"Walk a Mile in My Shoes

Epidermolysis Bullosa or EB is a group of genetic disorders characterized by fragile skin and chronic, painful wounds and blisters that are caused by even the slightest irritation of normal day to day activities.The disease affects people of both genders and every ethnicity. As many as 500,000 people worldwide suffer from some form of EB.

Less than 200,000 Americans are affected by EB. Common occurrences in severe forms of EB include open wounds, disfiguring scars, musculoskeletaldeformities causing restricted function, internal and external blistering, malnutrition, and deterioration of the eyes and teeth. EB is often disabling and life-threatening.

The disorder can require daily wound care similar tothat given to acute burn patients. Currently, there is no cure for EB. "National Epidermolysis Bullosa Awareness Week" is set to begin in New York on October 25th, with the "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" relay to California. To learn more about this disorder and the Walk a Mile in My Shoes Relay

About sunscreens

Sunscreens are chemical agents that help prevent the sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation from reaching the skin. Two types of ultraviolet radiation, UVA and UVB, damage the skin and increase your risk of skin cancer. UVB is the chief culprit behind sunburn, while UVA rays, which penetrate the skin more deeply, are associated with wrinkling, leathering, sagging, and other effects of photoaging. They also exacerbate the carcinogenic effects of UVB rays, and increasingly are being seen as a cause of skin cancer on their own. Sunscreens vary in their ability to protect against UVA and UVB.

souce- Skin Cancer Foundation

Overnight beauty treatment- important?

An article speaks about the importance of overnight beauty treatment for the face and also gives tips for the maintenance of the same. They are as follows:
1. Retinols for the recovery of damaged cells.
2. Application of a night cream to hydrate your skin with essential oils and anti-aging formulas.
3. Exfoliation of skin using Alpha-hydroxy acids, thereby clearing out dead cells from the surface of the skin.
4. Application of overnight facial and aromatic oils for de-stressing your skin.
5. Application of an eye-ream for moisturizing wrinkled skin under your eyes.
6. Whiten your teeth with the help of a whitening gel.
7. Feed your skin with emollients and astringents to cleanse it thoroughly.
It is very important to replenish your skin in the night to make it feel pampered after a whole day’s stress and damage.

source- skincareblog.com

Applying Foundation

The lack of knowledge about the application of foundation can ruin any make-up. Most of the time people just dab on foundation as if they are slathering sunscreen lotion. Foundation as the name points out is the foundation of a very good and flawless make-up.
It is a known fact that the right foundation goes with matching it with your skin tone, texture and of course the occasion.
An article points out a couple of tips for doing the same:
1. Dry skin should be blended with a moisturizer-based foundation.
2. Oily skin should be rubbed with a toner-based foundation.
3. To get a smooth finish evenly apply foundation over the face.
4. The eye-area should get equal dose of foundation for the make-up to look flawless.
5. Lightly dust the make-up with a sweep of loose powder.

-skincareblog.com

Wound Healers Cause Skin Disease

Dutch researcher Manon Franssen has shown that cells which heal the skin following an injury play an important role in the development of the skin disease psoriasis. In people with psoriasis, the skin peels much faster than normal so that it flakes and becomes inflamed.

Franssen investigated the transit amplifying cells in the uppermost layer of the skin. These cells develop from stem cells (general unspecialised cells) and specialise into skin cells when new skin cells are needed. The transit amplifying cells are involved in the healing of the skin following an injury and in the regular renewing of the skin.

Normally these cells wait until they receive a signal to develop into skin cells. Franssen discovered that in people with psoriasis, some of the transit amplifying cells divide without waiting for a signal. As a result of this, too many skin cells develop and the skin is renewed more quickly than normal. However, when Franssen cultured the transit amplifying cells from the skin of psoriasis patients, these cells grew less quickly. Exactly how the cell division of transit amplifying cells and stem cells is regulated, is not yet clear.

In the case of psoriasis, not only is there a more rapid renewal of the skin, but the number of cell layers on the surface also increases. The skin condition causes red marks that are rich in blood and often inflamed. These red marks are covered with shiny white flakes of skin and sometimes itch. Psoriasis is not infectious.

