Electronic skin or "e-skin" that has sensing capabilities

What if we could create an artificial skin that has sensing capabilities? Electronic skin? e-skin? Digital skin? There's a recent paper published in Nature titled, "An ultra-lightweight design for imperceptible plastic electronics." The authors describe

a platform that makes electronics both virtually unbreakable4 and imperceptible. Fabricated directly on ultrathin (1 μm) polymer foils, our electronic circuits are light (3 g m−2) and ultraflexible and conform to their ambient, dynamic environment. Organic transistors with an ultra-dense oxide gate dielectric a few nanometres thick formed at room temperature enable sophisticated large-area electronic foils with unprecedented mechanical and environmental stability: they withstand repeated bending to radii of 5 μm and less, can be crumpled like paper, accommodate stretching up to 230% on prestrained elastomers, and can be operated at high temperatures and in aqueous environments.

July is UV Safety Month

Planning a trip to the beach this summer? Make sure to use plenty of sunscreen. July is UV Safety Month.

UV Safety Month is a great time to spread the message of sun, fun and UV safety to your community. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is the main cause of skin cancer. UV rays can also damage your eyes.
Anyone can get skin cancer, but the risk is greatest for people with:

• White or light-colored skin with freckles
• Blond or red hair
• Blue or green eyes

You can take these steps to help prevent skin cancer:

• Stay out of the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• Use sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher.
• Cover up with long sleeves and a hat.
• Check your skin regularly for any changes.

National Health Observances
Sponsor: American Academy of Ophthalmology

Increasing rates of skin cancer in Korean patients

I'm Korean. My last name (Kim) gives it away. An interesting paper caught my eye the other day. It was titled, "Recent trend in the incidence of premalignant and malignant skin lesions in Korea between 1991 and 2006."

They noted an increase in both premalignant and malignant skin lesions in Korean patients.  For cutaneous malignancy, the incidence was 0.25% during 1991-1998 and 0.34% in 1999-2006. Those are still very small numbers, but the increase is significant. I spent a lot of time in the sun when I was a teenager, so I need to keep an eye on my skin. It's a good thing I'm married to a doctor. 

Kim HS, Cho EA, Bae JM, Yu DS, Oh ST, Kang H, Park CJ, Lee JD, Lee JY, Kim SY, Kim HO, Park YM. Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. Recent trend in the incidence of premalignant and malignant skin lesions in Korea between 1991 and 2006. J Korean Med Sci. 2010 Jun;25(6):924-9. Epub 2010 May 24.
Click here to read the article

Controversies about acne

As high school and college students get ready to go back to school, many of them have one thing on their mind: their looks. They are so self-conscious that they would be willing to do almost anything to improve their self-image. One of the biggest problems faced by young people today is acne. If you've never had a serious problem with acne, then you may have a difficult time truly understanding what some people go through. For many students and young adults, acne can lead to serious problems with self-esteem, social interactions, and much more. What may seem to be a common dermatological condition can lead to serious mental and emotional problems.

Several controversies still surround acne. Clinicians really don't know what to think when it comes to some of these issues because the evidence is still lacking. For instance, does your diet affect your acne? If you eat greasy foods, are you more likely to have a greasy face? Here's something interesting: A study of 47,355 women in the Nurses' Health Study that used retrospective data collection to determine diet during high school found an association between acne and intake of milk. Didn't expect that, did you? There is currently no robust evidence that eating chocolate is associated with an increase in acne. Thank goodness, because I love eating chocolate.

What about stress? Does stress worsen acne? In one study, acne severity seemed to be associated with stress, particularly in boys. A different study of 22 university students found that acne severity appeared to have some correlation with stress around the time of school examinations. 22 students isn't a large number, so we probably need additional studies to really answer the question of stress. We live in a world of evidence-based medicine, so we need to make sure that we're making conclusive statements that are based on strong clinical evidence and not just anecdotal stories. Of course, if you're convinced that certain foods or stress affect your acne, you may not care about evidence.

Everyone wants to learn about vitiligo

All of a sudden, search engines like Google and Yahoo saw a surge in people searching for "vitiligo." Why? You haven't been watching the news, have you? So, let me give you my thoughts about vitiligo. Vitiligo appears to be an autoimmune process directed against melanocytes. These melanocytes provide pigmentation for your skin. Destroy those melanocytes and you're left with no pigment.

