How Dandruff Can Be Linked To Hair Loss

There are several possible causes of dandruff.

These include:

• Dry skin
• Adverse reaction to hair and skin products
• Skin disorders (e.g., psoriasis, seborrhoeic dermatitis)
• Head lice infestation
• Poor diet
• Yeast sensitivity

However, dandruff can also be linked to hair loss resulting from androgenetic alopecia (male and female pattern baldness).




Here's the connection between dandruff and the hair loss process:

First of all, androgenetic alopecia is caused by skull expansion (skull bone growth) of the frontal and parietal bones. These bones underlie the male pattern baldness region of the scalp and so, as they grow, they constrict the capillaries that supply blood to the skin. This prevents adequate hair nutrition and growth, resulting in progressive hair follicle miniaturization and hair loss.

The hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is largely responsible for this bone growth. That's because it has an anabolic effect on bone tissue (i.e., it encourages bone growth).

To make matters worse, the body then attempts to compensate for this hair loss by increasing DHT levels in the scalp! It initiates this process (known as "upregulation") because DHT also stimulates hair growth (for example during puberty DHT is responsible for body and pubic hair growth as well as bone and muscle development).

However, this attempt to increase hair growth is unsuccessful. There are two likely reasons for this:

1. An increase in DHT levels will further encourage the skull expansion process. This, of course, causes an even greater strain on the blood supply to the hair follicles. And so a vicious circle is created.

2. The body will rush through anagen (the growing phase of the hair growth cycle) and enter catagen (shedding phase) and then telogen (resting phase) much sooner than it normally would. This causes the hair to thin and the rate of hair loss to increase. And, whilst this hair should eventually re-enter anagen and start growing again, strong, healthy hair growth is unlikely due to the progressive effects of skull expansion.


Since hair growth in the outer (dermal) layer of the scalp has been restricted, DHT will instead promote more rapid cell growth at a deeper level of the scalp (called the stratum germinatum layer).

This interference with normal cell division results in skin cells rising up towards the surface of the skin faster than normal, causing increased shedding of the skin - dandruff.

And, as a result of this increased rate of shedding, the skin layer can also become thinner (i.e., because it's being lost at the surface faster than it can be replaced from below).

High DHT levels will also stimulate an increase in the amount of sebum (oil) produced in the scalp. And high sebum levels is associated with seborrhoeic dermatitis - a skin disorder which can cause even more dandruff!

As extensive baldness develops, the rate of dandruff formation should eventually decrease and finally stop. That's because the follicles are only producing vellus (tiny) hair or no hair at all. And, when hair growth has all but stopped, the body will recognize this and reduce (downregulate) DHT and sebum production.

If you suffer dandruff as a result of hair loss (caused by androgenetic alopecia) it may be that by addressing your hair loss problem, you will also be able to reduce or prevent your dandruff.

I believe the most effective way to treat hair loss is to treat the underlying cause - skull expansion. Many men and women are now using the techniques I developed to successfully stop their hair loss and restore normal hair growth again.

How Skull Expansion Explains Successful Hair Transplants

Some people ask me: If skull expansion causes hair loss, how do you explain the success of hair transplant operations?

It's a good question. Follicles from the back of the head (occipital region) transplanted to the balding (MPB) region can successfully grow hair. But, follicles from the MPB region transplanted to some other part of the body do not.

Why?

I believe there are a number of reasons:

First of all, at the time of a transplant, a patient will already be experiencing severe hair loss. This indicates that, in the area which will receive the transplant, skull expansion has probably already fully developed * and so no more (or very little) bone growth will occur following the procedure.

* Obviously the skull doesn't keep growing indefinitely, this process does eventually stop: the extent to which it grows depends upon skull shape. This also explains why some people will lose nearly all their hair whilst others lose hair in just one area (e.g., receding temples) or to a lesser extent (e.g., thinning hair).

So, if either existing MPB region follicles can be rejuvenated or healthy donor follicles/follicular units are transplanted to this area, normal healthy hair will be produced.

However, hair transplantation is a complicated process, so there's a lot more to it than that.

Transplanted follicles are avascular (i.e., without blood vessels) and must successfully stimulate angiogenesis (new blood vessel generation) if they are to survive. Follicles transplanted from the occipital region can successfully stimulate angiogenesis because:

1. They are healthy and active, vigorously producing hair.

2. They are normal sized, not miniaturized. This means that, when inserted, they should be slightly closer to the microcirculation (blood supply) beneath the follicle than are the remaining (miniaturized) follicles in the MPB region.

