten errand in your 20s or 30s can come from lack of sleep, multitasking or just a packed schedule.
The grey hair question
Genetics is the biggest driver of early greying, both doctors agreed. Pandita added that stress may play a part by affecting the cells that give hair its color, and she named oxidative stress, an imbalance between free radicals and the body’s ability to neutralise them, as one mechanism researchers have studied.
Dr Sathish Kumar Venkatasamy, head and senior consultant neurophysician at Apollo Speciality Hospitals in Chennai, gave a definition: greying before age 20 in lighter-skinned people, or before 30 in darker-skinned people, counts as premature. Family history often points the way. He listed other causes too, among them smoking, low vitamin B12, copper, iron or folate, autoimmune disorders and thyroid disease.
Recent studies suggest chronic stress can affect pigment through melanocyte stem cells, Venkatasamy said. But “stress alone cannot account for early greying and forgetfulness.”
Memory in your 30s
Forgetfulness at 30 is “rarely due to dementia,” Venkatasamy said. More often it is brain fog from poor sleep, stress, anxiety, depression, heavy drinking, vitamin deficiencies, thyroid problems or medication side effects.
He advised a medical check for anyone whose memory loss keeps getting worse, especially alongside fatigue, mood swings, weight changes, numbness or slipping performance at work. Doctors may test thyroid function and levels of B12, iron and folate, and review sleep, stress, anxiety and depression.
His prevention list was short and ordinary: seven to nine hours of sleep, a balanced diet with enough protein, regular exercise, no smoking, less alcohol, and relaxation techniques for stress. Pandita added that the brain “has an amazing capacity for recovery and adaptation,” and that learning new things helps.
Treating reversible causes early, Venkatasamy said, can significantly improve cognitive function.
