Is oxidative stress damaging your scalp and hair?
J. R. Schwartz, J. P. Henry, K. M. Kerr, H. Mizoguchi, L. Li
The role of oxidative damage in poor scalp health: ramifications to causality and associated hair growth
BACKGROUND
The most common disorders of scalp health are dandruff and seborrhoeic dermatitis, often exceeding a combined 50% of the population. The oxidative stress element of unhealthy scalp leads to compromised pre-emergent hair formation and poorly formed hair as it grows. Only cosmetic solutions can minimize the impact of unhealthy hair, and to achieve healthy looking and feeling hair, the scalp health must be normalized first.
OBJECTIVE
To both investigate whether oxidative stress is a relevant aetiological element in scalp dandruff and seborrhoeic dermatitis, and whether scalp condition affects the quality of hair that grows from it. Further, this research is designed to determine whether an effective anti-dandruff shampoo would repair and protect the scalp and pre-emergent hair from oxidative stress.
METHOD
A randomized, double-blind, multisite study was conducted in Winnipeg, Canada and Minnesota, USA. The study focused on male and female subjects (18–75 years old) after obtaining the informed consent under the principles of Good Clinical Practice. It consisted of 8 weeks pre-treatment phase followed by 16 weeks treatment phase. D/SD subjects were then randomized into one of the two treatment groups: potentiated ZPT shampoo group and placebo cosmetic shampoo group.
RESULTS
The data show a significant increase in HODE levels in both the scalp and newly grown hair of a dandruff population as compared to the control healthy scalp, indicating the elevated presence of oxidative stress state in dandruff. In the scalp, a significantly greater reduction in HODE level was observed in potentiated ZPT shampoo group compared to placebo cosmetic shampoo group after 3 weeks of usage. Continued use of potentiated ZPT shampoo resulted in further lowering of HODE level, achieving >70% reduction relative to baseline with a highly significant treatment difference relative to placebo cosmetic shampoo.
CONCLUSION
The oxidative stress element of unhealthy scalp leads to compromised pre-emergent hair formation. Once poorly formed hair emerges from the scalp, there is no way to fundamentally repair it, and only cosmetic solutions can minimize the impact of the unhealthy hair. Thus, to achieve healthy looking and feeling hair, the scalp health must be normalized first.
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CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT
This study was funded by The Procter and Gamble Company.