A cure for the disease is still not available and at present only the symptoms can be controlled. According to the Dutch Psoriasis Society about 300,000 people in the Netherlands suffer from a form of this disease. Stem cell therapy might be able to provide a cure for them in the future.
Stem cells currently form an important research area in medicine. Stem cell therapy the replacement of defective or absent stem cells, tissues or organs in patients should be able to cure many diseases in the future.

Stem cells from the uppermost layer of the skin have never been isolated. The isolation of their descendants, the transit amplifying cells, is an important step in the right direction. By culturing these cells from patients, complete pieces of skin can be reproduced. These are extremely useful in the treatment of burns, bedsores or skin cancer. The culturing of 'diseased' skin offers the possibility of thoroughly studying diseases and testing new treatments.

Sugar causes Wrinkles

Sugar is not sugary anymore. Apart from contributing to your inches all over, it is suspected to speed-up the process of wrinkling.
And this is being stated by the world-famous dermatologist Dr Fredric Brandt, also known as the The Baron of Botox, a very unlikely author to say so.. In his new book he explains why sugar is not good for the skin; “Sugar hastens the degradation of elastin and collagen, both key skin proteins and finally actively ages you. The sugar triggers a process in the body called glycation, whereby, the sugar molecules bind to protein fibres (which are springy and resilient) collagen and elastin fibres (which are the building blocks of skin). Collagen has been compared to as skin’s mattress and the elastin fibres as the coils holding it together. The sugar attacks these fibres, making them less elastic and more brittle so they break. As a result the youthful skin starts to sag and look old.”
More worse, “the glycation process causes these proteins to mutate, creating harmful new molecules called Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs), which accumulate and cause further inflammation and damage to collagen and elastin. In a normal, healthy collagen and elastin, the skin will snap back to its original position, but if the collagen and elastin have been made brittle by glycation and so is prone to breaking, the skin can’t snap back, and then the fine lines and wrinkles appear - and don’t go away. “So, before you put those treats into your mouth, think again, for your skin’s sake.
Source

Bowen's disease

Bowen's disease typically presents as a gradually enlarging, well demarcated erythematous plaque with an irregular border and surface crusting or scaling. BD may occur at any age in adults but is rare before the age of 30 years - most patients are aged over 60. Any site may be affected, although involvement of palms or soles is uncommon. BD occurs predominantly in women (70-85% of cases); about three-quarters of patients have lesions on the lower leg (60-85%), usually in previously or presently sun-exposed areas of skin.

Causes of BD include solar damage, arsenic, immunosuppression (including AIDS), viral infection (human papillomavirus or HPV) and chronic skin injury and dermatoses

Why Do Kids Get Eczema?

Skin has special cells that react when they come in contact with anything that irritates them. They make the skin inflamed to protect it. If you have eczema, you have more of these special cells than other people do. These cells overreact when something triggers them and they start to work overtime. That's what makes your skin red, sore, and itchy.

No one is really sure why people get eczema. It's not contagious - which means that no one can catch it from you and you can't catch it from anyone else. Kids who get eczema often have family members with hay fever (it makes them sneeze and have a runny nose), asthma (trouble breathing), or other allergic conditions.

Some scientists think these kids may be genetically predisposed to get eczema, which means characteristics have been passed on from parents through genes that make a kid more likely to get it. About half of the kids who get eczema will also someday develop hay fever or asthma themselves. Eczema is not an allergy itself, but allergies can be a trigger factor for eczema. That means that if you have allergies, your eczema may flare up sometimes.
Some things that can set off eczema include:
soaps, detergents, or perfumes
hot and sweaty skin
dry winter air with little moisture
other things that can irritate your skin, such as contact with scratchy fabrics (like wool) or dust mites in your bedsheets

What Is Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease is an infection that's spread by Ixodes (pronounced: iks-oh-deez) ticks (black-legged or deer ticks in the eastern United States, and western black-legged ticks in the west) that carry the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. These ticks acquire the bacteria from mice and then infect humans by biting them and passing the bacteria into a person's bloodstream. Sound gross? Maybe, but you can be sure that you won't witness this process: the ticks themselves are extremely difficult to detect. Immature ticks, or nymphs, are about the size of a poppy seed; adult ticks are about the size of a sesame seed.
Because the ticks are hard to find, it's important to be aware of the symptoms of Lyme disease. It's easy to overlook a tick bite. Many people who get Lyme disease don't remember getting bitten. The good news is that most tick bites don't result in Lyme disease.

