30 Jan Could Keloids Suggest Increased Risk of Breast Cancer?
Keloid status of an individual may be indicative of a risk to be diagnosed with early-onset, late staged breast cancer....
Dermatology
21 Jan Depression May Be a Driver of Alopecia Areata
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_47053" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Vallerand[/caption]
Isabelle Vallerand, PhD
Epidemiologist, MD Student
Department of Community Health Sciences
Cumming School of Medicine
University of Calgary
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: It is well known that patients with alopecia areata, a form of autoimmune hair loss, are at a higher risk of suffering from depression than the general population. But in practice, we often hear patients tell us that they believe their hair loss developed as a result of stress or problems with mental health – certainly the phrase “so stressed your hair is falling out” is something most people have heard of. Despite this, there has actually been very little research investigating the role that mental health may have on development of alopecia areata.
Interestingly, depression has recently been associated with increased systemic inflammatory markers, so there is biologic plausibility that depression could increase the risk of alopecia areata. Our group was interested in addressing this question, and used a large population-level health records database with up to 26 years of follow-up to study it. We ultimately found that not only does depression increase one’s risk of alopecia areata, but that it increases their risk by nearly 90% compared to people who have never had depression. We also found that using antidepressants can significantly decrease the risk of developing alopecia areata in patients with depression. So there appears to be an important link between mental health and development of hair loss from alopecia areata.
15 Jan Increase Risk of Blistering Disorder with Diabetes Medication
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_46959" align="alignleft" width="259"] Example of Bullous PemphigoidDerm NZ image[/caption] Dong Hyun Kim M.D. Associate professor Department of Dermatology CHA Bundang Medical Center CHA University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: As a dermatologist, we see many patients with newly diagnosed with bullous pemphigoid (BP), many of whom have diabetes. The use of DPP-4 inhibitors is a common treatment for diabetes, we have noted previous case reports that DPP-4 inhibitors may be the cause of BP. For this reason, we started this study. The most important thing in my article is DPP-4 inhibitors, particularly vildagliptin, may be associated with the development of bullous pemphigoid in male patients with diabetes. We have confirmed these points based on the nationwide, population-based study. It is very meaningful because there have been few studies using large sample sizes so far.
13 Jan Why Are There So Few Minority Dermatologists?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Yssra S. Soliman, BA
Division of Dermatology, Department of Internal Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Bronx, New York
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: As the population of the United States becomes increasingly diverse, certain fields within medicine have not followed this trend. Dermatology is the least diverse field after orthopedics. We wanted to understand what barriers prevent medical students from applying to dermatology and whether these barriers differed based on students' racial, ethnic or socioeconomic backgrounds.
The main findings of this study are that certain groups are more likely to cite specific barriers than non-minority students. These barriers are significant deterrents to applying to dermatology and include the lack of diversity in dermatology, negative perceptions of minority students by residency programs, socioeconomic barriers such as lack of loan forgiveness and poor accessibility to mentors.
28 Dec Scabies: For Community Control, Exam of Just Arms and Legs May Be Sufficient
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael Marks MRCP DTM&H PhD Clinical Research Department, Faculty of Infectious & Tropical Diseases London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Hospital for Tropical Diseases London, United Kingdom Twitter @dr_michaelmarks Daniel Engelman MBBS; BMedSci; MPHTM; FRACP; PhD Centre for International Child Health, University of Melbourne, Tropical Diseases Research Group Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Melbourne, Australia Twitter @Dan_Engelman [caption id="attachment_46726" align="alignleft" width="400"]
The lateral aspect of the left hand depicted here, reveals the presence of papules due to an infestation of the human itch mite, Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis, in a case of what is commonly referred to as scabies.CDC image[/caption]
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
MM: Scabies is extremely common. Globally in the region of 100-200 million people are believed to be affected by scabies annually.
Recently the WHO has recognised Scabies as a ‘Neglected Tropical Disease’ in response to this burden of disease. There has been increasing interest in using Mass Drug Administration (treating whole communities) as a strategy to control scabies in communities. In order to make this practical countries need an easy mechanism for establishing if scabies is a significant problem in their communities. In general when treating an individual, clinicians would conduct a full body examination to diagnose scabies – however this may not be practical or necessary when making decisions about whether to treat whole communities.
