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Day: 25 November 2016

25Nov

Our society associates a glowing tan with health, youth, and attractiveness. However, the plain truth is that a tan or sunburn is your body’s way of telling you that you’ve been exposed to too much ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Exposure to the sun’s UV rays causes skin cells (melanocytes) to darken your skin by producing more melanin (which makes your skin appear darker). The darkening process is actually your skin’s defense against more UV damage. While the tan will fade, the damage that occurs to your skin is long-lasting. This damage increases your risk for skin cancers such as melanoma as well as signs of premature aging with increased wrinkles.

Some people use tanning beds in the pursuit of a bronzed glow year-round. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advises that we completely avoid artificial UV sources such as tanning beds. According to the FDA, the sunlamps in tanning beds may be more dangerous than the sun. Unlike the sun, which comes and goes depending on the weather, you can use tanning beds at the same intensity every day of the year. This increases exposure and health risk. On that same note, the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the World Health Organization’s International Agency of Research on Cancer panel have stated that UV radiation from the sun as well as artificial sources like tanning beds are a known carcinogen, which means that they may cause cancer.

25Nov

The new study, published online by JAMA Dermatology, identifies high risk patients who may benefit from tailored surveillance.

The incidence of melanoma that occurs on the skin is increasing in predominantly white-skinned populations and Australia’s incidence is among the highest in the world.

The study’s objective was to characterise melanoma patients and the clinical features associated with their melanomas according to patient risk factors: many moles, a history of previous melanoma, and family history of melanoma, to improve the identification and treatment of a higher-risk subgroup.

The researchers classified 2727 patients with melanoma from the Melanoma Patterns of Care Study as having high or lower risk, depending on whether they already had a personal or family history of melanoma, or many moles, or none of these three factors.

Thirty nine (39) per cent of patients were defined as higher risk due to family history, multiple primary melanomas or having lots of moles. The most common risk factor in this group was having many moles, followed by a personal history and a family history.

The authors report the average age at diagnosis was younger for higher-risk patients (62 versus 65 years) compared with those patients at lower risk because they did not have these risk factors. However, that age differed by risk factor: 56 years for patients with a family history, 59 years for those with many moles and 69 years for those with a previous melanoma.

Also, higher-risk patients with many moles were more likely to have melanoma on the trunk of the body, those with a family history were more likely to have melanomas on the limbs, and those with a personal history were more likely to have melanoma on the head and neck.

Dr Watts stated: “The results of our study suggest that a person’s risk factor status might be used to tailor their surveillance program in terms of starting age and education about skin self-examination or more intensive surveillance. For instance, doctors could encourage people with many moles or with a family history of melanoma to start skin self-examination and monitoring at an earlier age than other people, and discuss the body sites that require particular attention.”

Limitations of the study include risk factors based on physician recall and patient medical records. The authors also did not assess the reliability or validity of the risk factor data.

Story Source: sciencedaily.com; Materials provided by University of Sydney.

25Nov

Early exposure to a food allergen through broken skin might prompt the development of food allergy. This theory gained further support from a recent study that found increased prevalence of food allergy if a child had skin infection or eczema in the first year of life.

Food allergy occurs in one of every 13 children in the U.S., nearly 6 million, and the incidence is increasing. Why this is happening has been a burning question for the public and researchers alike.

The “hygiene hypothesis,” which has been proposed to explain the increase of allergies, holds that early exposure to germs impacts the immune system and lowers the risk of allergic disease. However, results published in Allergy and Asthma Proceedings showed that food allergy had less profound associations with hygiene factors — such as pet exposure — than asthma. While it is well established in asthma, the hygiene hypothesis has not been thoroughly investigated in food allergy.

“Our results do support the hygiene hypothesis showing that increased number of siblings is protective for food allergy,” said lead author Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH, pediatrician and researcher at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “The association of food allergy with early skin infection and eczema, however, might shed some light on how food allergies develop. Our findings support the hypothesis that food sensitization might start with exposure through the skin. This might have implications for prevention of food allergies.”

The study included 1,359 participants, from birth to 21 years old, with and without food allergies. A unique strength of this family-based study is that it included siblings who may or may not have had allergies. The similar genetic makeup of the subjects and controls helped the authors assess the impact of different exposures on food allergy and asthma.

The study investigated key hygiene factors in association with food allergy and asthma, including antibiotic use, infection history, number of siblings, pet exposure, and maternal child health factors such as maternal age at birth, cesarian section, breastfeeding and out-of-home child care. The number of siblings and child care in a child care center were the only hygiene factors that were associated with decreased food allergy.

Story Source: sciencedaily.com, materials provided by Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

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