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Eczema(DR004)
Introduction
Eczema is the most common inflammatory disease of the skin. Also known as atopic dermatitis (AD), this condition affects 15 million adults and children - 6% of all Americans. It nearly always begins within the first 5 years of life and while 50% of cases will be outgrown, the remainder will persist throughout a lifetime. The exact cause of the condition is not known, but genetic factors are thought to play a role in the development of this disease.
Persons with eczema often have allergies or asthma, as well. Various materials such as wool can cause a worsening of symptoms.
Eczema or AD appears as redness, scaling and/or small blisters (vesicles) on the head, face, neck, or the insides of the elbows, wrists, and knees. These characteristic features are often masked by secondary lesions such as crusting, excoriations, infection, or irritation from topical treatments. There are three stages of eczematous inflammation.
There is no cure for AD or eczema. Current therapy is directed at suppressing the inflammation and reducing triggering factors with topical treatments and ultraviolet light therapy.
Get the Facts... With your MediFocus Guide
The Medifocus Guide on Eczema provides answers to the following important questions and medical issues:
What are the most common symptoms of eczema?Are there any recognized risk factors for developing eczema?What kinds of medical tests are used to establish the diagnosis of eczema?What is the current standard of care for the treatment of eczema?What treatment options are available for the management of eczema?Are there any promising new developments or potential breakthroughs in treatment?Who are the most notable medical authorities who specialize in eczema?Where are the leading hospitals and centers of research for eczema?What are the most important questions to ask my doctor about eczema?What Your Doctor Reads:
This MediFocus Guide contains an extensive listing of citations and abstracts of recent journal articles that have been published about this condition in trustworthy medical journals. This is the same type of information that is available to physicians and other health care professionals. A partial selection of journal articles that are abstracted in this MediFocus Guide includes:
Atopic dermatitis in infants and children. An update.Pediatric Clinics of North America. 2000 The epidemiology and experience of atopic eczema during childhood: a discussion paper on the implications of current knowledge for health care, public health policy and research.Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. 2000 Outcome measures of disease severity in atopic eczema.Archives of Dermatology. 2000 Atopic dermatitis.Primary Care; Clinics in Office Practice. 2000 Atopic dermatitis: new insights and opportunities for therapeutic intervention.Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology. 2000 Maternal antigen avoidance during lactation for preventing atopic eczema in infants.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews [computer file]. 2000 Managing atopic dermatitis in children and adults.Nurse Practitioner. 2000 Atopic dermatitis: from the genes to skin lesions.Allergy. 2000 Atopic dermatitis: unapproved treatments or indications.Clinics in Dermatology. 2000 Managing pediatric atopic dermatitis.Clinical Pediatrics. 2000 MediFocus Guides... When You Need Trustworthy Medical Information
MediFocus.com understands that consumers who are facing serious medical issues need access to credible, up-to-date medical information to help them make informed health-care decisions. That's why we've developed the MediFocus Guides...the most advanced and trustworthy patient research guides for over 200 chronic and life-threatening conditions. Each MediFocus Guide includes a detailed overview of the condition including information about diagnosis, treatment options, cutting-edge research, and new developments; excerpts of important journal articles from the current medical literature focusing on standard treatments and treatment options; a directory of leading authors and medical institutions who specialize in the treatment of the condition; and a listing of organizations and support groups where you can obtain additional information about the illness.
MediFocus Guides are the perfect solution for consumers who wish to gain an in-depth understanding of their medical issue and avail themselves of the same type of professional level medical information that is used by physicians and other health-care professionals to help then in the clinical decision making process.
© Copyright 2000-2001 Medifocus.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Click here for more information.
MediFocus MedCenter ©
Melanoma (DR007)
Introduction
Melanoma (also called malignant melanoma or cutaneous melanoma) accounts for only about 4% of all cases of skin cancer, but causes 79% of deaths from skin cancer. The American Cancer Society predicts 47,700 new cases of melanoma will occur in the United States in the year 2000.
It is well known that solar radiation leads to the development of skin cancers. When sunlight penetrates the top layers of the skin, ultraviolet (UVA or UVB) radiation damages the DNA inside skin cells.
The incidence of melanoma has increased over the past several decades from a 1:1,500 lifetime risk in 1935 to a 1:75 lifetime risk in 2000. While the cause of this is not known, it is known that depletion of the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere has increased the amount of damaging ultraviolet radiation that reaches the earth.
Prevention is the most important aspect of care. Education regarding protection from sun exposure is the best method to prevent the development of skin cancers.
Once melanoma has developed, early detection and treatment are key to a successful outcome. Melanoma is almost always curable in its early stages.
Treatment may include a combination of Surgery, Chemotherapy, Chemotherapeutic Regional Perfusion, Radiation Therapy, Immunotherapy, and Chemoimmunotherapy.
