Treating acne with light

There's an interesting clinical study that came out recently in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology that examined the effects of three different phototherapies on moderate to severe acne. The effects of of pulsed dye laser (PDL), intense pulsed light (IPL) and blue-red combination light-emitting diode (LED) treatments were reported in the "Phototherapy in the treatment of acne vulgaris" article. Here are some highlights from the paper:

• One advantage phototherapies have over standard topical and oral acne treatments is that patients don't have to do anything in between treatments, like remembering to take their pills or apply their lotions.
• PDL took fewer treatments to work. It took an average of 4 PDL, 6 IPL or10 LED treatments to clear up the faces of the test subjects. (They counted a person's face as clear if they had 90% fewer zits than when they started.)
  
• After one month of treatments, PDL had cleared the most zits at 73.75% reduction compared to 41.68% for IPL and 35.64% for LED. (PDL and IPL treatments were given once a week and LED treatments were give twice a week. So on average those gettting PDL treatments had clear faces in 4 weeks, LED in 5 weeks and IPL in 6 weeks of treatments.)
• All phototherapies tested in the study were easy to deliver, well tolerated, pain-free and side-effect free and gave a satisfyingly high clearance rate in patients with inflammatory acne.

So, PDL looks like the choice if speed and the fewest number of treatments are essential. The LED treatments take the most treatments but are also the most economical. (At our office we have two blue light machines, ClearLight® and BLU-U® which are similar in treatment effects to the red-blue LED light that was in the study. Twenty-minute acne treatments with these cost only $25 each.)

If topical or oral treatments aren't working for you, you have options. And we have those options available here. Call 509-735-1100 today to schedule your PDL, IPL or blue light treatment today.

For more information about using laser and light treatments for acne, take a look at this article from the American Academy of Dermatology.

And check out all our current specials on our website.

Psoriasis linked to diabetes, high blood pressure

A study that tracked over 1800 women with psoriasis since 1991 found that they are more likely to develop diabetes and high blood pressure than those who didn't have psoriasis. Because inflammation is a factor in psoriasis, hypertension and pre-diabetic insulin resistance, it's possible that this underlying link is the reason behind the findings.

Read the complete story at MSNBC.

Read more about psoriasis and its treatment on our website.

Tadpoles help with skin cancer drug development

When melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, goes untreated, the mutant pigment cells that are normally responsible for the color of your skin, the melanocytes, start to spread to other parts of the body and form tumors. That's when it becomes almost impossible to stop the disease, and that's why scientists like Grant Wheeler of Britain are looking for a drug that would prevent skin cancer from spreading.

To test out potential drugs, Wheeler has been using tadpoles. Fertilized frog eggs are exposed to the compound being tested and if the tadpoles that grow from the eggs don't develop their normal pattern of color markings it means that the drug has prevented their pigment cells from spreading.

Wheeler has found a compound that does just that, and hopes that it means that it could be used in the future to prevent malignant pigment cells from spreading in humans. Until then, the best way to prevent skin cancer from spreading is early detection. So contact us and make your appointment for a full body skin exam today.

Read the full story on MSNBC.

Read more about skin cancer, melanoma and full-body skin exams on our website.

Gift Basket Raffle

The staff at the Center for Excellence in Dermatology will be participating in this year's Relay for Life, the American Cancer Society's signature fund-raiser. The Relay for Life raises much-needed funds to fight cancer and raise awareness of cancer prevention and treatment.

Each year 3.5 million people nationwide are brought together for local Relay for Life events to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost to the disease and fight to put an end to the disease.

And this year, we have a fun way you can help our team raise money: Stop by and get a $1 raffle ticket for your chance to win one of nine different gift baskets we've put together (most of which are worth over a hundred dollars each):

• Movie Time Basket: Everything for the movie lover: Popcorn, hot air popper, soda, candy, lap blanket, 5 DVDs and 4 movie passes from Fairchild Cinemas.
• Fisherman's Haul: This basket is full of all kinds of different hooks, lures and bait, a Bass Master magazine, lure box, bait box, and even a small first aid kit.
  
• Wake-up Time Basket: Two pounds of Starbucks coffee, one from Columbia, one from Brazil, two kinds of Tazo tea, and some milk chocolate and dark chocolate covered coffee beans.
• Animal Lover: This pet bed “basket” includes lots of great stuff for your cat and dog: Food, treats, toys, grooming brush, food bowl, and more.
• Bath Time: Basket includes warm vanilla sugar scented products from Bath & Body Works including lotion, bath gel, hand sanitizer, sanitizing hand soap, shampoo and conditioner.
• Stress Relief Basket: Dermalogica’s skincare kit for normal/dry skin, stress relief oil, mineral salts, candle, and Ti-Silc sheer SPF 45 sunblock.
• Fun for Kids Basket: Lots of toys, games and puzzles to keep your child entertained for hours.
• Gourmet Food from Washington State: Cake, cookies, tea, salmon, soup, candied corn, jam and coffee, all in a tote bag.
• Sachi Lunch Tote: Bean soup, crackers, cherries and nuts all in a handy thermal-lined lunch bag from Sachi

We will be holding the raffle on Tuesday, June 2, 2009, so your last day to purchase raffle tickets is Monday, June 1, 2009.

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Check out our website for all the specials we're running in May.

Psoriasis Study

If you have psoriasis, you can help further its study by participating in a clinical trial sponsored by Centocor, Inc., a company that develops biomedicines for psoriasis and other diseases. The Center for Excellence in Dermatology is one of the many locations around the United States participating in Centocor's Psoriasis Longitudinal Assessment and Registry (PSOLAR).

PSOLAR began in 2007 and is actively recruiting volunteers to participate. Since this is an "observational" study it is not testing any new drug or treatment, but is simply tracking information about patients who have psoriasis.

To learn more about PSOLAR and to see if you qualify for the study, go to ClinicalTrials.gov. You can also learn more about psoriasis on our website.

Sun triggers gene damage

A new study in the journal Cancer Cell finds that overexposure to the sun may trigger genetic damage to the BRAF gene, resulting in up to two-thirds of melanoma cases. While melanoma accounts for only a small percentage of skin cancers, it accounts for most skin cancer deaths.

So your take-away message is to protect your skin from the sun, stay away from tanning booths, wear sunscreen and contact us to make your appointment today if you have any suspicious moles.

To read the complete story at MSNBC.com, click here.

Research reveals genetic basis for psoriasis

In a recent MSNBC.com article, new research is revealed that may impact future psoriasis treatments. Four new genetic "hot spots" were discovered to be associated with psoriasis, and two earlier ones were confirmed. A new drug made by Centocor called ustekinumab, which was recently approved for use in Europe and Canada, targets three of these hot spots. The FDA may approve this drug in the next few months to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, the most common form of the disease

Click here to find out more about psoriasis and current treatments for it.