Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: lrod2344 on 16/03/2004 19:30:31
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I was wondering just this...once hair falls out...either naturally or by force....does it eventually change color? or lose color?
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No, I have some of my grandmother's hair from when she was young (she was born in 1897) and it is rich, dark brown.
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The colour of hair, like the vibrant colouration of a butterfly or moth, is 'structural'. In other words, the chemical structure of the hair gives it its colour. There is no dye to leach out. Butterfly specimens preserved in museums retain their colour (supposedly indefinitely) and the same should be true for hair.
However, the enviroment in which the hair is stored will make a difference because alteration of the chemical composition of the hair (due to reactions with substances in the environment) will secondarily alter the colour.
Chris
"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception"
- Groucho Marx
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Speaking of hair colour, one of the guys at archery had two white spots about the size of an (australian) twenty cent coin. the rest of his hair is black. He siad he woke up one day and the hair had started to go white. Does anyone know why this could have happened?
Also why is it that a few months after we get our dog's hair clipped in summer it grows back to a certain length then stays that length? why doesn't it get longer like our hair? Why do animal hairs seem to stop growing after a certain length? But he still has plenty of hair that comes out when you brush him. Why doesn't he go bald??? He sure seems to shed a lot of hair.
Am I dead? Am I alive? I'm both!
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WHY DOES HAIR CHANGE COLOR?
God Bless You
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I remember I guy who used to compete in the same level as me at gymnastics who had a white fringe but the rest of his hair was brown. Later on I met someone who knew him who told me he first rode his bike into a stobie pole and smack his head into it, then on the same day he fell off a fence hitting the same spot on his head. These two whacks killed off the melanin to that region of his hair is what they told me. I think Pat Rafter also has a white circle on one side of his head.
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I know that in horses, if they wear a saddle or bridle (or anything else) that is ill fitting and severly bruises a spot, they will end up with a white spot there for the rest of their lives. Similar to the guy that hit is head I guess. I'd never heard of it in humans before.
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John - The Eternal Pessimist.
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My grandmother had diphteria, all her hair fell out, and it grew back in white, and stayed that way. Wonder if the fever killed the melanin, and the ability to produce more?
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on a similar note, when i was very young, about 2 years old, i had very dark hair, after a while it all fell out. when it grew back it was an extremely light blond color. after 16 years it has grown very dark, and it keeps getting darker