A white/grey streak is known as a Mallen streak and it's an example of poliosis – which in short means an absence of melanin in the hair, which results in the trademark white streak. The term 'Mallen streak' came into common parlance in the 1970s.
Distinctive hair coloring (such as a patch of white hair or hair that prematurely turns gray) is another common sign of the condition. The features of Waardenburg syndrome vary among affected individuals, even among people in the same family.
A new study shows that stress really can give you gray hair. Researchers found that the body's fight-or-flight response plays a key role in turning hair gray. Your hair color is determined by pigment-producing cells called melanocytes.
Mallen itself comes from the Latin 'malignus', meaning wicked – damn, those characters were doomed from the start. Like many commonly-occurring physical traits, these white streaks (also sometimes patches or spots) once marked their wearers as evil, cursed or generally 'other'.
This rare condition is the decrease or absence of melanin (or color) in head hair, eyebrows or eyelashes. Otherwise known as a “Mallen Streak” – this look is hereditary.
It is inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern, meaning that a person only needs to inherit the mutated gene from one parent to develop the condition. If one parent has the Mallen Streak, there is a 50% chance that each of their children will inherit the condition.
3 Though some people are born with poliosis from an associated genetic condition, the resulting patches of white hair are not considered birthmarks.
Poliosis may be genetic, or caused by a gene mutation. Some genetic poliosis causes include: Tuberous sclerosis: a disease that causes noncancerous growths, patches of white skin, seizures, intellectual disabilities, and other problems.
Most people with poliosis are healthy and experience it only because there is no pigment in the hair and skin in that area. It can be hereditary, but it also can occur with rare medical conditions, such as piebaldism, a genetic disease with single or multiple white patches of hair.
What causes poliosis? Poliosis is due to a lack of melanin (pigment) in the hair shafts of the affected area. Poliosis may occur because of an inherited defect in melanisation, or due to destruction of the pigment cells at the base of the hair.
POSSIBLE ETIOPATHOGENESIS OF GRAYING
Reversible hypopigmentation of the hair can be seen in nutritional deficiencies protein-energy malnutrition and diseases of chronic loss of protein. Copper and iron deficiency also can cause graying of hair.
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.
It will usually be easiest to notice when it affects the head hair, but it can occur anywhere else as well. Poliosis may appear suddenly at any age. It is also possible for someone to have it from birth .
Poliosis is a rare, uncommon condition and the incidence is unclear. However, it is thought to be between 1:40,000 and 1:100,000 among Caucasians. There is no difference in incidence between men and women or across ethnic groups, but the disease is more visible and noticeable in people with darker skin.
Microscopically, poliosis demonstrates either decreased or absent melanin and/or melanocytes in the hair bulbs of the affected hair follicles. Classically, poliosis is known to occur in the setting of several genetic syndromes including piebaldism, Waardenburg, and tuberous sclerosis.
Poliosis occurs in several genetic syndromes such as piebaldism, Waardenburg syndrome, neurofibromatosis type I, and tuberous sclerosis. It can also occur in conditions such as vitiligo, Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada disease, alopecia areata, sarcoidosis, and in association with neoplasms and some medications.
Premature greying can be caused by autoimmune diseases such as vitiligo and alopecia areata.
'Leukotrichia' means 'white hair', while poliosis is the presence of white or hypopigmented hairs in a group of follicles. Leukotrichia/poliosis results from a reduction or absence of melanin in the hair follicle. The term 'canities' is usually used to indicate progressive loss of hair pigment with age.
It is postulated that the etiology of this disorder is genetic and transmitted either as an autosomal recessive or X-linked recessive conditions.
This often displays as a single streak of white hair, the type seen in fictional characters like the Bride of Frankenstein and Rogue from X-Men, and famously sported by the legendary 1970's sports presenter, Dickie Davies - which is known as a 'Mallen Streak'.
IT SOMETIMES OCCURS NATURALLY
For a small percentage of people, the Mallen streak will occur naturally - known scientifically as Poliosis, which can appear at birth but often reveals itself much later.
Context: Although the primary cause of premature hair graying (PHG) is considered to be genetic, certain environmental factors also play a role. Trace element deficiencies such as Vitamin B12, Vitamin D3, and calcium may also be associated with PHG.
Marie Antoinette syndrome designates the condition in which scalp hair suddenly turns white. The name alludes to the unhappy Queen Marie Antoinette of France (1755-1793), whose hair allegedly turned white the night before her last walk to the guillotine during the French Revolution.