Dandruff: Multiple Causes and Remedies

Dr. Rajkumar Singh Commonly, the term 'Dandruff' is a condition of the scalp which has heavy flanking and sometimes itching and can result in social or self-esteem problems whose severe form includes inflammation of the skin. It first attested in the year 1545 although, it has no any clear reason or cause but believed to have a number of genetic and environmental factors which worsens in the winter. It has also no known cure and its symptoms, emerging research findings assume it as a strong association of dandruff and hair loss due to the involvement of a fungus named Malassezia. Even today, it affects almost half of adults in which males are more affected than females in all areas of the world, especially after the age of 40. In today's life, shampoos are used which contain special ingredients to control dandruff. Causes and Symptoms With the replacement of the upper skin layers, normally, cells are pushed outward where they are ruined and flake off but, in many men, and women these flakes are very small and don't easily visible. Unlike, this in some cases and conditions the cell turn over becomes rapid unusually particularly in the scalp and, as a result, skin cells mature in 2-7 days in comparison to one month in a people who don't have the dandruff. As a resulted, the dead cells are gathered in large and appear as white or grayish flakes on the scalp, skin and clothes. As large, three possible factors are responsible for this which include: 1. Skin oil, commonly known as serum, 2. The metabolic by-products of skin micro-organism and 3. Individual susceptibility and allergy, sensitivity. Apart from an itchy scalp, the red and greasy patches of skin and a tingly on the skin are common among the symptoms. The researches performed on the dandruff so far has also indicated that 89.92 percent of the people have suffered from it because of Malassezia fungus while only 9.52% control group suggest an important correlation between fungus colonization and increased hair shedding. At the juncture, dandruff and dry scalp are often confused with each other due to their share of the same symptoms, they are different in their causes and treatment. Role of Micro-organism and Dermatitis In a recent study conducted in the year 2007, it was found that the responsible factor for a scalp is a particular fungus, named Malassezia globosa that metabolizes the triglycerides already present in serum through the expression of lipase, which is the by product of oleic acid. In affected individuals, the normal levels of Malassezia are found 1.5 to two times in their general level which provokes the top layer of the epidermis, stratum corneum and promotes an inflammatory response in susceptible people. Among the 14 most commonly known cultured species of Malassezia, the clinically significant species include Malassezia restricta and Malassezia globosa which are most commonly associated with skin diseases like dandruff and other forms of dermatitis. In another study, conducted by Redundancy analysis there are 33 genera related to severity of the dandruff and it showed an important plus relationship with the disease and only two genera indicated a negative co-relation with the dandruff. In nutshell, Microorganisms on the scalp, particularly fungi, have supposed to be the basic cause of the development of dandruff. It was also made clear in the study that there is no close relation between the bacteria in genus and fungi, despite this, the closeness between bacteria and dandruff is stronger than the association between fungi and dandruff. Related to it is the concept of seborrheic dermatitis which has a common symptom of redness, and itching occurring around the nose folds and eyebrows areas. It is dry, thick, well-defined lesion consisting of large, silvery scales and called the less common features of scalp psoriasis which can provoke inflammation, redness heat, pain or swelling causing further sensitivity. Recent reports confirmed a clear link between the two as dandruff has been identified as the mildest form of the clinical presentation of seborrheic dermatitis in which inflammation is at lower point but continued to be subclinical. The seborrheic dermatitis is largely affected by the seasonal changes, stress, and immunosuppression. Mechanism of Treatment The disease dandruff is a combination of corneocytes which maintained to a large extent cohesion with one another and detach itself from the surface of the stratum corneum. It is a protein complex mainly made up of tiny threads of keratin in a systematic way, although, their size and abundance opposite to each other, gradually it became a part of dandruff. In course of the treatment of the dandruff shampoos are commonly used basically antifungal which include piroctone, olamine, ketoconazole, zinc parathion etc., as they all are found effective. However, among all, the antifungals of the imidazole class, ketoconazole is said to be number one option before the affected people also because it is also helpful in treating seborrheic dermatitis. Unlike this, in the other forms like cream ciclopirox is common anti-dandruff active agent which is also an ingredient of several cosmetic shampoos and found frequently as piroctone olamine and climbazole. However, all these anti-fungal contents bear large amount of harmful side effects and adverse impacts, they are suggested to take at lower doses to treat the dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis. Of all, the Salicylic acid is an anti-dandruff supplement approved by the US FDA OTC drug monograph mainly used in several cosmetic anti-dandruff shampoos at global level. Dr. Rajkumar Singh is a youth motivator, Professor and former University Head of Pol. Sc., Dean Social Sciences and Dean Students' Welfare (DSW) of the B.N. Mandal University, presently residing at Hajipur Bihar, India. He can be contacted at [email protected]