Dandruff

Dandruff (seborrhoea) is a common skin problem of the scalp that all people experiences. Dandruff is shedding of dead skin flakes as the skin is constantly renewing itself, causes flakes of skin to appear which is marked by itching. It affects not only the scalp but also ears, sides of nose, beard and eyebrows. The good news is that dandruff usually can be controlled. Mild cases of dandruff may need nothing more than daily shampooing with a gentle cleanser. More stubborn cases of dandruff often respond to medicated shampoos. A type of dandruff called cradle cap can affect babies. This disorder, which causes a scaly, crusty scalp, is most common in new borns, but it can occur anytime during infancy. Although it can be alarming for parents, cradle cap isn't dangerous and usually clears up on its own by the time a baby is 3 years old.

These statistics are calculated extrapolations of various prevalence or incidence rates against the populations of a particular country or region. The extrapolated prevalence of Dandruff in India is 195,785,036.

Anti-dandruff shampoo is the most widely used treatment for dandruff which contains zinc pyrithione, selenium sulphide, ketoconazole shampoo, salicylic acid, etc. All of the above drugs have antifungal effect that works by killing the malassezia fungi responsible for dandruff. Medicated shampoos available without a prescription can effectively control seborrheic dermatitis in many people. These anti-seborrhea shampoos contain a variety of chemicals that are beneficial in diminishing the inflammation and scaling of seborrhea. They include ketoconazole (Nizoral, Extina, Xolegel, Kuric), salicylic acid, selenium sulfide (Dandrex, Exsel, Selsun Blue), tar extract, and zinc pyrithione. Exactly how they work is speculative.

Some of the major researches on dandruff are Identification and characterization of lipases from Malassezia restricta, a causative agent of dandruff, Sensitive and simultaneous quantification of zinc pyrithione and climbazole deposition from anti-dandruff shampoos onto human scalp, Novel inhibitor against Malassezia globosa LIP1 (SMG1), a potential anti-dandruff target