Patients could soon have access to a new injectable drug to treat atopic dermatitis, the most common form of eczema. The drug, lebrikizumab, proved effective in teenagers and adults in two clinical trials just published in the New England Journal of Medicine. “Across both of these pivotal studies for atopic dermatitis, lebrikizumab was highly effective, with a subset of patients responding quite early and then experiencing very durable responses up until week 16 in the initial phase of the study,” said lead researcher Dr. Jonathan Silverberg. He is an associate professor of dermatology at George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences in Washington, D.C. Subsequent data has shown a good response among patients out to a year, he added. Based on these results, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could approve lebrikizumab within a matter of months, Silverberg said. “We’re hoping that by mid-2023 that this will be FDA-approved and available to us to use, which is very exciting to have another highly effective option on the horizon,” he said. Lebrikizumab is an injectable monoclonal antibody designed to target interleukin-13, a biochemical expressed by immune cells that promotes an inflammatory response in the body. “It increases inflammation within the skin. It can increase or amplify the sensation of itch,” Silverberg said of interleukin-13. “And it also can lead to disruption of the skin…  read on >  read on >

If you bought a carbon monoxide detector on Amazon and it was sold under the names GLBSUNION and CUZMAK, stop using it. The U.S. Consumer Protection Safety Commission issued a warning because these detectors may fail to alert consumers to the presence of deadly CO, which is odorless and colorless. The detectors have a digital display. More than 200 people in the United States die every year from accidental, CO poisoning associated with consumer products. If an elevated level of the deadly gas is in the home and the detector isn’t working, injury or death are likely, CPSC noted. Sensitivity tests performed by the commission on the GLBSUNION and CUZMAK detectors found that they failed to alert when exposed to predetermined concentrations of CO in the amount of 400 ppm. This is a violation of UL 2034, a voluntary safety standard, the commission said in a statement. The CO detectors in the warning are made of white plastic, with approximate dimensions of 4 by 1.5 by 4 inches. The devices are advertised to detect dangerous levels of carbon monoxide and alert with a flashing red LED and a loud alarm pattern. The items sold on Amazon for between $16 and $40. Model No. AJ-938 was sold under the Amazon ASIN B093Y1KK5Q and B093Y637CM. Model No. CD01 was sold under the Amazon ASIN B07MPVK6HG and B07K44HLCV.…  read on >  read on >

Wildfires are known to have a lot of negative impacts on the environment and the health of the people who live through them. Yet another is the worsening of skin conditions, according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). The group shared strategies to minimize the effect air pollution can have on people’s skin during its annual meeting, held this past weekend in New Orleans. “The health impact of air pollution from wildfires has not been well studied, but the evidence from our recent studies suggests that short-term exposure to wildfire air pollution can affect the skin and cause flares of certain skin disorders,” said Dr. Maria Wei, a professor of dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco. “We found that the air pollution from California wildfires were associated with an increase in patient visits to dermatologists for both eczema and psoriasis,” Wei added in an AAD news release. “These results are consistent with studies indicating that air pollution from wildfires can be more toxic than air pollution caused by traditional industrial and traffic sources.” Psoriasis happens when the body makes skin cells too quickly, causing them to pile up and form patches on the skin. Eczema is inflamed, itchy, irritated skin. People with the skin condition eczema were more likely to visit dermatologists during the wildfires. Those with psoriasis were more likely to…  read on >  read on >

Considered one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases, chlamydia can spread easily and often without obvious symptoms. And although chlamydia cases have declined in recent years, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chalks that up to reduced screening for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) during the pandemic. It is estimated that 1 in 20 sexually active women between the ages of 14 and 24 gets chlamydia, according to the American Sexual Health Association (ASHA). The side effects of untreated infection are significant, per the CDC: Chlamydia can permanently damage a woman’s reproductive system, and can also cause a potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy (one that occurs outside the womb). What is chlamydia? Chlamydia is a bacterial infection that can be treated effectively if caught early, according to the Mayo Clinic. Often, it is symptom-free, making it easy to spread before someone realizes they have it. Between 50% and 70% of those who catch it don’t know they’ve caught it — a fact that has earned chlamydia the nickname of the “silent infection.” Research published recently in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that an opportune time to screen young women for chlamydia would be when they get long-acting birth control from their doctors. Is chlamydia curable? Because it is a bacterial infection, chlamydia is curable with antibiotics when caught early, according to the Cleveland…  read on >  read on >