DE: Despite the fact that Scabies is a very common condition that causes a great deal of health problems, it has been largely neglected by health, research and funding agencies – but pleasingly, the WHO has now started to take action on scabies control, starting with the recognition of scabies as a "Neglected Tropical Disease"
19 Dec Dapsone Found Effective As Second Line Treatment for Hives
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_46657" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Nicholas Soter[/caption]
Nicholas A. Soter, MD
The Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology
New York University School of Medicine
New York, New York
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Nearly 50% of patients with chronic spontaneous urticarial (CSU) (hives) incompletely respond to first-line therapy with H-1 antihistamines.
However, in the current literature, there is limited evidence to guide the treatment of CSU after maximal therapy with antihistamines fails. Two small, randomized, controlled trials suggest that dapsone, which is an antimicrobial therapeutic agent with anti-inflammatory properties, may be a useful second-line therapeutic agent.
15 Dec Dermatologist Discusses Personalized Approach to Skin Cancer Treatment
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_46583" align="alignleft" width="148"] Dr. Romine[/caption]
Dr. Kristine A. Romine MD
CEO and Founder of Camelback Dermatology & Skin Surgery
Phoenix, AZ
MedicalResearch.com: Would you give a brief overview of the different types of skin cancer?
Response: There are multiple types of skin cancer, including: melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and actinic keratosis. Known as the deadliest form of skin cancer, melanoma develops when irreparable DNA damage results in malignant transformation of melanocytes. This type of skin cancer is most commonly caused by intense UV exposure from the sun or tanning beds, which activate mutations that lead skin cells to rapidly multiply and form malignant tumors. Melanoma can range in color from dark brown to black and are rarely red or even skin colored. They are usually irregular and asymmetrical. In 2018, there were an estimated 91,270 new cases of melanoma (American Cancer Society, 2018).
Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common type of skin cancer and cancer diagnosed. BCCs arise in the skins’ outermost layers. BCCs resemble open sores, red or pink plaques, pearly nodules with telangiectasia, or scars. It is estimated that 4.3 million BCCs are diagnosed in the U.S. every year (Skin Cancer Foundation, 2018).
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), the second most common type of skin cancer, arises from the squamous cells in the skin that have been exposed to UV over long periods of time. SCCs appear as scaly red or pink macules, papules, or plaques. They can be crusted and appear eroded and can commonly arise within a solar keratosis. More than 1 million cases of SCC are diagnosed in the U.S. every year (Skin Cancer Foundation, 2018).
Lastly, actinic keratoses (AKs) are the most common pre-cancerous skin growth that can develop into a SCC if left untreated. Similar to all other types, AKs are caused by exposure to UV light and, in rare cases, high exposures to x-rays. AKs can appear on sun-exposed areas, including the face, scalp, ears, shoulders, and legs. They resemble pink, scaly rough patches on the skin.
04 Dec Psoriasis: Experimental Use of Lipid Molecule to Supress Inflammation
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_46353" align="alignleft" width="149"]
Dr. Bollag[/caption]
Wendy Bollag, PhD, FAHA
Professor of Physiology
VA Research Career Scientist
Augusta University, Georgia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We have previously shown that the lipid (fat) phosphatidylglycerol (PG) is able to inhibit rapidly growing keratinocytes (skin cells) and promote their maturation. We also found that PG can suppress skin inflammation.
Since the common skin disease psoriasis is characterized by inflammation and excessive growth and abnormal maturation of skin cells, we believed that PG might be useful as a treatment. However, the mechanism of its anti-inflammatory effect was unknown. PG in the lung has been found to inhibit inflammation induced by microbes or their components, which work by activating the innate immune system via binding to proteins called toll-like receptors (TLRs); however, psoriasis is not considered to be an infectious disease.
We hypothesized that PG would also inhibit inflammation induced by anti-microbial peptides that activate TLRs. Anti-microbial peptides, produced normally by the skin to protect against infection, are known to be excessively up-regulated in psoriatic skin.
