Poliosis

Not to be confused with poliomyelitis, a viral disease that attacks nerves and causes paralysis.

Poliosis (also called poliosis circumscripta) is the decrease or absence of melanin (or colour) in head hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, or any other hirsute area. It is popularly known as white forelock when it affects hair directly above the forehead.

Poliosis
Depigmentation of sections of skin and hair in 48-year-old man with vitiligo and poliosis.
Specialty	Dermatology

This condition can cause single or, less commonly, multiple white patches on the hair. Some mistake these white patches for simple birth marks. In poliosis there is decreased or absent melanin in the hair bulbs of affected hair follicles; the melanocytes of the skin are usually not affected.^[1]

Associated medical conditions

Poliosis occurs in several genetic syndromes such as piebaldism, Waardenburg syndrome, neurofibromatosis type I, and tuberous sclerosis.^[2] It can also occur in conditions such as vitiligo, Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada disease, alopecia areata, sarcoidosis, and in association with neoplasms and some medications.^[1]

In popular culture

• It is sometimes called a Mallen streak, after a fictional family with hereditary poliosis. The Mallen family featured in a sequence of novels by Catherine Cookson, of which The Mallen Streak was the first. She later adapted them into a TV series called The Mallens.

• The character of Lily Munster in the American sitcom The Munsters has two prominent Mallen streaks.

• During his tenure as the host of Talk Soup, host John Henson repeatedly referred to his own poliosis as a "skunk spot".

• Cruella De Vil has the appearance of this condition with her half-black/half-white hair.

• Rogue (Marvel Comics) has a white forelock^{[citation needed]}

References

1. Sleiman R, Kurban M, Succaria F, Abbas O (2013). "Poliosis circumscripta: overview and underlying causes". J Am Acad Dermatol. 69 (4): 625–33. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2013.05.022. PMID 23850259.}
2. Willacy H. (2010). "Tuberous Sclerosis". PatientPlus. Patient.info. Retrieved May 2, 2011.

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