News

An inability of scalp stem cells to develop into the type of cells that make hair follicles may be an underlying cause of male-pattern baldness, msnbc.com reports.

Only 25 percent of Australian adults over 40 were able to identify the skin as an organ without prompting, Australia’s HeraldSun.com.au reports.

Drugmaker Allergan is recruiting volunteers for clinical trials of a hair-growth treatment based on the active ingredient in Latisse (bimatoprost ophthalmic solution, 0.03 percent), the company’s eyelash-growth treatment.

Recently released survey results suggest that a significant portion of young women who regularly use tanning beds were introduced to them by their mothers, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reports.

Swiss pharmaceutical company Galderma is close to acquiring Q-Med, the Sweden-based maker of Botox rival Restylane (hyaluronic acid), for about $970 million, Reuters reports.

Results of a new study suggest that patients - especially women - with psoriasis may be at increased risk for metabolic syndrome, MedPage Today reports.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Gardasil (human papillomavirus [HPV] quadrivalent vaccine, recombinant; Merck) for the prevention of anal cancer and associated precancerous lesions due to HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18 in people ages 9 through 26 years, PRNewswire-USNewswire reports.

Scrambling for Residents : Dermatology training programs seek altruistic students, alternate funding Decision on 'D' : IOM recommends minor boost in intakes for ‘sunshine vitamin,’ calcium Special Report : Dermatitis

The 2011 Medicare physician fee schedule published Nov. 29 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) offers valuable insight into reimbursement for 2011. The final rule adjusts work relative value units downward for many services, but dermatology emerges as one of winners, getting a 4 percent increase overall.

If the cause of a patient's dermatitis can't be completely avoided, then topical steroids are a first line of treatment in efforts to alleviate the condition. If the dermatitis is weeping, oozing or crusted, the topical steroid can be deferred a few days to allow to dermatitis to dry out somewhat.

New analyses from premarketing clinical trials show that ustekinumab (Stelara, Centocor Ortho Biotech) for moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis offers sustained efficacy and has a favorable safety and tolerability profile out to three years.

Although use of teledermatology is growing, such programs face obstacles, including a lack of federal reimbursement, experts say. Still, they agree that the ability to see faraway patients' problems can be a valuable adjunct to standard clinical care.

Somewhere between soap and water, fillers and facial peels, are skincare regimens that can help to maintain healthy, youthful skin. Most cosmeceuticals aren't required to have approval from the Food and Drug Administration, so they often lack complete studies to support their effectiveness. But they can still play a role in giving skin a younger, fresher appearance.

New low-power lasers for hair removal can deliver advances in efficacy, safety and patient comfort, according to recent studies. The LightSheer Duet diode laser (Lumenis) delivers high speed and vacuum technology with its low-power HS handpiece, offering a 22 mm by 35 mm spot size.

Sunscreen allergy may be on the rise in your practice because of the increased use of oxybenzone. Oxybenzone absorbs in the UVA range and is also used to photostabilize avobenzone. Its use has been increasing since the concept of photostabilization entered the sunscreen market.

Dermatology training programs continue to confront the practitioner shortage by courting residents likely to work in underserved markets, encouraging altruism and, increasingly, using nongovernmental money to fund residency slots, experts say.

Recently, a 78-year-old woman for whom I had cared in the past returned with a complaint of numerous growths on her neck. I informed the patient that I would be happy to remove her skin tags, but there was no medical indication to do so. The treatment would not be an insurance-covered service. She was not at all happy about this response.

A 2010 study shows that the use of Zyclara (imiquimod 3.75 percent, Graceway) following cryosurgery complements the efficacy of cryosurgery in the total reduction and complete clearance of actinic keratoses (AKs).

A new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has found that there is insufficient evidence to support major revisions in the dietary reference intakes for calcium and vitamin D.

If you're like most Americans, you feel less secure about the U.S. economy. Certainly, this is justified. It's crucial that savvy investors - including physicians - learn from the past two years and adjust their investment behavior accordingly.

In a recent study, topical imiquimod 5 percent (Aldara, Graceway) showed efficacy against lentigo maligna (LM) (the in situ form of lentigo maligna melanoma), but the study's lead author cautions that long-term follow-up is crucial for patients treated with it.

Dermatologists and other physicians who treat Medicare patients escaped the 23 percent reimbursement reduction scheduled to take effect in December, and the pressure was on the lame-duck Congress in December to prevent the 24.9 percent cut slated for Jan. 1 from being implemented.

On Call asked dermatologists around the country whether they prefer to see the national healthcare reform legislation repealed or repaired. We also asked what they like - and dislike - most about the law.

Successful treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) often combines medical and surgical treatments, guided by increasingly sensitive symptom severity scales, according to one expert.

Experts in contact dermatitis are finding that good outcomes after patch testing might be more of a matter of how the results are used than anything else. According to Matthew J. Zirwas, M.D., director, Contact Dermatitis Center, Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, some new studies are revealing novel approaches for managing patients after patch testing that are more likely to benefit the patients.

Dr. Derm and his associates decided it was in the practice's best interests if he left. His access to network office materials should have been terminated Jan. 1, but it was not until Feb. 1 that it was done. In the meantime, Dr. Derm downloaded medical records of some of his former associates' family members.

Patients with repeated dermatitis of the skin surrounding the nail plate might benefit from a refresher course on the chemical agents commonly used to formulate various nail products and possible skin reactions associated with those agents, according to a physician.

The next time you see a patient presenting with a widespread, severely pruritic rash, ask them if he or she has been in any hot tubs lately. A common chemical used in hot tubs called potassium peroxymonosulfate could be the culprit. The rash tends to affect the back, calves and inner parts of arms.

Effectively treating metastatic melanoma remains a challenging task, and this is particularly true when the tumor spreads to the brain. Gamma Knife radiosurgery is one therapeutic modality that can treat metastatic lesions in the brains of carefully selected patients while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue and improving patients' quality of life.

Maintaining a high index of suspicion for sebaceous carcinoma is important in those patients who present with certain periocular lesions, because sebaceous carcinoma can be an aggressive tumor that's often misdiagnosed, says Marc Brown, M.D.