Marie Antoinette syndrome

Marie Antoinette Syndrome is a sudden whitening of the hair. The event that named the syndrome was the observation that the hair of unhappy and ill-fated Queen Marie Antoinette of France turned stark white the night before her execution in the French Revolution.

Documented cases

The first actual documented case in history is represented in the Talmud by a story of a Jewish scholar who, at the age of 17 years, developed white hair locks due to overwork.

Now and again, contemporary cases have been documented, as in bomb victims in the second world war or in a recently published case ^[1].

Causes

The syndrome is thought to be a variant of alopecia areata diffusa or autoimmune non-scarring hair loss that affects selectively all pigmented hairs, leaving only the white hair behind.

Triggers activating the autoimmune mechanisms have been postulated, including sorrow and fear, but also fits of rage, unwelcome and unexpected news and overindulgence in sexual activities ^[2].

References

1. ^ Navarini AA, Nobbe S, Trüeb RM. Archives of Dermatology, 2009:Jun 145(6):656. Marie-Antoinette Syndrome
2. ^ Landois. 1866: Bubbles in the hair shaft