Marie Antoinette Syndrome

The condition where the hair suddenly turns white or grey due to stress is called Marie Antoinette Syndrome. This syndrome, named after Marie Antoinette, the queen of France, who was dethroned in 1793, emerged as a result of the 37-year-old queen being sent to the guillotine and her hair turning white during execution.  

Marie Antoinette Syndrome is usually experienced due to excessive stress. The decrease in pigmentation in the hair as a result of stress causes the hair colour to turn white and grey. Therefore, the sudden greying of hair due to stress can be given as an answer to the question “What is Marie Antoinette Syndrome?”. 

From a medical point of view, it is medically impossible for hair to turn white overnight or suddenly. Although it is noticed that the hair turns white quickly in cases such as illness, sudden shock, injury, stress, it is stated that this situation lasts for several weeks, not immediately. Despite all these details, it has been explained that sudden greying occurs in very few cases. 

In one of these cases, it was found that the hair of a 38-year-old woman turned white within 5 hours, while the hair of a 63-year-old man and a 12-year-old child turned white in one day. It is a very critical detail that the common points of these few cases are stress.

As it is known, hair turns grey with aging. In addition, genetic factors can also affect the greying of hair. This situation is different in Marie Antoinette Syndrome. The symptoms of the syndrome, which has characteristic features, can be explained as follows: 

• If a person’s stress disorder has reached serious levels, it is possible for hair greying to occur rapidly.
• Marie Antoinette Syndrome is not only seen in hair. The loss of colour in more than one hair on the body can also be shown among the symptoms of the syndrome. 
• Whitening or greying of hair is among the symptoms of Marie Antoinette Syndrome.
• Since Marie Antoinette Syndrome occurs suddenly, the colour transformation in the hair is expected to be sudden. In addition, the possibility of this transformation being permanent is quite high. 
• Bleaching of all or part of the hair can also be given as an example of Marie Antoinette Syndrome symptoms.

The main cause of Marie Antoinette Syndrome is known as stress. However, there are many effects other than this reason. In general, the following details have an effect on hair greying: 

If a person does not pay attention to adequate and healthy nutrition, acceleration in hair greying may occur. 

If the hair greying process progresses rapidly in a person’s family or relatives, the same situation can be expected to occur in that person due to genetic factors. 

Diseases such as albino disease, vitamin deficiency, ringworm disease, white spot disease can also cause hair greying. 

Hair greying can be seen in people with hormone disorders or in phases that directly affect hormones such as pregnancy. 

Excessive and unplanned sports, poor sleep patterns and unhealthy diet also affect hair greying. 

Finally, if a person does not choose the right shampoo for their hair and uses harmful chemicals, their hair may start to grey.