Diagram showing the various causal pathways in MPB

mphatesmpb wrote:Avoiding irritants and pollutants is just a matter of minimizing exposure to synthetic chemicals. You can only have so much success with this, but stopping the use of commercial shampoos is a good starting point.

Microbes can be addressed with natural anti-biotics like coconut oil, garlic, onion...there are many others.

Tocotrienols are known to accumulate in the skin and prevent damage from UVR. I heard pomegranates have a similar skin-protective effect.

Nitric oxide is also generated by phagocytes (monocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils) as part of the human immune response. Phagocytes are armed with inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), which is activated by interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) as a single signal or by tumor necrosis factor (TNF) along with a second signal.[17] On the other hand, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) provides a strong inhibitory signal to iNOS, whereas interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-10 provide weak inhibitory signals. In this way the immune system may regulate the armamentarium of phagocytes that play a role in inflammation and immune responses. Nitric oxide secreted as an immune response is as free radicals and is toxic to bacteria; the mechanism for this includes DNA damage[18][19][20] and degradation of iron sulfur centers into iron ions and iron-nitrosyl compounds.[21] In response, however, many bacterial pathogens have evolved mechanisms for nitric oxide resistance.[22] Because nitric oxide might serve as an inflammometer in conditions like asthma, there has been increasing interest in the use of exhaled nitric oxide as a breath test in diseases with airway inflammation. Reduced levels of exhaled NO have been associated with exposure to air pollution.[23]