THE RELATION OF NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES TO GRAYING

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Abstract
Author''s abridged summary: "Since genetic, hormonal, and dietary influences have all been shown to play a part in pigmentation processes, the etiology of graying in individual people is unavoidably obscure. The practice of ascribing human curative or prophylactic properties to single pigmentation factors, which have been found effective in animals, under highly specialized and controlled conditions, is not well founded. It is not certain that graying in adult humans is ever caused by a dietary deficiency and, if such were indeed the case, the deficiency would almost certainly involve the lack of more than one of the factors thus far shown to be needed for normal pigmentation in animals. The fact that graying occurs in children on extremely poor diets is of considerable interest, but it is not very helpful in assessing the situation with regard to adults. The above-cited work with human beings was carried out before the need for pteroylglutamic acid for normal pigmentation was established in animals. Most of the human studies involved pantothenic acid. It is therefore of interest that there now appears to be physiologic relationship between these factors. The apparent functional relationship between pteroylglutamic acid and the anti-pernicious anemia principle of liver is also of interest, particularly in view of the fact that liver extract has been reported to have an effect on graying in isolated instances.".