On Sudden or Rapid Whitening of the Hair

Ephraim, Alfred J.

doi:10.1001/archderm.1959.01560140090013

Cited by 38 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Quevedo et al [135] observed an age-dependent decrease in the melanocytes of dorsal trunk epidermis in the pigmented mouse; the number of dopa-positive melanocytes was maximal two days after birth, but was nearly zero by the 30th day. In humans, after birth the absolute number of melanocytes peaks and then the number of dopa-positive melanocytes gradually decreases throughout life [136,137].…”

Section: Race Light Age and Melanocytesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Vitiligo and Other Hypomelanoses of Hair and Skin

Ortonne¹,

Mosher²,

Fitzpatrick³

1983

139

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Section: Race Light Age and Melanocytesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Vitiligo and Other Hypomelanoses of Hair and Skin

Ortonne¹,

Mosher²,

Fitzpatrick³

1983

139

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“…(3) Hair changing colour spontaneously: The French physician Brown-Sequard plucked his white beard hairs daily for several weeks (1869). 5 He observed that white hairs reappeared within 24 hours to the same length and site replacing those plucked. He therefore concluded that hair changes colour along the length of the shaft.…”

Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2) Bubbles in the hair shaft: Landois (1866) thought that in sudden greying, the pigment does not alter, but colour change is an illusion due to air bubbles in the medulla and cortex of the hair shaft seen microscopically. 5 Reflection of light makes the hair appear white. Modern microscopy has not supported this.…”

Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sudden whitening of the hair: an historical fiction?

2008

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Sudden hair whitening (canities) was first reported centuries ago. Although a rare event, it has affected well-known historical figures, including Sir Thomas Moore and Queen Marie Antoinette of France. Early reports are substantiated by more recent cases in the scientific literature. Often, there is association with psychological stress; in the two historical cases above, the condition is thought to have been a reaction to the sentence of execution. In this paper, we examine some case histories of those afflicted throughout history and discuss hypotheses to explain the phenomenon

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“…Ephraim described the case of a 63-year-old patient whom he had seen the day after a fall and again 6 weeks later. [8] The man reported that he had noticed hair loss 2 weeks after the accident and that he had turned almost entirely white within the 3 rd week. Initially, patient had had only a few white hairs on top, with some graying at his temples.…”

Section: Overview Of Cases Of Unusually Rapid Whitening Of Body Hairmentioning

confidence: 99%

Canities subita: A reappraisal of evidence based on 196 case reports published in the medical literature

2013

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We have reviewed the medical literature on unusually rapid Canities of body hair to assess whether the reported clinical evidence can be explained with the current hypotheses of pathogenetic mechanisms. We screened the medical literature from 1800 onward, searching for as many case reports as possible. We assessed literature in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish and included all cases, which contained an explicit mention or description of unusually rapid graying or whitening of hair. Case reports were classified into three categories: Cases are “authenticated” when the authors personally observed the rapid color change, “non-authenticated” when they saw the subject only after the alleged color change and “anecdotal” when authors were told about the case by a third party. In total, we found 196 cases of which 44 were authenticated. These studies reported the graying of human hair in the context of aging, somatic diseases, emotional trauma or stress and psychiatric disorders. Numerous cases involved not only scalp hair, but also beards, eyelashes and other body hair. Several authors stressed that there was no alopecia. Although plausible explanations exist to explain Canities subita occurring together with an effluvium, the observation of viable hair losing color along the axis within a timespan shorter than its growth rate remain as yet unexplained.

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On Sudden or Rapid Whitening of the Hair

Cited by 38 publications

References 5 publications

Vitiligo and Other Hypomelanoses of Hair and Skin

Vitiligo and Other Hypomelanoses of Hair and Skin

Sudden whitening of the hair: an historical fiction?

Canities subita: A reappraisal of evidence based on 196 case reports published in the medical literature

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