01 Dec Machine Learning Program Superior to Humans in Non-Pigmented Skin Lesions
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Philipp Tschandl, MD PhD, Priv.Doz. Assistant Professor Department of Dermatology Medical University of Vienna MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Dermatoscopy is a non-invasive imaging technique, where the surface of the skin is rendered translucent and additional important morphologic features become visible from deeper layers. This is achieved through use of immersion fluid or cross-polarised light - equivalent to the effect when using a pair of goggles to look underwater, or polarised sunglasses to reduce glare on glass surfaces. After the first description of “Dermatoskopie" almost 100 years ago by a German dermatologist (Johann Saphier), this technique has evolved to a successful, low-cost, state-of-the-art technique for clinical skin cancer detection in the last decades. Convolutional neural networks (“CNN”) are powerful machine learning methods, and frequently applied to medical image data in the recent scientific literature. They are highly accurate for basic image classification tasks in experimental settings, and found to be as good as dermatologists in melanoma recognition on clinical or dermatoscopic images. In this study we trained a CNN to diagnose non-pigmented skin lesions (where melanomas are only a minority) through analysis of digital images, and compared the accuracy to >90 human readers including 62 board-certified dermatologists. This study expands knowledge in the following ways compared to previous work: - We applied the network for the detection of non-pigmented skin cancer, which is far more common in the (caucasian) population than melanoma. - We created a prediction model that combines analysis of a dermatoscopic and clinical image (“cCNN”) which is able to further increase diagnostic accuracy. - We compared accuracy not only to experts, but users with different level of experience
26 Nov Novel Use of Tazarotene Gel To Treat Acne Scarring
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_46193" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Narang[/caption]
Dr Tarun Narang MD MNAMS
Department of Dermatology, Venereology, and Leprology
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
Chandigarh, India
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Acne is one of the most common dermatological problem for which the patients seek medical care. Post acne scarring is a complication of acne, resulting in long lasting physical disfigurement and low self esteem in the affected individuals. Even though there are various methods like microneedling, chemical peeling, cryorolling and ablative lasers to address the post acne atrophic scarring, these procedures are office based hence physician dependent. A home based treatment modality that can treat post acne atrophic scarring with a comparable efficacy to the procedural modalities of treatment will be beneficial to the patient.
Our study was done to assess the efficacy of a topical modality of treatment, tazarotene gel, 0.1% in the management of post acne atrophic scarring in comparison to an established method, the microneedling.
17 Nov Omalizumab (XOLAIR) For Chronic Hives (Urticaria)
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_46078" align="alignleft" width="162"] Hives - Wikipedia image[/caption]
Christopher S. Lee, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, FHFSA
Professor and Associate Dean for Research
Boston College William F. Connell School of Nursing
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Although the efficacy of omalizumab (i.e. can it work?) in the treatment of chronic idiopathic (spontaneous) urticaria has been established in clinical trials, the effectiveness of omalziumab (i.e. does it work?) in the real-world management is less well established.
The purpose of this study was to synthesize what is known about the benefits and harms of omalizumab as used in real-world treatment of Chronic Idiopathic (Spontaneous) Urticaria.
15 Nov Hot Sun Increases Absorption of Sunscreen Ingredients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Audra Stinchcomb, PhD
Principal Investigator
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We have been studying the heat effects and repeated dose effects on the absorption of drugs across the skin for more than 5 years. We were curious to see if the effects we saw on gel, cream, and ointment pharmaceuticals also occurred with sunscreen.
Sunscreens are typically used in the hot sun and with reapplication every 80 minutes or so, depending on the product and user.
15 Nov Eczema Determined by Genetics or Environment?
What we see it that eczema is determined by genetics and with no know external factors causing or deteriorating the severity....
25 Oct Psoriasis Patients More Likely To Have Inflammatory Bowel Disease
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_18200" align="alignleft" width="266"]
Psoriasis[/caption]
Prof Ching-Chi Chi, MD, MMS, DPhil
Department of Dermatology
Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou
Guishan Dist, Taoyuan
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Previous studies have shown common genotypes, clinical course, and immunological features shared by psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease.
However, the relationship between psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease was largely unclear.
In this study, we found when compared to the general population, psoriatic patients are more likely to have concomitant inflammatory bowel disease.
15 Oct What Can Be Done About Sundamaged Skin?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_40693" align="alignleft" width="164"]
Dr. Prystowsky[/caption]
Dr. Janet Prystowsky, MD
Dr. Prystowsky is a leading board-certified dermatologist in
New York City.
In addition to her private practice, Dr. Prystowsky is a senior attending physician at Mount Sinai Roosevelt/St. Luke’s Medical Center.
http://www.janetprystowskymd.com/
MedicalResearch.com: When does sun damage to the skin start? Is there such a thing as a 'safe tan'? Who is most susceptible to photoaging? What parts of the body are more likely to show signs of sun damage?
