Canities subita

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Canities subita, also called Marie Antoinette syndrome or Thomas More syndrome, is an alleged condition of hair turning white overnight due to stress or trauma.[1] The trivial names come from specific cases in history including that of Queen Marie Antoinette of France whose hair was noted as having turned stark white overnight after her capture following the ill-fated flight to Varennes during the French Revolution. An older case of Sir Thomas More's hair turning white the night before his beheading has also been recorded. Although a number of cases of rapid hair greying have been documented, the underlying patho-physiological changes have not been sufficiently studied.[2][3][4]

Causes

The syndrome has been hypothesized to be a variant of

autoimmune non-scarring hair loss that selectively affects all pigmented hairs, leaving only the white hair behind. Canities subita is caused by high levels of emotional stress, which, in turn, causes less pigmentation of the hair.[3] These form the basis of most uses of the idea in fictional works. It has been found that some hairs can become colored again when stress is reduced.[5][6]

One study

pigment cells in hair follicles.[8]

History

The earliest recorded claim of sudden whitening of the hair is represented in the

Archives of Dermatology in 2009.[10]

In popular culture

The condition has been featured in several works of fiction, characters afflicted by it include but are not limited to;

  • Jonathan Harker in Dracula. His hair turns from dark brown to white while listening to his wife Mina's account of Dracula assaulting her to turn her into a vampire.
  • Kaneki Ken from the manga and anime series Tokyo Ghoul, after undergoing days of torture at the hand of Jason, his naturally black hair turns stark white.
  • Hajime Nagumo, from the light novel and anime series Arifureta, his black hair turns white after he's forced to survive in a monster-infested dungeon for weeks and eat their poisonous flesh.
  • Dabi, from the manga and anime series My Hero Academia, born with a weak constitution, use of his quirk accelerated his body's deterioration and eventual pigment loss in his hair.
  • Lagertha, from the History Channel series Vikings, season 5 Part 2
  • Leland Palmer from the TV series Twin Peaks

See also

References

  1. ISBN 9783642355035
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  2. PMID 24403766
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  3. ^
    PMID 19528420
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  4. S2CID 35750175
    .
  5. ^ Alice Klein (June 6, 2020). "Grey hairs sometimes regain their colour when we feel less stressed". New Scientist.
  6. S2CID 218764733
    .
  7. ^ Zhang, B., Ma, S., Rachmin, I. et al. Hyperactivation of sympathetic nerves drives depletion of melanocyte stem cells. Nature (2020). [1]
  8. ^ How Stress Turns Hair White: Harvard Study Points To 'Fight-Or-Flight' Response
  9. S2CID 31738508
    .
  10. PMID 19528420
    .
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