Hi Vero,
it’s good to hear from you again. It makes me very happy that you’re still in control of the SD. It’s nice to know that my post has made some difference
I have a personal feeling – I’ve not done the thorough research, though – that it could be linked to our immune system and bacterial flora, which in turn are also greatly influenced by our gut and digestion, like you mention. As far is I know, it the yeast Malassezia that’s the cause of SD, and it’s present on most people. It’s causes opportunistic infections. I actually considered inoculating my face with bacteria that are a natural part of the colonization on our skin. This would leave less “room” and nutrients for the malassezia fungus to settle in and grow.
I don’t know if your research has carried you this way, Michael, but I’ll suggest it anyway. I was looking into the Corynebacterium that inhabit the skin, and in particular the Corynebacterium lipophilicus that likes the sebum that the Malassezia yeast also seems to thrive on. The idea is then to have this harmless bacterium living on my nose instead of the yeast that causes all this trouble.
These bacteria are usually introduced in early stages of life, and if something goes wrong, then other, more harmful guests may take their place. I guess that’s why SD is also seen a lot in young children that have yet to develop the full, balanced community of bacteria. Also, with a lot of people living more and more sterile lives, we might not have been introduced to these bacteria, or at least not to the same extent. If you are born by C-section and given formula as a baby then you don’t develop the same micro-flora and immune system. This is related to all sorts of allergies and problems.
I think I’m predisposed to other types of fungal infections as well – not just SD – which might be linked to a “hole” in the micro-flora of my skin that should be taken up by harmless bacteria instead of the fungi. If I recall correctly, I was born by C-section, which might have robbed me if some if the good stuff you get exposed to (in a microbiological sense) by a natural birth.
I’m not sure of the mechanics, but the SD kicked in when I was about 20 and waving goodbye to my teenage years, and maybe some hormones or whatnot – hormones are not my field – which could have kept the balance in check somehow. This is quite speculative, but it’s an educated guess if nothing else
I sort of went off on a tangent here, but maybe this will get your head-gears spinning, Michael Maybe someone will come up with a sort of permanent “bacterial vaccine” or some other clever ploy in the future that can fix the issue for good.
Either way, I’m happy that we can just kill the yeast with nystatin in the meantime. But like you, Vero, I’d like to keep the amount of administered medication to a minimum, so treating the problem at its core would be a great improvement over the symptomatic treatment we are using now.