3. They have a small protective layer of brown adipose tissue (brown adipose tissue).

Brown adipose tissue is a type of fat (the other type being white adipose tissue) and has already been explained in a previous newsletter. If you missed it you can find out more from the following page:

http://www.top-hair-loss-remedy.com/brown-fat.html

Brown adipose tissue (or brown fat) accumulates around the follicles of healthy actively growing hair (such as in the occipital region), but not around dormant follicles such as in the MPB region. And it's been observed that the transplant technique known as follicular unit extraction (FUE) often lacks the protective layer of fat that other transplant techniques manage to extract from the donor site. In consequence of this, poor hair growth may result.

Also, studies have been made that link brown fat to angiogenesis.

So, for all these reasons, it is likely that brown fat assists in hair growth.

The picture below shows hair follicles penetrating deep into the fat layer, and the blood supply beneath it, in a healthy region of the scalp.




Follicles transplanted from the MPB region to some other part of the body cannot adequately grow hair because:

1. They are weaker and less active than follicles from the occipital region.

2. They are miniaturized and so will be further away from the microcirculation when inserted.

3. They do not carry any supportive adipose tissue.

Angiogenesis and healthy hair growth are, therefore, much less likely to succeed.

So, I would suggest that these are the reasons why transplanted follicles can grow hair in one region but not in another.

Rather than suffer the trauma of surgery, I believe the most effective way to beat hair loss is to treat the underlying cause: skull expansion. Many men and women are now using the techniques I developed to successfully stop their hair loss and restore normal hair growth again.

Seborrhoeic Dermatitis

I explained how dandruff can sometimes be linked to hair loss. I also mentioned that dihydrotestosterone (DHT) will increase sebum production which might then lead on to seborrhoeic dermatitis - a skin disorder which can cause even more dandruff!

So, in this newsletter I'll explain more about seborrhoeic dermatitis, as well as other causes of dandruff, and how to treat it.

Seborrhoeic dermatitis is a skin disorder that can affect the scalp, face and trunk. Symptoms include scaly, flaky, itchy, red or inflamed skin as you can see from the picture below. When it affects the scalp it can also cause severe dandruff (usually forming larger, greasier flakes than other types of dandruff).



Whilst its cause remains unknown, there are several possible factors that may be involved: genetic, environmental, hormonal and the immune system.

However, perhaps the most likely cause is the yeast (or fungus) called malassezia furfur* (which was formerly known as pityrosporum ovale). It's possible that an inflammatory response to this yeast might occur.

Research also suggests that, since seborrhoeic dermatitis mostly affects areas where sebaceous glands are abundant (i.e., the scalp), this yeast feeds upon the sebum these glands produce, allowing it to proliferate.

This theory is also supported by the fact that anti-fungal agents have proven effective against this condition. This yeast usually exists on your body and scalp all the time without causing any problems. So it may well be that a combination of high sebum levels and inadequate washing is what triggers this condition.

Malassezia cannot live in acidic (low pH) conditions. Skin has a slightly acidic pH of 5. But, oils (including sebum) do not have a pH value. So, if your scalp is constantly saturated in sebum, your scalp may be open to the spread of seborrhoeic dermatitis.

Shampoos can vary in pH between 4 and 8.5 but anti-dandruff shampoos should be low in pH.

* Note that other strains of malassezia (globosa and restricta) have also been linked to seborrhoeic dermatitis.

Anti-fungal shampoos

The anti-fungal agents these shampoos contain include:

• Ketoconazole
• Zinc pyrithione
• Selenium sulphide
• Coal tar
• Salicylic acid
• Tea-tree oil

Salicylic acid will remove dead skin cells and decrease the rate at which they form. Zinc pyrithione kills malassezia furfur. Selenium sulfide and Ketoconazole will each accomplish what salicylic acid and zinc pyrithione achieve combined. Research suggests that Nizoral shampoo (which contains Ketoconazole) Is the most effective anti-fungal shampoo.

Other Causes Of Dandruff And How To Treat It

 Dandruff can be caused by both internal and external factors.

Internal factors include:

• Hormone imbalance
• Poor health and diet
• Allergies
• Stress
• Genetic predisposition

External factors include:

• Poor hygiene (e.g., infrequent hair washing and poor rinsing of the scalp).
• Excessive use of hair sprays, gels, and products containing alcohol (which over dry the scalp).
• Excessive use of hair-coloring products.
• Overuse of hair curlers. Hair dryers can also over dry the scalp.
• Cold weather, indoor heating causing excessive dry scalp.

