Lanugo is the first hair to be produced by the fetal hair follicles, and it usually appears on the fetus at about 5 months of gestation. Lanugo is very fine, soft, and usually unpigmented. Although lanugo is normally shed before birth, around 7 or 8 months of gestation, it is sometimes present at birth. This is not a cause for concern, lanugo disappears of its own accord within a few days or weeks.
However, if you’ve grown lanugo (as an adult) then you are in a state of severe malnutrition and emaciation. The growth of lanugo is one of the body’s ways of insulating itself. When an anorexic loses too much weight and no longer has enough body fat to help heat herself, the body takes over and grows lanugo. These hairs grow in thickly and attempt to trap heat that is lost from the body before it dissipates. Lanugo is almost like a blanket that the body grows itself.
Lanugo will not grow on all anorexics, but it is usually found on anorexics who have suffered from severe weight loss and are approaching emaciation.
Know more about lanugo & anorexia:
http://www.eatingdisordersonline.com/articles/anorexia/lanugo-definition
Photo: Foetus developing in the womb - 20 weeks. Approximately 20cm.
Credit: Lennart Nilsson
Photo via The Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/pictures/6255474/A-Child-is-Born-Photographs-of-the-foetus-developing-in-the-womb-by-Lennart-Nilsson.html?image=6
#lanugo #anorexia #health #foetus #inthewomb
Eyes without pupils too...
ReplyDeleteMy sis-in-law was born entirely covered in this. Pictures show a baby that looks almost like a mouse, insofar as she was four months premature.
ReplyDeleteWell that explains the heartburn
ReplyDelete