Styling practices can lead to serious hair and scalp diseases
for African-Americans Styling practices can lead to serious hair
and scalp diseases for some African Americans, says Henry Ford
Hospital dermatologist Diane Jackson-Richards, M.D. "Hair is an
extremely important aspect of an African-American woman's
appearance," says Dr. Jackson-Richards, director of Henry Ford's
Multicultural Dermatology Clinic. "Yet, many women who have a
hair or scalp disease do not feel their physician takes them
seriously. Physicians should become more familiar with the
culturally accepted treatments for these diseases." Dr. Jackson-
Richards says proper hair care can help prevent the onset of
such diseases like seborrheic dermatitis and alopecia, and that
dermatologists need to become more sensitive to the hair and
scalp plights of African Americans. Dr. Jackson-Richards will
discuss these issues Monday during a presentation of "Hair
Disease and the African-American Patient" at the annual American
Academy of Dermatology confer