The deep sounding Seborrheic dermatitis is only dandruff for most of the people who get it. Though, in its severe and chronic form, this chronic inflammatory skin disorder can cause scaly, oily patches to crop up without notice. Seborrheic dermatitis is first and foremost a skin condition, but it can also involve temporary hair loss if the dermatitis is located on the scalp or other terminal-haired skin areas.
The disease has much to do with the sebaceous glands. This connection is evident by the reason that chronic inflammatory skin disorder is generally confined to areas of the head and trunk where sebaceous glands are most important. The disease occurs as a result of an overproduction of sebum, the oil produced by sebaceous glands. This area is then overridden by yeast causing a chronic infection scaling with the redness. The hair follicles in the vicinity of the inflammatory cells are adversely affected because of the unhealthy environment surrounding them. Thus seborrheic dermatitis may non-specifically cause diffuse hair loss. This hair loss is reversible with decrease of the inflammation intensity.
Seborrheic dermatitis frequently affects persons in postpuberty and this serves as an extra evidence of hormonal influence. Research has verified that the human sebocyte respond to androgen stimulation.
The yeast called as Pityrosporum ovale has been implicated in the development of this condition, it is a lipophilic fungus. Since the disease seborrheic dermatitis responds well to the antifungal medication it is believed that the fungus plays a major role in the development of the disease. It has been suggested that seborrheic dermatitis is an inflammatory response to this organism. It is not clear why some persons develop seborrheic dermatitis and others do not.
Genetic and environmental factors, as well as attendance of some morbid diseases, may predispose specific populations to the development of seborrheic dermatitis. Normally seborrheic dermatitis affects only 4 percent of the general population; but its occurrence in persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome may be as high as 85 percent.
Many cases of seborrheic dermatitis are efficiently treated by shampooing daily or every other day with antidandruff shampoos containing 2.5 percent selenium sulfide or 1 to 2 percent pyrithione zinc. on the other hand, ketoconazole shampoo may be used.
Topical corticosteroid solutions, lotions or ointments may be used once or twice daily for one to three weeks till the itching and erythema fade away.
Reference: http://www.hairdisease.com
