This man's tongue became black and hairy after a stroke that forced him to change his diet.
By Marco Margaritoff
Known as lingua villosa nigra or "black hairy tongue," the condition is caused by a failure to shed dead skin cells on the upper part of the tongue.
This patient suffers from black hair condition due to uncontrolled growth of papillae on the tongue.
Two and a half months after a man in India suffered a stroke, he and his caregivers began noticing a dark color on his tongue. When he visited a dermatologist 15 days later, his entire tongue was covered with black hair-like growths.
According to the Daily Mail, when the man arrived at the hospital in Kochi, Kerala, only the middle and sides of his tongue were left with the thick black coating.
All it took for Dr. Puravoor Jayashree to diagnose the 50-year-old patient with linga villosa nigra was a quick glance and a few samples of mucus from the tongue. That Latin clinical term literally translates to "tongue with black hair" and refers to a condition that more than 13 percent of people are likely to experience at some point in their lives.
Fighting diabetes? This discovery leaves doctors speechless!
Fortunately, despite its serious appearance, the condition is harmless and temporary. And in this case, it was by introducing an exclusively purified diet after the man's stroke.
A close-up of the man's black, hairy tongue hairs
According to Jayashree's case study, recently published in the journal Jama Dermatology, the man's stroke left the entire left side of his body, including his face, paralyzed, leaving him unable to chew solid food. It was only then that the patient came to know exactly how this condition had arisen.
Lingua villosa nigra is often caused by poor oral hygiene, but can also be seen in a diet consisting mainly of bland foods. The human tongue is covered with small bumps called filiform papillae. These are usually about 0.04 inches (1 mm) long before they break off in a process called desquamation.
According to Live Science, the bland human diet allows the tiny papillae on our tongues to grow very long—and overproduce the keratin protein found in hair.
If the upper part of the tongue is not regularly abraded by a toothbrush, tongue scraper, or the texture of solid food, the papillae are free to grow longer. Remarkably, they can reach a length of nearly three-quarters of an inch. As they produce keratin, they eventually give the hair-like appearance seen here.
Vaidya Bhara Hospital Cochin/Facebook Vaidya Bhara Hospital in Kochi, Kerala, India.
According to the study, the black coating is filled with “yellow” stripes near the midline and on the back of the tongue. A microscopic view confirmed that the coating was made up of long fibers with yellowish deposits, which were quickly confirmed to be trapped food remains.
Since its medical identification, black hair tongue has also been associated with tobacco use, antibiotics, and certain mouthwashes.
Finally, the litany of associated causes is quite large – from excessive coffee, tea and alcohol consumption to many drugs and sweets. It is not always black and can appear brown, white, green or pink depending on the factors that cause it.
Fortunately, scraped mucus samples tested negative for any unusual fungal or bacterial growth, and Dr. Jayashree provided the man with a relatively simple solution.
"The patient and caregivers were instructed on proper cleaning measures, and the discoloration resolved after 20 days," the study said. "Avoidance of predisposing factors and initiation of regular cleaning and desquamation measures will lead to complete removal of lesions."
#blurt #blurtstory #geekpranee #black #ants #srilanka #sweet #tongue