Response: Sun damage will increase a person’s risk of premature aging and skin cancer. Although tanning does function to help protect your skin from excessive ultraviolet radiation tanning is still a form of sun damage. Also, people with very fair skin may not tan at all; only burn. They are the most susceptible to sun damage. Certain medical conditions (e.g., Lupus), medications, cosmetics, and food can make your more reactive (photosensitive) to sunlight.
Sunburns are caused by UV damage from sun rays, almost entirely due to UVB rays. UVA rays are weaker for burning but can contribute to blistering sunburns as well. For example, If you get lime peel rubbed on your skin while you are in the sun, you could get a bad burn. UVA can also cause significant skin damage that can result in premature wrinkling, brown spots, and skin cancer. That's why you'll see dermatologists pushing for broad-spectrum sunscreens as opposed to sunscreens that just protect against UVB rays.
11 Oct Psoriasis Patients Have Higher Risk of Sexual and Erectile Dysfunction
There is a increasing scientific evidence supporting the relationship between psoriasis and sexual dysfunction. ...
09 Oct Topical Minocycline Foam for Moderate-to-Severe Acne Meets Phase 3 Study Endpoints
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
David Domzalski
CEO
Foamix Pharmaceuticals
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? How does FMX101 differ from other treatment for acne, ie benzoyl peroxide, topical clindamycin etc?
Response: This study measures the safety and efficacy of a topical foam formulation of the antibiotic minocycline, for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acne.
Minocycline is one of the most commonly used products for the treatment of acne, but is currently only available in an oral dosage form.
Significant side effects are associated with oral minocycline, including GI upset, photosensitivity, headaches, dizziness, and other potential effects on the CNS. In addition to the side effects associated with oral minocycline, many currently available topical acne medications contain ingredients which can be drying and irritating to the skin. These side effects can be frustrating to patients and potentially impact overall compliance to their treatment regimen. The study addresses important unmet needs in dermatology to determine whether providing patients with a topical dosage form of minocycline may have potential advantages over existing products.
In our first two Phase 3 clinical studies, >95% of facial local tolerability signs and symptoms were classified as “none” or “mild,” including dryness, erythema and itching. Also, our topical minocycline foam, FMX101, is a natural triglyceride-based vehicle that does not contain ingredients that serve as primary irritants or surfactants. We believe that FMX101, if approved, would be the first topical minocycline available for the treatment of acne and provide a novel and much needed treatment option for patients who suffer from the physical and psycho-social effects of acne.
27 Sep Dermatology Care Varies Widely by Gender, Socioeconomic Factors and Race
Posted at 13:18h
in Author Interviews, Dermatology, Gender Differences, JAMA, Race/Ethnic Diversity, Social Issues
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_44810" align="alignleft" width="200"] Raghav Tripathi[/caption]
Raghav Tripathi, MPH
Case Western Reserve University
MD Candidate, Class of 2021
MedicalResearch.com: Why did you decide to perform this study?
Response: Differences in the impact of dermatologic conditions on different groups have been of interest to our research group for a long time. Previously, our group had found differences in time to treatment for patients with different skin cancers. Beyond this, we had found differences in mortality and incidence of various skin conditions (controlling for other factors) in different racial groups/ethnicities, socioeconomic groups, demographic groups, and across the rural-urban continuum.
The goal of this study was to investigate socioeconomic and demographic differences in utilization of outpatient dermatologic care across the United States. As demographics throughout the country become more diverse, understanding differences in utilization of dermatologic care is integral to developing policy approaches to increasing access to care across the country.
25 Sep IXORA-S Study Suggest Taltz May Provide Significantly Greater Clearance of Nail Psoriasis
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_44799" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Mallbris[/caption]
Lotus Mallbris, M.D., Ph.D.,
Vice president, Immunology Development
Lilly Bio-Medicines
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: By exploring creative clinical approaches and patient-centric pathways to more thoroughly address the key aspects of treating these complex conditions, Lilly is bringing innovation forward in hopes of reducing the burden of dermatologic disease for people around the world.
The results of the IXORA-S study suggest that Taltz may provide significantly greater clearance of nail psoriasis than ustekinumab. This is significant because nail lesions are a common feature of psoriasis. It’s often associated with discomfort, which can lead to functional impairment and distress, further supporting the importance of complete clearance.
