High Humidity, Plenty of Cloud Cover and Low Temperatures Favour Seborrheic Dermatitis

Quantitative Climate Date Point to Risk Factors for Seborrheic Dermatitis

Seborrheic dermatitis is a common itchy, red and scaly eruption that affects about 2-5 % of humans. It is closely related to dandruff. A new study from Turkey sought to identify environmental and climate related risk factors for seborrheic dermatitis. The author of the study tried to correlate the frequency of SD with several variables such as humidity, temperature, rainfall, atmospheric pressure, cloud cover and UV index.

A new study examined the relationship between certain environmental factors and the development of seborrheic dermatitis. High humidity, low temperatures and cloud cover were associated with the development of seborrheic dermatitis.

The study evaluated 966 patients with seborrheic dermatitis including 412 males and 584 females. The frequency of seborrheic dermatitis was 5.06 % in winter and 4.41 % in summer. Data showed that there was a a positive correlation between the frequency of seborrheic dermatitis and cloud cover and humidity and a negative correlation between seborrheic dermatitis and temperature. There was no correlation with UV index, rainfall or atmospheric pressure.

The studies point to some of the more important environmental risk factors for SD.

REFERENCE

Kutlu et al. Evaluation of the correlation between frequency of seborrheic dermatitis and quantitative climate data. Int J Dermatol. 2021 Jul