Abstract
Measurements were made of hair diameters and rate of hair growth in 12 well-fed controls and 12 kwashiorkor patients. The average volume of hair each follicle produces in a day was 514[mu]3 for the controls, and 59u3 for kwashiorkor patients. This gross reduction of hair growth reflects a profound depression of protein synthesis in kwashiorkor, implying either a long period on a low protein diet, or some underlying endocrine imbalance of nutritional origin.