With the summers scorching the days all over the northern hemisphere, and the news of the season’s prolonging its stay in many regions of the world – the question arises:
Are you or your skin ready to take the summer heat coolly? — And, help boast your skin’s health doing that bit of the summer shows, pulling out those winter wears?
May be not for all, especially for those with whom the cold, harsh winters have not been kind leaving them dry and scaly. Besides anything else, the problem with summer skin seems to be winter skin.So, if your are worried about being outside in less clothing, showing some of your skin, than used to, or concerned about looking odd on the beach, the WebMD is here to your rescue:
1. ExfoliateRegularly exfoliate your skin to get rid of that winter-gifted dry, dull skin and get it ready to boast in the summer days. Audrey Kunin MD, a dermatologist in Kansas City, Mo. recommends you a chemical or physical exfoliation to keep your skin looking fresher.
But, don’t go overboard; less is more when it comes to exfoliating.

2. Moisturize: Exfoliation should always be followed by moisturizing or hydrating your dry skin created by the harshness of the winters. Use a liquid moisturizer or a cream moisturizer depending on your skin type to keep your skin supple.

3. Sunscreen: Considering the factor that people having fairer skin, lighter hair, and lighter eyes often need stronger sun block compared to their darker counterparts, you have to apply it both generously and the right amount.
You can put on enough that can cover your entire body. But, since it lasts only for about two hours, you need to reapply it frequently.

4. Shaving: All, who are in love with their looks, are aware that nothing can ruin the look of a clean shave like ingrown hairs. But, one should know how to shave – yes, in the opposite direction from which hair grows.
Waxing, is rather a popular hair-removing practice, though it takes more time than shaving. But rewax should be done only when your hair grows back to a minimal length.

5. Skin treatment: Though many have the tendency to neglect their feet, and don’t mind much staying with those fungal and ugly toenails — Being closer to dust, they are more prone to infections.To avoid those fungal attacks and discoloration of nails, there are many topical whitening and antifungal agents available in the market shelves. Trust me, toes and tails add to your beauty and your cleanliness-awareness to a considerable extend.
Hope these 5 summer tips would help you transform that winter-given dry, scaly skin to a healthy, glowing summer skin – all ready for their boastful exposure.
source-skincareblog.com

Our skin can heal itself

Your body has it all – both the diseases and their healing powers, unless man interferes with it. Do you believe this? Perhaps no! But, a new study will surely lead you to thinking on these lines, if not to an absolute extend.
Yes, it has been found that our body itself can normalize skin cell growth. While on one hand, it can fight psoriasis and non-melanoma skin cancers, on the other, can slow down aging as well as skin form getting damaged by the sun.The magic wand lies with a natural body lipid or fat – phosphatidylglycerol – which is thought to be able to signal cells for normalizing growth and maturation or differentiation.
Explaining the study, Dr. Wendy B. Bollag, cell physiologist at the Medical College of Georgia says,
This is serving as a signal, like an elevator operator. This way for normal keratinocyte differentiation. That’s good because without it, you get abnormal differentiation in skin diseases like psoriasis, non-melanoma skin cancer, some of the dermatitises; in a lot of these conditions, the cells proliferate too much and don’t differentiate properly. We think maybe in psoriasis, the phospholipase D and aquaporin-3 become disconnected so now they can’t produce phosphatidylglycerol. If you only put glycerol on it, it may not help.
The signaling pathway, the study reveals, is perhaps the most important, as it shows that by ‘bypassing’ it leads to dysfunctional in diseases like psoriasis. And, if the signal is given, it restores skin cells or keratinocytes’ normal differentiation all by itself.
Confident and optimistic about the finding, Dr. Bollag, said,
When we apply it to skin cells, we see the normalization ability. Proof of principle is the first phase. If in vivo data looks promising, we’ll put together a study we can take into the clinic.
This study is a breakthrough as a guide in piecing together the signaling pathway that prompts skin cells to stop multiplying and start differentiating.