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- For those of you who are not familiar with Demodex, it is a microscopic
mite that is found living in the hair follicles or sebaceous glands of most humans and
animals. Sometimes Demodex is also called "Face Mite", since it is usually
associated with blackheads, acne and other skin discorders. Demodex are harmless and they
do not transmit diseases.
- While some have suggested that Demodex may cause scalp inflammation and the
eventual hair loss in some people, a study conducted by the University of California
Medical Center in 1995 concluded that Demodex is not the cause of scalp inflammation. The
research team studies folliculitis as it occurred to HIV-infected individuals. All the
subjects reported symtoms such as itchiness of the scalp and minor swelling etc. A total
of 52 biopsies were taken from the subjects. Micro-organisms such as bacteria, yeast and
Demodex were examined in detail. The results showed that a very small number of Demodex
were identified in 25% of the biopsies. What is more important is that the Demodex that
were identified were found in areas that were far away from the regions of inflammation.
It appears that Demodex has no direct bearing on the inflammation in this study.
However, the research team cautioned that the results here may not be applicable to the
general population. It is possible that the folliculitis conditions studied here may be
specific to HIV-infected individuals and had no direct relation to the actions of
Demodex.
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