What you need to know about dandruff and its causes.

A common condition
Dandruff is a prevalent scalp condition affecting 63 million Americans. That's one out of every three adults, many of whom don't know they are at risk. Dandruff usually occurs after puberty, afflicting men slightly more than women. In addition, dandruff is often more severe for people living in cold weather climates.

The real causes of dandruff
Contrary to popular myth, dandruff is NOT caused by poor hygiene, dry scalp, frequent shampooing or excessive styling and blow-drying.

Researchers believe that a leading cause of dandruff is a microorganism called Pityrosporum Ovale (P. ovale), a fungus that normally exists on everyone's scalp, even those without dandruff.

Dandruff occurs when there is an overabundance of P. ovale coupled with an increased sensitivity to the fungus. This increased sensitivity can be triggered by many factors, among them:

• Climate
• Hormones
• Diet
• Heredity
• Stress

As the body fights against P. ovale, the natural process of scalp cell renewal is accelerated, causing dead cells to fall off faster. The result is the flaking, scaling and itching of dandruff.