Treatment for dandruff

First of all, there's no cure for dandruff. But there are plenty of things you can do to control it.

These are the top tips for eliminating and preventing dandruff:

1. Choose a mild dandruff shampoo - strong, detergent-based shampoos clean the scalp, but often cause excessive drying. So, if you shampoo every day, use organic (or baby) shampoo.

2. Brush your scalp before you wash your hair - this will loosen flakes of skin.

3. Use a shampoo with a low pH - as stated with seborrhoeic dermatitis, most anti-dandruff shampoos will normalize the pH of the scalp - i.e., to give a slightly lower (acidic) pH.

So, how do you find the pH of shampoo?

Good question. Some shampoos may state the pH on the packaging, or you could buy pH test strips or just email or Google the company before you buy.

Shampoos have many ingredients - ideally you would use a shampoo which contains only organic ingredients.

4. Nutrition can also help control dandruff. If you eat lots of sugar and saturated fats, you will encourage DHT and sebum production. So, eating healthy and getting plenty of B vitamins is recommended. Garlic, onion and oil of oregano are also said to help.

How Finasteride Treats the Secondary Effects of DHT

It is well known that DHT is linked to androgenetic alopecia. It's also quite well known that the drug finasteride can help reduce the rate at which this type of hair loss develops (and may even encourage new hair growth for some people).

However, it is not so well known that the purpose of DHT in the body is for hair growth, not hair loss. This steroid hormone is used by the body to promote the growth of bone, muscle and hair.

I believe the primary effect of DHT in the hair loss process is that it contributes to skull expansion by stimulating certain skull bones to grow. But DHT also has a secondary effect. This newsletter explains what this secondary effect is, and how finasteride provides some resistance to it.

Hair loss develops because skull expansion causes a reduction in the capillary blood supply to the hair follicles. Eventually, this causes follicle miniaturization which chokes hair growth. The body reacts to this by starting "upregulation" (hyperandrogenicity). This means that the body tries to restore normal healthy hair growth again by increasing DHT production* within the follicles that are affected by skull expansion.

* Remember, that's what DHT does: it stimulates growth, not loss.

Now, higher DHT levels will accelerate mitosis (cell division) and so should help struggling hair to grow.

But, when the rate of mitosis is increased, the blood supply becomes insufficient to grow hair that fast (i.e., because skull expansion has reduced the capillary blood supply). As such, the (papillae) cells in the root of the hair fail to meet the growth demand placed upon them by DHT.

Instead, the result of all this extra DHT is to make the body rush through the growth phase (anagen) and reach catagen (the shedding phase) and telogen (the resting phase) much sooner than it normally would.

This obviously causes the amount of hair loss to increase. It also means that more hair follicles are in the resting phase. And, whilst the hair growth cycle will restart again, strong healthy hair growth is less likely due to the progressive effects of skull expansion and further accumulation of DHT.

Also, since hair growth in the outer (dermal) layer of the scalp has been restricted, DHT will instead promote more rapid cell division at a deeper level of the scalp (called the stratum germinatum layer).

This interference with normal cell division can result in skin cells rising up towards the surface of the skin faster than normal, causing increased shedding of the skin - dandruff. (This was explained in a previous newsletter).

Finasteride treats this secondary effect of DHT by reducing levels of 5 alpha reductase (an enzyme that converts testosterone into DHT). And so, by reducing DHT levels in this way, finasteride extends the shortened anagen phase which, of course, allows more hair to grow.

However, finasteride does not reverse the miniaturization of the hair follicles. I believe this is because it does not effectively treat the skull expansion process (i.e., the underlying cause of hair follicle miniaturization). It only addresses the negative effects caused by the body when it increases DHT production (upregulation).

Another problem with finasteride is that further upregulation can easily occur. Many people experience this when they start using this drug.

Basically, the body can compensate for the reduction in 5 alpha reductase forced upon it by finasteride. Essentially, it tries even harder to increase the quantity of 5 alpha reductase and DHT production in the affected region of the scalp.

This explains why there can be an initial increase in hair loss when people start using finasteride and again when they stop using it.

Although finasteride and other drugs such as dutasteride and minoxidil are used by some people to treat hair loss, there's a risk of developing side effects.

The method I used and recommend is completely drug free.