News

Miami Beach, Fla. - The acne war chests of dermatologists haveexpanded with new devices, including azelaic acid, retinoids, and oral antibiotics.The FDA has even added oral contraceptives to the armamentarium.

Miami Beach, Fla. - Dermatologists and pediatricians often areafraid of learning the technicalities of the human genome. However, onlya basic knowledge, an understanding of how genetics might apply to practice,and a relationship with a geneticist who can answer your questions are necessaryto use the tools available today, Judith G. Hall, O.C., M.D., said.

Lip tips: Follow this guide to treat lip problems:

* Never use the same product year-round. "Because skin isa living organ that's constantly affected by everything from hormones tohumidity, I use a variety of products - some only in certain seasons andothers just on certain days," says Susan Taylor, M.D., director, Skinof Color Center at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, New York.

Q: I'm planning on buying a vacation home that ultimately willbe where we will live during retirement. Should I pay cash for the homeor apply for a mortgage?

Offensive e-mails - a.k.a., 'flames' - can come back to haunt

Dressing acts as surface antimicrobial barrier while promoting moisturecontrol

Chicago - Oritavancin (InterMune), an investigational glycopeptidewith activity against a wide range of Gram-positive pathogens, has beenshown to cut the treatment time in half for complicated skin and skin structureinfections (CSSIs) compared to current standard therapy with vancomycinplus cephalexin, Margaret Wasilewski, M.D., said at the 41st InterscienceConference on Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapy.

Lobbyists for insurance companies, the managed care industry, and dozensof large trade associations are worried. Their old buddy, PresidentBush, has been talking to one of their biggest enemies, Sen. Ted Kennedy(D-MA), about, heaven forbid, managed care reform.

A few tips on relaying medical dataWe all have the experience of reading medical literature hoping thatthe articles will give new insights into skin disease and its management. There is often that vague discomfort that the data and their interpretationare not necessarily objective. This may be true for many reasons, includingconflicts of interest by the authors, optimistic spins from true believers,or honest misinterpretations of complex information. There are severalways that readers can be guided through this morass by the authors. Ifthe following footnotes were added at the end of scientific reports, itwould be a major assist to the readers:

Knowledge regarding treatment efficacy and quality are vital cogs oftenmissing from true assessment of cash outlays versus healthcare outcomes

San Francisco - Blood samples taken throughout three decades suggestthat at least one out of every four gay men living in San Francisco hasKaposi's sarcoma and doesn't know it, according to a report by HealthScoutNews

Seattle - Already approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis,the FDA granted approval that extends etanercept's (Enbrel) use to the treatmentof psoriatic arthritis for the one million American sufferers.

Chicago - A new acne drug under development shows promise of efficacyand does not produce resistance in bacteria that causes the condition. Thenews comes at a time when the bacterium P. acnes demonstrated resistanceto traditional treatment antibiotics tetracycline and erythromycin.

Handful of agents promising for melanoma, AK, eczema, psoriasis

Dundee, Scotland - A disease that was once officially declaredfree from "the world and its peoples" by the World Health Assemblyin 1980, endemic smallpox may now be lurking in the shadows by way of bioterrorism.

Being critical of existing therapies, willing to embrace new approachesequals success

Baltimore - Phase II study results point to the potential roleof HspE7 as a safe and effective immunotherapeutic agent for the treatmentof genital warts and other HPV-related sexually transmitted diseases, KeertiV. Shah, M.D., said.

Cause of problems categorized seven ways; lack of nutrition, drug usageoften cited

Deerfield, Ill. - The efficacy and safety of certain drugs maybe different in women compared with men because of gender-related differencesin pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, M. Joyce Rico, M.D., said.

São Paulo, Brazil - Contrary to foregoing reports of significantside effects and high cost, Denise Steiner, M.D., Ph.D., contends that theanti-androgen drug flutamide 250 mg (Euflex, Euflexin) is a safe and effectivetherapy for treating female acne and androgenetic alopecia with an overallpositive relation of cost to benefit.

The treatment of warts can be a frustrating experience for both the dermatologistas well as the patient and/or patient's family. The provider needs to bewell versed in the many rules and regulations that govern the billing ofwarts (e.g., medical necessity issues, CPT and ICD-9 coding) while the patientneeds to be educated on the nature of the condition and the complexitiesassociated with the treatment arsenal.

Improvements in appearance possible with lasers; advise patients scarswill not be completely removed

Q. What is a 2-in-1 shampoo?A. Two-in-1 shampoo is a shampoo designed to cleanse and condition in one step. The original 2-in-1 shampoos neither conditioned well nor cleansed well, but the new varieties have taken advantage of modern silicone technology.

Misinformation, such as regulatory status of banks, shortages, problems with prions, ethics of tissue donation, need clarification

Novel treatment for complicated skin and skin structure infections offers once-a-day dosing, multiple methods of administration

Valacyclovir reduces number of recurrences, rate of recurrences, percentof recurrence free after one year

Dallas - Establishing protocols for performing dermatologic surgical procedures in pregnant patients is helpful for assuring the safety of both the mother and fetus

Chicago - One of the important tasks a dermatologist undertakes when assessing a cutaneous reaction to chemotherapy agents is to make sure the presenting condition is not caused by another drug or disorder, Claudia Hernandez, M.D., said.

New York - Once viewed primarily as a disease of homosexual men, HIV has shifted markedly, M. Joyce Rico, M.D. told attendees at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine's annual dermatology symposium.