November 23, 2016.
According to a study conducted by researchers at the universities of Toulouse, Haute-Garonne and Bonn, Germany, having uncombable hair is a syndrome caused by several genetic mutations.
How to explain the phenomenon of tousled mugs?
Having hair that can’t be combed is not a hair problem like any other, it’s a genetic pathology. This is what the authors of a study published in theAmerican Journal of Human Genetics. According to these works, some mugs resist all hairbrushes and stand up on their heads, insolent and rebellious. It might seem trivial as a phenomenon but it is actually a rare disease.
The study was all the more difficult to conduct as people who suffer from these symptoms do not have the reflex to go to the doctor to resolve it. However, the researchers did manage to come across subjects with unruffled hair and found the mutation of three genes (PADI3, TGM3, TCHH) in patients with this syndrome.
A genetic mutation at the origin of the disease
According to the researchers, it would be enough that one of these three genes is not functional for the hair fiber to become rigid and therefore uncombable. But beyond this disappointment, this pathology does not hide any more serious health problem. No treatment really exists, but moisturizers can improve hair hold.
According to researchers from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) who have also studied this phenomenon, this disease usually starts in childhood between 3 months and 12 years old and gets better over time. This pathology remains extremely rare, however.
Read also: Is your hair healthy?