21 Sep Medicare Spends Hundreds of Millions Annually to Treat Precancerous Skin Lesions
Posted at 15:09h
in Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Cost of Health Care, Dermatology, Emory, JAMA, Medicare
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Howa Yeung, MD
Assistant Professor of Dermatology
Emory University School of Medicine
Atlanta, GA 30322
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain what is meant by actinic keratoses?
Response: Actinic keratoses are common precancerous skin lesions caused by sun exposure. Because actinic keratoses may develop into skin cancers such as squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma, they are often treated by various destructive methods. We used Medicare Part B billing claims to estimate the number and cost of treated actinic keratoses from 2007 to 2015.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: While the number of Medicare Part B beneficiaries increased only moderately, the number of actinic keratoses treated by destruction rose from 29.7 million in 2007 to 35.6 million in 2015. Medicare paid an average annual amount of $413.1 million for actinic keratosis destruction from 2007 to 2015. Independently billing non-physician clinicians, including advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants, are treating an increasing proportion of actinic keratosis, peaking at 13.5% in 2015.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: Readers should understand that the burden of actinic keratosis treatment is increasing in the Medicare population. There is also an increasing proportion of actinic keratoses being treated by advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants.
19 Sep Experimental Cap Regrows Hair Using Photostimulation
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Han Eol Lee Ph.D.
Flexible and Nanobio Device Lab.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
KAIST
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Numerous people around the world have suffered from alopecia, which leads to aesthetic issues, low self-esteem, and social anxiety. With the population expansion alopecia patients from middle-age down even to the twenties, a depilation treatment is expected to have social and medical impacts on billions of patients. The causes of alopecia are generally known to be heredity, mental stress, aging, and elevated male hormone. Therapeutic techniques such as thermal, electrical, pharmacological, and optical stimulation have been proposed to treat hair problems. Among them, laser stimulation to hair-lost regions is a promising technique, activating the anagen phase and the proliferation of hair follicles without side effects. However, this laser stimulation technique has drawbacks, such as high power consumption, large size, and restrictive use in daily life (e.g., the difficulty of microscale spatial control and the long time exposure of high-energy laser).
15 Sep Clothing Patterns of Boys Compared to Girls May Explain Differences in Patterns of Mole Development
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_44531" align="alignleft" width="133"]
Dr. Crane[/caption]
Lori A. Crane, PhD
Department of Community and Behavioral Health
Colorado School of Public Health
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus,
Aurora CO
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Nevi, which are commonly called “moles”, are brown or black spots on the skin that are usually raised. Moles are the number one risk factor for malignant melanoma, the most dangerous kind of skin cancer. About 9,000 people die of melanoma each year in the U.S. The more moles a person has, the higher their risk for melanoma. Sun exposure is a major factor in the development of moles, and in order to prevent melanoma, it is important to better understand how moles are formed on the skin.
Most moles are formed during childhood and adolescence. We studied non-Hispanic and Hispanic white children age 3-16 and found that non-Hispanic children developed many more moles than Hispanic children. Overall, boys developed more moles than girls, but there were some important differences. For parts of the skin that are often covered by clothing but sometimes exposed to the sun, such as the chest and back, upper arms and upper legs, girls developed more moles than boys, especially among Hispanic children. In contrast, for parts of the skin that are usually exposed to the sun, such as the face, boys developed many more moles than girls. The development of moles leveled off by age 16 for parts of the skin usually exposed to the sun, while for the less often exposed skin, children continued to develop moles to age 16.
10 Sep Can the HPV Vaccine Be Used To Treat Some Skin Cancers?
Posted at 12:40h
in Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Dermatology, Heart Disease, JAMA, Vaccine Studies
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_44374" align="alignleft" width="134"]
Dr. Rapaport[/caption]
Dr. Jeffrey Rapaport MD, PA
Emeritus head of Dermatology
Teaneck's Holy Name Hospital.
Dr. Rapaport discusess a case recently reported in JAMA: In 2016:
A 97-year-old female patient was suffering from multiple squamous cell carcinomas varying from small to incredibly large in size on both of her legs. She was injected with the HPV vaccine commonly known as Gardasil, which is also used to treat warts and oral papilloma. She was first injected in her arm, and then after a period of six weeks, the vaccine was directly injected into her tumors. It was observed that this treatment eventually killed off almost all the tumors on her legs. According to recent press coverage, she is now looking forward to celebrating her 100th birthday in fall 2018.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?Is HPV thought be a trigger for some cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas?
