Skin & Allergy News back issues from October 2008:
Varenicline helps curb alcohol cravings in smokers, study finds.(Across Specialties)
Oct 01, 2008; ... WASHINGTON -- The antismoking drug varenicline also appears to curb alcohol cravings in smokers who are heavy drinkers, results of a small study show. Nondependent heavy drinkers taking varenicline (Chantix) were nine times more likely to be abstinent during the 2-hour period of ...
Type of liquor consumed plays role in next-day hangover risk.(Across Specialties)
Oct 01, 2008; ... BALTIMORE -- Drinking clear liquors--such as vodka and gin--and drinking more than one type of alcoholic beverage are both associated with an increased risk of having a hangover among college students, even after the number of drinks are controlled for. Students who drank clear ...
Alcoholism is increasingly seen as medical illness.(Across Specialties)
Oct 01, 2008; ... WASHINGTON -- The public became more likely to regard alcohol dependence as a medical illness over a 10-year period, but stigmatization of alcoholism increased over that period as well, the latest results of a biannual survey addressing public attitudes toward the disorder show. ...
Cancer screening not needed with vasculitis Dx.(Across Specialties)
Oct 01, 2008; ... PARIS -- Patients with newly diagnosed antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody--associated vasculitis do not have an increased rate of underlying malignancies, according to the findings of a large Danish case-control study. "The overall message of our study is that as a clinician ...
Studies deem Rituximab effective for Wegener's.(Across Specialties)(Clinical report)
Oct 01, 2008; ... PARIS -- Rituximab displayed impressive efficacy as rescue therapy in refractory Wegener's granulomatosis and other forms of antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody-associated vasculitis in the two largest-ever case series reported to date. But the cochair of the annual European ...
Happily married women report less insomnia.(Across Specialties)
Oct 01, 2008; ... BALTIMORE -- Women who are happily married in midlife report fewer sleep problems than unhappily married or unmarried women, based on data from nearly 3,000 women. Previous studies have shown that married people, especially women, consistently report less insomnia, compared with ...
Marital status may influence Alzheimer's risk.(Across Specialties)
Oct 01, 2008; ... CHICAGO -- People who are married from mid- to late life are significantly less likely to develop Alzheimer's, while those who remain single face up to an eightfold increased risk, Krister Hakansson said at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease. The protective ...
Calcium, cohosh often replace hormone therapy.(Across Specialties)
Oct 01, 2008; ... NEW ORLEANS -- Among women who have discontinued hormone therapy for vasomotor symptoms, black cohosh and multivitamins with calcium were two of the most common substitutes, according to survey data from more than 500 women. Elizabeth M. Kupferer, Ph.D., sent questionnaires ...
Pregnancy mortality risk much higher for blacks.(Across Specialties)
Oct 01, 2008; ... CHICAGO -- A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study of pregnancy-related deaths in the United States during 1998-2004 indicates that black women have nearly a fourfold higher incidence of pregnancy-related mortality than do white women. The pregnancy-related mortality ...
MedSpa bill fails in California.(Policy & Practice)(International Medical Spa Association )(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2008; ... A bill that could have shuttered a huge number of medical spas in California essentially expired after a failed floor vote in the state Senate and protracted negotiations over a competing bill in the Assembly. Introduced in February, AB 2398 made its way through the legislature with the ...
FDA warns on laser brush.(Policy & Practice)(Food and Drug Administration)(Sunetics International Corp)(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2008; ... The Food and Drug Administration has warned Sunetics International Corp. of Las Vegas that it is illegally marketing its Laser Hair Brush and Laser Skin Brush. The company advertises the products as laser devices that can grow hair and treat skin conditions such as acne and ...
PQRI frustrating, but not costly.(Policy & Practice)
Oct 01, 2008; ... A total of 90% of physicians answering a Medical Group Management Association survey said that they had trouble accessing their confidential 2007 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) reports from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid's secure Web site. Overall, 70% sought CMS help ...
Midlevel practitioners help drive bottom line.(Practice Trends)
Oct 01, 2008; ... SAN FRANCISCO -- Physician assistants and nurse practitioners can enhance the bottom line of a dermatology practice, but it is important to take a hard look at the numbers before hiring a midlevel practitioner. At the annual meeting of the Pacific Dermatologic Association, ...
Companies target patients as agents of change: Microsoft and Google executives believe that digitally enabled patients will push doctors to implement EMRs.(Practice Trends)
Oct 01, 2008; ... WASHINGTON -- Search engine giant Google has joined software giant Microsoft in an attempt to revolutionize health care information technology, one patient at a time. Google launched Google Health this spring with an aim of establishing itself as the leading repository of ...
Revering the work of physician writers.(The Rest of Your Life)
Oct 01, 2008; ... Well before he attended medical school at Columbia University, New York, Dr. Daniel C. Bryant had been captivated by reading and writing, underscored by an undergraduate degree in French literature that he earned from Princeton (N.J.) University in 1961. In the 1980s, he began ...
Health care equality views shaped by med school diversity.(Practice Trends)
Oct 01, 2008; ... White students attending more racially diverse medical schools consider themselves better prepared to care for patients of racial and ethnic minority group, according to a study of more than 20,000 graduates. Attitudes about providing equivalent access to health care for ...
Cleansing bar for sensitive skin.(Products)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Sukibody Sensitive Cleansing Bar gently softens the skin and relieves dryness. The bar is made with 100% organic ingredients, including saponified vegetable oils; pure shea butter, an easily absorbed natural emollient from the fruit of an African tree; ginger, which soothes the skin and ...
Topical gel for hyperhidrosis.(Products)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Hydrosal Professional is available as a first-line treatment for excessive sweating. It is available only through a physician. The gel contains 15% aluminum chloride hexahydrate, which has proven to be more effective than other aluminum salts typically used in antiperspirants. The ...
Creamy cleanser.(Products)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Stelatopia Cream Cleanser is designed to help control eczema flares in infants and children by replenishing the lipids in the skin. The cleanser contains sunflower oil distillate, which promotes skin hydration by enhancing the skin's own natural lipids. The cleanser is recommended for ...
Dark spot cream.(Products)
Oct 01, 2008 ... Mela-D Dark Spots cream corrects dark spots, evens pigmentation, and restores the uniformity of the complexion. Not only does it reduce the size of dark spots, it also reduces the color intensity. Ingredients include Kojic acid, which helps inhibit the overproduction of melanin, and ...