News

The economic downturn has certainly affected your dermatology practice, decreasing patient volume and employee morale while increasing your overhead. The most significant challenge, however, may lie in the impact of the recession on your patients.

Parents may be unnecessarily urging their children to avoid certain foods under the mistaken belief that allergies may be triggering kids' atopic dermatitis, according to a physician.

The number of older physicians who are practicing is giving rise to questions from groups such as the National Patient Safety Foundation. On Call asked dermatologists whether there was any process in their area for handling doctors whose mental and physical abilities might be diminishing, but who were unaware their ability to practice effectively was being hampered by slowing cognitive abilities.

I am challenged every day by children with skin disease that has no evidenced-based approach to evaluation or treatment. The trickiest issue is that my medical recommendations seldom have enough specific evidence to prove safety and efficacy, so I have to be very familiar with the wide range of potential risks and weigh them carefully against the potential benefit in each case.

A recent study1 has looked at the extent and variability of vitamin D deficiency in patients with basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS). It does not reach any surprisingly new conclusions, but rather adds details on the scope of that deficiency, as has been seen in a growing body of literature across a wide range of maladies.

Risk stratification is crucial in helping clinicians identify which melanoma patients would benefit most from adjuvant therapy in the hopes of avoiding tumor recurrence. Though much work still needs to be done, researchers say they are closer to identifying which combination of gene markers can best assess the risk of recurrence in melanoma patients and who should receive adjuvant therapy.

A novel potential treatment is on the horizon for hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED), according to the director of research at a patient advocacy foundation.

After more than 20 years of widespread use, pulsed-dye lasers remain the therapy of choice in treating port wine stains in children and infants. Still, there have been no significant developments in recent years, and there is some disagreement regarding when treatment of port wine stains should begin.

The concept of pH-balanced products was introduced many years ago as an effective marketing strategy for soaps and moisturizers. pH-balanced is a consumer-friendly term for "neutral" pH. These products are usually formulated around a pH of 5 to 5.5. The idea is that neutral pH products will not cause stinging or burning when applied to sensitive, diseased or injured skin.

Speaking to a group may appear easy and even second nature to some physicians, but the ability to direct important, memorable messages to different target audiences requires practice. Though they may excel in their medical specialty, many physicians are not natural pedagogues comfortable speaking in front of a group.

Fat will be a major focus for research and development for both therapeutic drugs and medical devices in the coming years, and the next generation of treatments are sure to be minimally invasive, according to one dermatologist who spoke at Cosmetic Surgery Forum 2010, held in Las Vegas in December.

Dermatologists worldwide must remain vigilant against community acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA). And for potentially serious CA-MRSA infections, dermatologists should enlist help from infectious disease experts.

Physicians are relying on ultrasound and laser energy, the latter sometimes in combination with radiofrequency (RF) energy, to provide the minimally invasive fat treatments patients crave. In particular, the addition of lasers has reduced the invasiveness of liposuction.

Pediatric melanomas are uncommon, but because melanoma is not always as easily diagnosed in children as in adults, it is critical to perform biopsies for pediatric patients just as one would for adults, an expert says.

Usually, cellulitis is a straightforward diagnosis to the dermatologist, but atypical presentations and a list of clinically similar dermatoses mimicking the condition can confuse the clinician and lead to misdiagnosis. Accurately recognizing the variants of cellulitis and its differential diagnoses is crucial to diagnose the condition and prescribe appropriate therapy.

Pediatric patients are threatened by infestations such as bedbugs, head lice and scabies, so parents need to be vigilant of these risks, according to the chief of the division of pediatric dermatology at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Dermatologist Brooke Jackson, M.D., of Chicago, has made big strides building a running community where there was none previously: in Hyde Park.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of Zostavax (Merck), a live attenuated Varicella zoster virus vaccine, for the prevention of shingles in people ages 50 to 59 years old. The drug previously was approved for use in people ages 60 and older.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Yervoy (ipilimumab) for treatment of metastatic melanoma.

Roche officials say phase 2 trials of vismodegib, the company’s experimental oral skin cancer drug, suggest that the treatment has the ability to shrink advanced basal cell carcinoma tumors in some patients, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

New research suggests that a protein associated with wound healing could prove helpful in preventing the spread of tumors or fibrosis, Medical News Today reports.

Patients with recent-onset Parkinson’s disease (PD) tend to have a high prevalence of insufficient vitamin D levels, but - contrary to expectation - concentrations of the vitamin do not appear to decline as the disease progresses, Medical News Today reports.

A drug commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis also appears capable of inhibiting the growth of malignant melanoma, ScienceDaily.com reports.

New technology developed by a University of Rochester (N.Y.) optics professor may enable doctors to examine potentially cancerous skin lesions without having to physically biopsy them, ScienceDaily.com reports.

Results of a new study suggest that men who take the drug finasteride to halt male pattern hair loss may experience an ongoing reduction in sex drive and, in some cases, prolonged periods of erectile dysfunction even after they stop using the drug, Medical News Today reports.

A new study suggests that self-treating skin eruptions by using a tanning bed may cause more problems than it solves, ScienceDaily.com reports.

Children who have more severe atopic dermatitis, or eczema, are less likely to outgrow allergies to milk or eggs, Medical News Today reports.

Dentists in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area have begun marketing cosmetic treatments, Healthland.Time.com reports.

Recently published survey results suggest that when it comes to using dietary supplements, dermatologists are more likely than other specialists to practice more than they preach, PRNewswire-USNewswire reports.

AstraZeneca has signed a five-year agreement with Swiss dermatological specialist Galderma Pharma to develop new treatments for conditions including psoriasis, acne and atopic dermatitis, InPharm.com reports.