A gene-editing experiment that restored the vision of mice might one day be used to treat a major cause of human blindness. Scientists in China reported they used the CRISPR-based gene-editing technique to bring back vision in mice with retinitis pigmentosa. Genome editing has previously been used to restore the vision of mice with genetic diseases such as Leber congenital amaurosis, which affect a layer of cells in the eye that supports the light-sensing rod and cone photoreceptor cells. Most of these conditions are caused by genetic defects in the photoreceptors themselves. “The ability to edit the genome of neural retinal cells, particularly unhealthy or dying photoreceptors, would provide much more convincing evidence for the potential applications of these genome-editing tools in treating diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa,” said researcher Kai Yao, a professor at Wuhan University of Science and Technology. For the study, Yao’s team set out to restore the vision of mice with retinitis pigmentosa caused by a flaw in a gene encoding a critical enzyme called PDE6B. For the task, they developed a more versatile CRISPR system called PESpRY. It can be programmed to correct many types of genetic mutation, no matter where they occur within the genome. When programmed to target the mutant gene, PESpRY efficiently corrected the mutation, according to the study. It restored the enzyme’s activity in the retinas…  read on >  read on >

Many patients worry that receiving a metal implant might set off their metal allergy, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. “Cases in which patients are inquiring about a metal allergy as it relates to their metal implants — including joint replacements, rods, pins, screws, plates, certain neurologic and cardiac devices such as pacemakers, and dental devices — are becoming more prevalent as medical implants become more common,” said Dr. Golara Honari, a clinical associate professor of dermatology at Stanford School of Medicine. About 10% of Americans will receive a medical implant during their lifetime. Millions of people in the United States report having a metal allergy. Metal, especially nickel, is one of the most common causes of allergic contact dermatitis, Honari said. It develops when skin is exposed to an allergen, often leading to a rash and itching. Other symptoms can include dryness, hives, blisters or pain. Honari noted that suspected metal implant allergies can be difficult to diagnose because everyone’s immune system reacts to allergens differently. Close collaboration between a dermatologist and the surgeon or physician who placed the implant is essential, she said. Patients who need an implant and have a documented history of a metal allergy should notify their dermatologist and physician or surgeon about any allergies prior to the procedure. Alternatives to metal implants are available. “For example, if it’s…  read on >  read on >

Commonly known as the “clap,” gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease that can cause infertility in both women and men if left untreated. The bad news is that cases are on the rise: According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are on a steady and steep climb. Gonorrhea, already the second most common STD in the United States, saw a 10% increase in prevalence in 2020 alone. “The COVID-19 pandemic put enormous pressure on an already strained public health infrastructure,” Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, said recently. “There were moments in 2020 when it felt like the world was standing still, but STDs weren’t. The unrelenting momentum of the STD epidemic continued even as STD prevention services were disrupted.” The even worse news is that gonorrhea has developed antibiotic resistance, with recent research showing the bacteria is now resistant to numerous antibiotics in many parts of Africa. Doctors are down to one last effective class of antibiotics, cephalosporins, to treat a gonorrhea infection. What is gonorrhea? Gonorrhea is a bacteria that is spread through sexual contact, and sometimes through childbirth. The Mayo Clinic reports it most commonly affects the genitals, rectum and throat. In babies born to infected moms, it most commonly presents as an eye…  read on >  read on >

Genital herpes. It’s an embarrassing sexually transmitted disease that no one ever wants to be diagnosed with, but millions are. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are on a steep and steady climb. And herpes is no exception: An estimated 13% of the world’s population has it, the World Health Organization says. Most STDs are spread through the exchange of bodily fluids, but some, including the herpes simplex virus, can spread through skin-to-skin contact, according to the National Library of Medicine. What is genital herpes? Genital herpes is most often caused by the herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2). But the American Sexual Health Association (ASHA) notes it can also be caused by HSV-1, more commonly known as the cause of oral herpes, or cold sores. How do you get genital herpes? The virus is easily spread through vaginal, anal and oral sex. But, according to ASHA, the virus can lay dormant in the body for days, weeks or even years, only coming to the surface when triggered by something else happening in the body. This latency not only makes it difficult to detect, but hard to pinpoint where and when it was contracted. Genital herpes symptoms Unlike other STDs, where patients typically have little to no obvious symptoms, genital herpes can show up as small, red and painful…  read on >  read on >