Gray hair overnight

Ever wondered about the phrase, "her hair turned gray overnight"?

The basis for the observation likely comes from a true dermatologic finding. It may occur in someone who is afflicted by alopecia areata, according to Dr. Ginat Mirowski, professor of dermatology and dentistry at Indiana University.

Alopecia areata is a condition that targets the hair on your head that is not gray. It affects the strands that contain natural pigment. The condition causes the hair with color to fall out and leaves the gray hairs behind. So it's not that someone turned gray overnight; it's that he lost pigmented hair, making gray hair more prominent.

Alopecia areata can occur after a person has gone through a period of high stress such as the loss of a loved one or loss of job. So that's how someone's hair seems to turn gray overnight.

March 9, 2002

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