Response: The link between skin cancers and HPV vaccinations has normally been investigated in patients who have received organ transplants. Due to the immune-suppressant drugs these patients must take, it is incredibly common to find cases of skin cancer in patients who have undergone transplants. The relaxed immune system, which would normally eliminate cancers caused by the HPV virus, would open the floodgates for multiple skin tumors to emerge. In this case of the 97 year old, I would assume her immune system was healthy. There is, however, growing evidence that receiving multiple vaccines for the HPV virus is necessary even in patients with healthy immune systems. So, regardless of immune health, I believe we need to expand the frequency of the HPV vaccine, even beyond the current three-tiered system for women below 26 and men below 21.
03 Sep Medical Residents and Program Directors Have Different Perceptions of New Parent Leave and Breastfeeding Policies
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_44309" align="alignleft" width="200"] Prof. Gracey[/caption]
Lia E. Gracey, MD, PhD
Department of Dermatology
Baylor Scott & White Health
Austin, Texas
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The co-authors and I were interested in this issue as new parent leave (or the lack thereof) is increasingly being examined in many professions. As a mother who had children during dermatology residency, I felt the pressure to take a short new parent leave to avoid having to make up time at the end of my training.
I came back to work only 3 ½ weeks after having my first baby. Anecdotally, other new parent residents (both men and women) reported similar concerns and we noticed a lack of data about new parent leave policies in dermatology residency training programs.
We distributed surveys to dermatology residency program directors and residents and were struck by a basic lack of awareness by residents for whether their institution even offered new parent leave. Less than 50% of surveyed residents were aware of a written new parent leave policy for their residency program, yet over 80% of program directors stated they had a policy in place. We also found discrepancies between resident and program director perceptions of sufficiency of new parent leave and the availability of pumping facilities for breastfeeding mothers.
01 Sep Genetics of Aggressive Skin Cancers in Patients with ‘Butterfly’ Skin Identified
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_44269" align="alignleft" width="148"]
Dr. South[/caption]
Dr Andrew South, PhD,
Associate Professor in the department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology at Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University)
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain what is meant by Butterfly Syndrome or recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa?
Response: Epidermolysis Bullosa, or EB, is a group of genetic diseases caused by mutations in genes which play a role in maintaining skin integrity. An EB patients’ skin can be very fragile which has been likened to butterfly wings, which are also very fragile. Skin blisters are common in EB patients and in some cases large wounds can result from the slightest mechanical trauma, hence the term Butterfly Syndrome.
Skin cancer is a major complication of patients with the recessive dystrophic subtype of EB, known as recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa or RDEB, and these cancers, called squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), are very aggressive. SCC is the leading cause of death in patients with RDEB. SCC also arise very early, affecting RDEB patients in their 20’s and 30’s. Our study used genetic analysis of cancers collected from patients to try and determine what causes the cancer at such an early age and what causes these cancers to be so fatal. Skin SCC arising in the general population as a result of sun exposure are generally benign and occur much later in life, regular skin SCC patients are predominantly over the age of 60, therefore something must be different about RDEB SCC.
30 Aug Kids May One Day Be Vaccinated Against Acne Toxins
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_44237" align="alignleft" width="180"]
Dr. Huang[/caption]
Eric Huang, PhD
Professor, Department of Dermatology
University of California, San Diego
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? To whom would the vaccine be targeted? Affected individuals? Patients with strong family history? Resistant acne cases?
Response: The background for this study is to develop vaccines to replace the antibiotics which may induce resistant bacteria.
Preventive acne vaccines will be used for injection into elementary students to prevent the acne development when they become teenagers. Therapeutic acne vaccines using monoclonal antibodies will be used for those patients who already have acne vulgaris.
Both patients with strong family history and resistant acne cases are highly recommended to use when the acne vaccines are available.
15 Aug Patients with CLL Should Be Monitored for Skin Cancer, Including Melanoma
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_43885" align="alignleft" width="160"]
Dr. Zent[/caption]
Clive S. Zent MD
Professor of Medicine
Director of Lymphoma/CLL Program
Wilmot Cancer Institute
University of Rochester Medical Center
Rochester NY
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL) have an increased risk of all skin cancers including malignant melanoma.