Get the Facts... With your MediFocus Guide
The Medifocus Guide on Melanoma provides answers to the following important questions and medical issues:
What are the most common symptoms of melanoma?Are there any recognized risk factors for developing melanoma?What kinds of medical tests are used to establish the diagnosis of melanoma?What is the current standard of care for the treatment of melanoma?What treatment options are available for the management of melanoma?Are there any promising new developments or potential breakthroughs in treatment?Who are the most notable medical authorities who specialize in melanoma?Where are the leading hospitals and centers of research for melanoma?What are the most important questions to ask my doctor about melanoma?What Your Doctor Reads:
This MediFocus Guide contains an extensive listing of citations and abstracts of recent journal articles that have been published about this condition in trustworthy medical journals. This is the same type of information that is available to physicians and other health care professionals. A partial selection of journal articles that are abstracted in this MediFocus Guide includes:
Serological markers for melanoma.British Journal of Dermatology. 2000 Problematic pigmented lesions: approach to diagnosis.Journal of Clinical Pathology. 2000 Do high factor sunscreens offer protection from melanoma?.Western Journal of Medicine. 2000 The state-of-the-art in chemoprevention of skin cancer.European Journal of Cancer. 2000 Tumour suppressor genes.Clinical & Experimental Dermatology. 2000 Cutaneous melanoma of the head and neck: advances in evaluation and treatment.Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. 2000 Natural and induced human antibody response to cancer.Cancer Investigation. 2000 Update on familial cancer syndromes and the skin.Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2000 Melanoma in children.Cutis. 2000 Sentinel lymph node mapping for patients with cutaneous and conjunctival malignant melanoma.Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. 2000 MediFocus Guides... When You Need Trustworthy Medical Information
MediFocus.com understands that consumers who are facing serious medical issues need access to credible, up-to-date medical information to help them make informed health-care decisions. That's why we've developed the MediFocus Guides...the most advanced and trustworthy patient research guides for over 200 chronic and life-threatening conditions. Each MediFocus Guide includes a detailed overview of the condition including information about diagnosis, treatment options, cutting-edge research, and new developments; excerpts of important journal articles from the current medical literature focusing on standard treatments and treatment options; a directory of leading authors and medical institutions who specialize in the treatment of the condition; and a listing of organizations and support groups where you can obtain additional information about the illness.
MediFocus Guides are the perfect solution for consumers who wish to gain an in-depth understanding of their medical issue and avail themselves of the same type of professional level medical information that is used by physicians and other health-care professionals to help then in the clinical decision making process.
© Copyright 2000-2001 Medifocus.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Click here for more information.
MediFocus MedCenter ©
Psoriasis (DR009)
Introduction
Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease marked by periodic flare-ups of sharply defined red patches covered by a silvery, flaky surface. In psoriasis, the epidermal cell cycle is accelerated. Cell division in the basal layer occurs every 1.5 days and the migration of keratinocytes to the stratum corneum occurs within just four days or so. Since the cells move to the surface so rapidly, they do not differentiate and mature properly. The stratum corneum is not fully keratinized, and epidermal cells build up abnormally and become scaly. The epidermis in psoriatic lesions is three to five times thicker than normal.
Psoriasis is a single disease with several forms of expression and a range of severity. The form that psoriasis takes in an individual person likely depends on genetic influences, environmental factors (e.g., traumatic and climate), associated diseases (especially infections), medications, and the status of the immune system.
The exact cause of psoriasis is unknown, but it is thought that the primary process lies in the immune system with significant input from environmental factors. This is a focus of research for new treatments.
The primary goals of care are control of the lesions, minimization of side effects from treatment, and improvement in quality of life. Current treatment utilizes a variety of topical medications as well as ultraviolet light therapy.
Get the Facts... With your MediFocus Guide
The Medifocus Guide on Psoriasis provides answers to the following important questions and medical issues:
What are the most common symptoms of psoriasis?Are there any recognized risk factors for developing psoriasis?What kinds of medical tests are used to establish the diagnosis of psoriasis?What is the current standard of care for the treatment of psoriasis?What treatment options are available for the management of psoriasis?Are there any promising new developments or potential breakthroughs in treatment?Who are the most notable medical authorities who specialize in psoriasis?Where are the leading hospitals and centers of research for psoriasis?What are the most important questions to ask my doctor about psoriasis?What Your Doctor Reads:
This MediFocus Guide contains an extensive listing of citations and abstracts of recent journal articles that have been published about this condition in trustworthy medical journals. This is the same type of information that is available to physicians and other health care professionals. A partial selection of journal articles that are abstracted in this MediFocus Guide includes:
Better patient compliance in psoriasis.Practitioner. 2000 HIV-associated psoriasis.AIDS Patient Care & STDS. 2000 Psoriasis.Primary Care; Clinics in Office Practice. 2000 Interventions for guttate psoriasis.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews [computer file]. 2000 Treatment of psoriasis at the Dead Sea: why, how and when?.Israel Medical Association Journal: IMAJ. 2000 Therapeutic strategies for psoriasis.Journal of Clinical Pharmacy & Therapeutics. 2000 Pathophysiology and treatment of psoriasis.American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy. 2000 Update on psoriasis therapy: a perspective from the USA.Keio Journal of Medicine. 2000 Psoriasis, lichen planus, and disorders of keratinization: unapproved treatments or indications.Clinics in Dermatology. 2000 Alcohol, smoking and psoriasis.Clinical & Experimental Dermatology. 2000 MediFocus Guides... When You Need Trustworthy Medical Information
MediFocus.com understands that consumers who are facing serious medical issues need access to credible, up-to-date medical information to help them make informed health-care decisions. That's why we've developed the MediFocus Guides...the most advanced and trustworthy patient research guides for over 200 chronic and life-threatening conditions. Each MediFocus Guide includes a detailed overview of the condition including information about diagnosis, treatment options, cutting-edge research, and new developments; excerpts of important journal articles from the current medical literature focusing on standard treatments and treatment options; a directory of leading authors and medical institutions who specialize in the treatment of the condition; and a listing of organizations and support groups where you can obtain additional information about the illness.
MediFocus Guides are the perfect solution for consumers who wish to gain an in-depth understanding of their medical issue and avail themselves of the same type of professional level medical information that is used by physicians and other health-care professionals to help then in the clinical decision making process.
© Copyright 2000-2001 Medifocus.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Click here for more information.