Friday, August 29, 2008

Rosacea News August 2008

1. Handheld OMNILUX clear-U, red and blue LEDs together

Blue light in combination with red light has been shown to be effective in the treatment of acne. It has been proposed that the 2 colours act together synergistically to combine their antibacterial and anti-inflammatory actions. This paper looks at the handheld unit called the Omnilux clear-U (from Photo Therapeutics). This unit has a flat plane measuring, 60mm x 50mm, consisting of LEDs emitting light at wavelengths of blue light; 415nm (at 40mW/cm2) and red light; 633nm (at 70mw/cm2). The unit allows you to switch between the red and blue modes of operation.

2. topical vitamins A, C, E and B3

Vitamins A,C, E & B3 are found naturally in the skin and have been shown to have potent anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. They can be depleted by sunlight, smoking, pollution and other free radical stress. The number of products containing these vitamins has ballooned in recent years. Read on to see how the theory and background of these Vitamins might be good for you.

3. natural anti-inflammatory therapies

Dr. Wu published a paper in 2006 on treating rosacea with herbs. This paper highlighted the properties and potential rosacea treatment modalities of licorice, feverfew, green tea, oatmeal, lavender, chamomile, tea tree oil and camphor oil. This just published paper concentrates more on the anti-inflammatory properties of several natural products and reviews the evidence supporting their use in inflammatory skin conditions.

4. colloidal oatmeal: a dream ingredient for rosacea sufferers

Colloidal Oatmeal is a versatile and multi-functional compound. This paper details the history and chemistry of colloidal oatmeal and shows how its’ chemical polymorphism leads to many useful clinical properties. Of most interest to rosacea sufferers are the cleansing, moisturizing, buffering, soothing, protecting and anti-inflammatory properties. Colloidal Oatmeal may well be the dream ingredient for rosacea friendly products.

5. oxymetazoline may be good for 2 years

The dermatology news sheet Dermatology Times has published an item to their web site about the emerging use of oxymetazoline to treat the redness and flushing associated with rosacea. This article draws from the Nov. 2007 paper that introduced us to the possibility of treating rosacea with oxymetazoline.

6. just how do you kill demodex mites ?

Demodex mites and rosacea seem to be a popular pairing. If you are interested in eliminating demodex mites to see if your rosacea symptoms improve, just how can you kill them ? Demodex mites are tiny, and live naturally in everyone’s skin. They are quite difficult to kill. Read on if you’d like to know more.