This study in a stable population of CLL patients managed by a regional referral center confirmed that melanoma was over 6 times more common in than in an age and sexed matched general population. Because of the proactive skin screening program at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Wilmot Cancer Center, most melanomas (77%) were detected at earlier stages and were treated surgically with curative intent. One patient with CLL and metastatic melanoma had a sustained remission of both diseases on treatment with ibrutinib and pembrolizumab.
04 Aug More Evidence UV Filters in Sunscreens Affect Marine Life
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Adela J. Li, PhD
Research Affiliate
Wadsworth Center, Rm. D597
New York State Dept. of Health
Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY, 12201-0509
On the behalf of Dr. Kelvin Leung
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Most people love the beach. In order to block the sun’s damaging UV radiation, people generally slather on a thick layer of sunscreen against sunburn and skin cancer. Sunscreen is suggested to be re-applied every few hours regarding its effectiveness as well as being washed off into the water. These UV filters have been detected in the environment but most studies concluded that individual sunscreen chemicals pose no/low risk to animals or human. However, UV filters constitute a heterogeneous group of chemicals in sunscreens. We are wondering if combination of UV filters would induce higher toxicity than individual compounds, and whether these chemical interactions would develop over time, becoming increasingly dangerous to the living systems.
Our study found seven of the nine UV filters in Shenzhen waters, China --- a rapidly urbanized city with over 20 popular recreational beaches, surprisingly, a reservoir and tap water. After exposing artemia to three dominant UV filters and then feeding these artemia to zebrafish adults, concentrations in both were up to 4 times higher when exposed to the mixtures than when exposed to only a single UV filter. A short-term of 25-day dietary exposure to the zebrafish adults did not appear to significantly influence early life stage development of the second generation; however, relatively long exposure over 47 days had significant adverse effects on embryo development.
25 Jul Waiting Room App Uses Selfies To Show Patients Effects of Sun Damage
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. med. Titus Brinker
Head of App-Development // Clinician Scientist
Department of Translational Oncology
National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT)
Department of Dermatology
University Hospital Heidelberg
Heidelberg
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: While everyone in the dermatologic community appears to agree on the importance of UV-protection for skin cancer prevention, busy clinicians often lack time to address it with their patients.
Thus, the aim of this study was to make use of waiting rooms that almost every patient visiting a clinic spends time in and address this topic in this setting by the means of modern technology rather than clinicians time.
We used our free photoaging app "Sunface" which shows the consequences of bad UV protection vs. good UV protection on the users' own 3D-animated selfie 5 to 25 years in the future and installed it on an iPad. The iPad was then centrally placed into the waiting room of our outpatient clinic on a table and had the Sunface App running permanently. The mirroring of the screen lead to a setting where every patient in the waiting room would see and eventually react to the selfie taken by one individual patient which was altered by the Sunface App.
Thus, the intervention was able to reach a large proportion of patients visiting our clinic: 165 (60.7%) of the 272 patients visiting our waiting room in the seven days the intervention was implemented either tried it themselves (119/72,12%) or watched another patient try the app (46/27,9%) even though our outpatient clinic is well organized and patients have to wait less than 20 minutes on average. Longer waiting times should yield more exposure to the intervention. Of the 119 patients who tried the app, 105 (88.2%) indicated that the intervention motivated them to increase their sun protection (74 of 83 men [89.2%]; 31 of 34 women [91.2%]) and to avoid indoor tanning beds (73 men [87.9%]; 31 women [91.2%]) and that the intervention was perceived as fun (83 men [98.8%]; 34 women [97.1%]).
21 Jul Restoring Mitochondrial Function Reverses Wrinkles and Hair Loss – in Mice
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_43364" align="alignleft" width="200"]
This transmission electron microscopic (TEM) image revealed some of the ultrastructural morphology displayed by a Candida sp. fungal organism. CW = cell wall, PM = plasma membrane, M = mitochondria, V = vacuole, and N = nucleusCDC image[/caption] Keshav K. Singh, Ph.D. Joy and Bill Harbert Endowed Chair in Cancer Genetics Professor of Genetics, Pathology and Environmental Health Founding Editor-in-Chief, Mitochondrion Journal Director, Cancer Genetics Program The University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL 35294 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Decline in mitochondrial DNA content and mitochondrial function has been observed in aging humans. We created mouse to mimic those condition to show that decline in mitochondrial function leads to development of wrinkles and loss of hair. The main finding is that by restoring mitochondrial function we can reverse skin wrinkles to normal healthy skin and also regain hair growth.