Here are some interesting facts about vitiligo:

• Vitiligo is a component of the polyglandular autoimmune syndrome type II (which includes autoimmune thyroid disease, type 1 diabetes mellitus, primary adrenal insufficiency, and hypopituitarism.
  
• Vitiligo can occur in association with autoimmune hepatitis, alopecia areata, and pernicious anemia.
• Many people with vitiligo have no family history of vitiligo nor a history of other autoimmune diseases

Given all our recent advances in medical technology, I wonder what type of treatments or cures we'll eventually find for vitiligo. Gene therapy?

Physician social networking online

Most of my physician colleagues agree that most physicians generally don't engage in online social networking. The only exceptions would be those who use Sermo, and a small handful of early adopters. So who are those early adopters? Who are those who see value in online social networking?

• Are they the physicians who have a strong interest in medical informatics (or health information technology)? Sometimes.
• Are they the physicians who are actively looking for new job opportunities? Rarely.
• Are they the physicians who tend to be more adventurous and active (such as emergency room physicians)? Sometimes.
• Are they the physicians who have way too much free time (such as dermatology and radiology physicians)? Sometimes.
• Are they those MD/MBA grads who are always trying to find new ventures. Sometimes.
  

So, who are those early adopters? Most of the time, they are the medical students who already use social networking tools like blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. They are the ones who graduate and become those physicians who embrace the power of social networking.

BlackBerry Thumb to PDA Nail

• Look at my thumbs doc! I thought technology was supposed to improve health, not cause new medical problems! I've already had BlackBerry thumb because of Twitter. I think I'm going to sue RIM and Twitter because now, I'm getting PDA Nail!

Sound ridiculous? Well, BlackBerry thumb is a type of repetitive motion injury that is becoming more prevalent among working professionals who Twitter, I mean who use their BlackBerry for corporate e-mail. People who use their mobile smartphones for hours each day are even developing dystrophic nail changes that some clinical experts are calling PDA nail. The Am J Clin Dermatol. 2009;10(3):193-6. has a case study (two cases actually) titled, "The 'PDA Nail': Traumatic Nail Dystrophy in Habitual Users of Personal Digital Assistants."

Here's a snippet: "We describe two cases of traumatic thumb nail dystrophy associated with using a PDA keyboard for several hours per day... In conclusion, biomechanical stress resulting from overuse of PDAs may result in various types of nail dystrophy. We suggest the general term 'PDA nails' for these nail abnormalities."

So, what do your thumbs look like? Are your nails turning dystrophic? Image Source: Access Emergency Medicine I

Caring for Your Skin

How do you care for your skin? My skin is always dry, so I'm constantly looking for lotions and other moisturizers. People love to have healthy skin. They will invest thousands of dollars on laser surgery, Botox, and other therapies to make their skin look better. People often forget that the skin is an organ that requires care and attention. We take care of our heart by exercising. We avoid smoking to keep our lungs health. What do you do for your skin? I see commercials all the time for different skin products ranging from acne treatment to anti-aging products.

Perhaps you've seen some for a product called Resurgence. This is a product created by Dr. Howard Murad, an Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology at UCLA. He's also a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology. So what's the best way to care for your skin? To answer that questions, do some research and look at some Resurgence Reviews. Don't believe everything you see on television or on the Internet. It's important to critically assess the validity of products such as Resurgence Products. Even if you see a celebrity like Joan Lunden endorsing a product, spend some time doing some research. Most importantly, talk with your doctor about skin care. If you have special skin conditions, speak with your dermatologist.

Anticytokine Therapies - confusing names?

Ever get confused with medical terminology? Happens to me all the time. Anticytokine therapies and other biologics are revolutionizing the treatment of some serious diseases. Here's an example of a patient with psoriasis who responded to alefacept.

When you're talking about some of the newer biologic agents, you may find that they're easy to mix up. Here's a helpful guide regarding nomenclature.

Abbreviations placed at the ends of the names convey specific information relating to their structure:

* "-cept" refers to fusion of a receptor to the Fc part of human IgG1
* "-mab" indicates a monoclonal antibody (mAb)
* "-ximab" indicates a chimeric mAb
* "-zumab" indicates a humanized mAb

Etanercept is a classic example of a TNF receptor fusion protein. Infliximab is a chimeric mAb directed against TNF. Certolizumab and tocilizumab are humanized mAbs.