Monday, March 10, 2008

Rosacea News February 2008

1. News anchor gets burned by photo facial

From: Lucy Noland offers tip for others to avoid the same pain. 11 News anchor Lucy Noland wanted to share her personal experience so that others can avoid getting burned. A few weeks ago, I went in to get some freckles removed. The result? I was left burned so badly that I couldn’t work for a week. From the bright …
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2. Galderma buys CollaGenex for $420m

Collagenex is set to become a subsidiary of the much bigger Galderma, after CollaGenex agreed to a merger. So 2 of the biggest pharmaceutical companies involved with make rosacea treatments are to become the same company. Galderma has long been associated with rosacea treatment, and is best known for the metronidazole based topicals metrogel, metrocream and metrolotion. CollaGenex has become known in recent years …

3. finacea is good for acne and hyper pigmentation as well

This poster session is seeking to expand the appeal of Finacea (which contains Azelaic acid 15%) beyond rosacea. The result is that the authors are suggesting that finacea is also possibly good for acne vulgaris and hyperpigmentation as well as rosacea. If you are …

4. NRS updates their FAQ

The National Rosacea Society has updated their Frequently Asked Questions page, as reviewed and edited by Dr. Mark Dahl (who is on the Medical Advisory Board of the NRS). They have included 44 questions ranging from `What causes rosacea’ to `Do steroids induce rosacea’. Publications from the NRS are carefully written to be neutral and to be of good general interest. For those …

5. Collagenex CEO says rebound not yet seen in Sansrosa

February 21st, 2008, by Ben

Regarding another investor conference today, CEO Colin Stewart presented and most of the information was familiar. However, during the question period, an audience member asked about rebound flushing/redness during the Sansrosa / COL-118 trials. The following is what was said:

Man: “I realize that it’s an in-class, COL-118, it’s kind of difficult to work out the economics of the opportunity. Now, the fact …

6. Clarisonic user reviews

With the recent push by Clarisonic to promote their sonic brush as treatment for rosacea, I thought it might be interesting to see some reviews of users of the Clarisonic Skin Care System by rosacea sufferers. Although it is expensive, it does seem to be working quite well and so far no-one is reporting that it has irritated their …
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7. using a sonic brush to treat rosacea and seb derm

Here are 2 more recent Poster Sessions promoting the usage of the Clarisonic Skin Care System. Previous publications addressed treating seborrheic dermatitis with the Clarisonic brush. The manufacturers are now targeting their sonic brush as a treatment for rosacea itself. These papers are readying Clarisonic’s push into treating rosacea. It is an interesting idea to approach cleansing from …

8. LED helps recovery after IPL, reduces redness

This paper is good news for both those undergoing IPL treatments and those interested in Light Emitting Diode (LED) therapy as a anti-redness treatment. Patients treated immediately after IPL with a LED device showed that their post-treatment redness subsided faster compared to not also being treated with LED. Use of light-emitting diode photomodulation to reduce erythema and discomfort …

9. Malassezia Globosa causes seborrhea, Pyrithione Zinc is effective

Interesting threads on the Rosacea Support Forum started by Artist. Apparently it is well known but it was a surprise to me that seborrheic dermatitis is not caused by Pityrosporum ovale, but in fact Malassezia Globosa. The second bit of information that was surprising to me was not only that ketoconazole is effective against M. Globosa, but so is Pyrithione Zinc (PTZ). Some great links …

10. rosacure helps redness after 1 month

This paper looks to be suggesting that the silymarin/msm containing topical, rosacure/synchrorose was well tolerated and helps with the redness of rosacea. Silibinin (INN) (silybin, Legalon®) is the major active constituent of silymarin, the mixture of flavonolignans extracted from plant Milk thistle. Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM, or dimethylsulfone) is an organic sulfur compound belonging to a class of chemicals known as …

11. oral repeat prescriptions more popular than topicals

This paper comes up with the seemingly simple and innocuous result that rosacea sufferers are more likely to fill prescription repeats for oral treatments compared to topicals. This lead to the suggestion by Collagenex that sufferers are generally more satisfied with the effects of oral treatments. In recent press release they further suggested that this was a reason that the market for Oracea was large …

12. aveeno ultra calming with feverfew well tolerated

This paper was sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, who make the Aveeno Active Naturals Ultra Calming range. J&J are attempting to target rosacea sufferers with their aveeno range that contains feverfew. Rosacea sufferers are difficult to target with cosmetics so it is encouraging to see large companies doing background research to create suitable products. Poster Abstracts, American Academy of Dermatology 66th Annual Meeting, February … 

13. oxymetazoline good for 6 hours and safe for 3 months

This poster abstract is an update to the paper that was published in Archives of Dermatology in 2007 and was covered by Rosacea News as Sansrosa’s sister to enter redness race. This now expanded abstract suggests that oxymetazoline is effective for up to 6 hours after application and no side effects have been seen after 3 months usage. …

Sunday, March 02, 2008

The Warm Room Flush: what you wished you always knew

You may have noticed that your face flushes when you enter a warm room, but have you ever thought about how that process actually works ? Well, a nicely written article just released on the web goes into detail about how your body responds when you go from a cold room to a warm room. Colin Dahl, rosacea sufferer himself, from Australian Sciences has created this article to help rosacea sufferers understand the thermoregulatory roots of facial flushing in a simple, easy to read manner. The following couple of paragraphs from Chapter 1 give an accurate description of the contents of the booklet.

A Practical Understanding of Rosacea, Part 1: Heat Regulation and the Warm Room Flush Phenomenon, By Colin Dahl, Chief Scientist, Australian Sciences.

The simplified biological mechanics of rosacea have been explained in the booklet. Minimal medical terms have been used and may be further referenced online. I believe that a basic understanding of how the body deals with heat regulation and dilation of blood vessels is needed if you want to begin reversing this and other forms of facial flushing associated with rosacea.

It is not the intention of this booklet to name or deal with specific chemicals. The reason for this is simple, once you have excessive blood vessels and nerves in your skin, you will have an excess of numerous inflammatory chemicals. It is the intention of this booklet to highlight the systems involved, so that these systems can be used in your favor.

Often we see terms like nerve-mediated vasodilation, cutaneous nerves, angiogenesis (and a new one axonogenesis), sympathetic nerves, neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, nerve growth factors etc. thrown around. Finally here is a document that puts them together in context. Whatsmore, it is a pleasure to read.

I like that the document doesn't suggest that IPL is the end-game for treating flushing. See the document for Mr. Dahl's thoughts on how to enhance the effectiveness of IPL therapy.

If you go to the Products section of the web site you will also see that Australian Sciences have products related to rosacea in the development pipeline. From the PDF;

Australian Sciences is developing a range of effective products aimed at assisting in the reduction of excessive skin cell activity due to environmental factors such as sun exposure. Australian Sciences has conducted extensive research into the normalization of inflammatory skin cells with natural compounds such as silymarin, egcg, vitamin B12 and many others. Independent research has also showed these compounds to be effective for other inflammatory skin disorders such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. We believe these products can help normalize skin cells and assist in the long-term reversal of excessive skin infrastructure.

Further benefits can be achieved through reducing the exposure of skin cells to environmental factors. A major contributor to excessive skin cell activity is sunlight. Not only is the ultraviolet radiation a major contributor, but the excessive heat energy delivered to skin cells is enough on its own to cause problems for those with rosacea.

Stay tuned for further information.

Read the document here: Australian Sciences Rosacea Page.

What do you think about this document ? Leave a comment below or discuss it online at the Blushing and Flushing Forum at the Rosacea Support Forum.

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