Dermatology

Time for a pop quiz: What American city has the most dermatologists per capita? If you guessed Los Angeles, you'd be … wrong. Ditto if you guessed Beverly Hills. Santa Monica? You're getting closer — it's No. 4, with 26.2 dermatologists for every 100,000 residents. But, in fact, the most dermatologically dense city in America is Boston. According to an analysis published in Tuesday's edition of Archives of Dermatology, Beantown has 46.9 skin specialists per 100,000 residents.

Self-tanning products might be keeping women from hitting the beach and tanning beds and courting dangerous UV radiation exposure, a study finds. A study released online Monday in the Archives of Dermatology surveyed 415 women about their use of self-tanners and how often they tanned under the sun or in tanning beds in the previous year, plus their attitudes toward tanned skin. While some health experts hail self-tanners as a safer alternative than tanning via the sun and beds, others worry that using the product compels people to seek out those conventional and harmful methods more often.

Years ago, I met a doctor who had started out as a dermatologist but soon after switched to orthopedics, a very different specialty that involves muscles, bones and joints. "It wasn't that I wasn't making enough money," he explained. "It was just that medically, dermatology was so frustrating. "Sometimes the treatments worked, and I would be a hero in the patient's eyes.

If you've had it, you would know. Chronic itchiness -- often the result of skin conditions such as psoriasis , eczema or allergies -- disrupts sleep, dims pleasure and limits activities. Just as much as chronic pain does. Now it's official: A study published online this week by the Archives of Dermatology has found that those who suffer from unrelenting itch, generally for six months to a year, have been brought every bit as low by their condition as have chronic-pain sufferers.

If you've had it, you would know. Chronic itchiness -- often the result of skin conditions such as psoriasis , eczema or allergies -- disrupts sleep, dims pleasure and limits activities. Just as much as chronic pain does. Now it's official: A study published online this week by the Archives of Dermatology has found that those who suffer from unrelenting itch, generally for six months to a year, have been brought every bit as low by their condition as have chronic-pain sufferers.

Acne.org: A Jan. 27 Image article about Acne.org founder Dan Kern identified Dr. Sonia Badreshia-Bansal as an adjunct clinical professor with the department of dermatology at Stanford University. Badreshia-Bansal is a board-certified dermatologist and fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology and is not associated with Stanford University.

A small plane crashed and burned shortly after takeoff Friday evening, killing all aboard -- the pilot and nine people who had spent the day working at a skin cancer clinic in a remote community. The twin-engine Beech King Air A-100 crashed just after takeoff Friday evening from Canyonlands Field airport, 18 miles northwest of Moab. It hit the ground in nearby hills, flattened and exploded on impact, authorities said. Emergency responders rushed to the site to search for possible survivors and fight a brush fire apparently sparked by the crash.

Self-tanning products might be keeping women from hitting the beach and tanning beds and courting dangerous UV radiation exposure, a study finds. A study released online Monday in the Archives of Dermatology surveyed 415 women about their use of self-tanners and how often they tanned under the sun or in tanning beds in the previous year, plus their attitudes toward tanned skin. While some health experts hail self-tanners as a safer alternative than tanning via the sun and beds, others worry that using the product compels people to seek out those conventional and harmful methods more often.

There are people who, when they see their dog constantly scratching and biting itself, chalk up their pet's behavior to the fact that the animal is, well, an animal. And then there are people like Alison Leeds of Laguna Niguel, who reacted like a concerned parent when Resa, her 3-year-old Dalmatian, suddenly--and inexplicably--began itching almost nonstop in March.

Drip, drip, drip. The solution slowly fills the thin test tube under the watchful eye of Diana Colon, who sits placidly amid a jumble of laboratory equipment at Allergan Inc. The crystal-clear chemical, to be used in one of the company's dermatology products, is the result of months of work and is the latest of 400 synthetic "retinoids" to be distilled in the Irvine lab. "It's very exciting," said Colon, a 26-year-old chemist with a master's degree from UC Irvine.

Paging Stacy London and Clinton Kelly: Apparently dermatologists need some help in deciding what to wear when they see patients. The biggest controversy appears to involve whether skin specialists should wear their iconic white coats into the exam room or leave them in their offices. A survey reported this week in Archives of Dermatology found that 54% of adult patients want their dermatologist to wear the coats; however, only 26% of parents who brought their children to a pediatric dermatologist think the white coat is helpful in that setting.

Humans can out-smile, out-smirk and out-glower every other animal on the planet, all thanks to an array of facial muscles lying just below the skin. The muscles flex and twitch throughout out the day whether we think about them or not. Lately, facial muscles have been getting a lot of attention. Many books, DVDs and websites claim that it's possible to lift sags, smooth out wrinkles and generally turn back the clock simply by giving the face a regular, vigorous workout. Carolyn's Facial Fitness, an exercise kit sold online for about $40, includes a DVD demonstrating 28 exercises that contort the face in ways you probably didn't know were possible, a CD to help pace the exercises and an instruction booklet.

Time for a pop quiz: What American city has the most dermatologists per capita? If you guessed Los Angeles, you'd be … wrong. Ditto if you guessed Beverly Hills. Santa Monica? You're getting closer — it's No. 4, with 26.2 dermatologists for every 100,000 residents. But, in fact, the most dermatologically dense city in America is Boston. According to an analysis published in Tuesday's edition of Archives of Dermatology, Beantown has 46.9 skin specialists per 100,000 residents.

It was early on a Monday morning, and I had been drawn to this particular patient room on the 10th floor. It had belonged to Mrs. Whittier, whom I had examined three days ago, on Friday. The sun, just up over the mountains to the east, brightened the drab yellow-green walls of the room. I pushed the heavy door closed, and the room became quiet except for a muffled, far-away siren and the occasional voice that drifted in from the corridor.

A small plane crashed and burned shortly after takeoff Friday evening, killing all aboard -- the pilot and nine people who had spent the day working at a skin cancer clinic in a remote community. The twin-engine Beech King Air A-100 crashed just after takeoff Friday evening from Canyonlands Field airport, 18 miles northwest of Moab. It hit the ground in nearby hills, flattened and exploded on impact, authorities said. Emergency responders rushed to the site to search for possible survivors and fight a brush fire apparently sparked by the crash.

You MULTI-TASK all day -- text and drive, talk and type, drink water infused with vitamins. So why shouldn't your makeup do double-duty too? A new generation of foundations aims to do just that, promising more than an even skin tone and a dewy finish. Fortified with ingredients usually reserved for skin care products, these foundations say they can diminish fine lines and wrinkles, treat acne, firm the skin -- even help reverse aging.

The daunting headlines keep coming: Melanoma, the deadly skin cancer, is now the eighth most common cancer--up from 20th just 10 years ago. Today protection has replaced tanning as the buzzword in sun products. "Everyone should use a sunscreen with an SPF (sun protection factor) of at least 15--that's just for brief daily exposure, such as walking to work or driving a car," says Dr. Nicholas Lowe, a clinical professor of dermatology at UCLA.

Acne.org: A Jan. 27 Image article about Acne.org founder Dan Kern identified Dr. Sonia Badreshia-Bansal as an adjunct clinical professor with the department of dermatology at Stanford University. Badreshia-Bansal is a board-certified dermatologist and fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology and is not associated with Stanford University.