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Changing The Micropore Density On The Skin: Advancement In Drug Delivery

One of the major areas of research in the medical device industry is how to effectively deliver drugs to their target sites. The gold standard for systemic delivery of drugs is an intravenous (IV) injection, though it is not a great way to deliver meds that address chronic needs because of the pain and inconvenience. There have been exciting developments in transdermal delivery, such as the nicotine and birth control patches, though certain molecules and drugs do not easily diffuse through the epidermal layer to reach the more vascularized layers below.

One potential solution is to Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*

The Facts About Laser Hair Removal

Yes, laser hair removal is a common and effective way to permanently remove hair. It is safe, but remember these tips:

  1. Hair removal lasers target the pigment in hair (that’s how they work). Hair lasers can damage darker or pigmented skin as the laser will target both the hair and the skin, burning it. This can lead to permanent skin discoloration.
  2. Tanned skin is dark skin, and laser hair removal should never be done on people with a tan.
  3. Laser hair treatments hurt. Some people Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at The Dermatology Blog*

Aesthetic Surgery Journal Examines Nonablative Treatment Of Stretch Marks

Stretch marks (striae distensae) are common.  They represent linear dermal scars accompanied by epidermal atrophy.  Stretch marks aren’t a significant medical problem, but can be a source of significant emotional distress.

There are many treatments available, ranging from therapy applied to the skin, laser therapy, and even more invasive surgical methods. Unfortunately, stretch marks remain a tricky problem to target, in which no established treatment exists.

A recent article in the  May issue of the Aesthetic Surgery Journal (full reference below) discusses the use of fractional nonablative laser treatment for stretch marks.

Dr. Francesca de Angelis and colleagues conducted a clinical study involving 51 patients with striae, three male and 48 female,  who were treated between May 2007 to May 2008.  Several patients had striae on multiple areas of the body so a total of 79 striae locations were treated.

Patient ages ranged from 13 to 56 years (mean, 33 years). Fitzpatrick skin type ranged from II to IV. The duration of striae ranged from one to 40 years, with an average duration of 12 years. The striae formed as a result of pubertal growth (41%, n = 21), pregnancy (31%, n = 16), weight change (20%, n = 10), muscular atrophy (2%, n = one ), or unknown causes (6%, n = three).

Anatomical locations for treatment included the hips, breasts, abdomen, flanks, knees, buttocks, arms, thighs, and shoulders, with the majority of treatments occurring on the first three sites.

The stated objective of this study was to determine Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*

Woman Claims She Found A Simple Way To Kill Cancerous Tumors, Jury Not Convinced

I hope @oracknows, Respectful Insolence, will write more about this. He is much better than I at sussing out fraudulent medical treatments.

I have lived and practiced in Little Rock, AR for over twenty years and I did not know this was in my backyard until my local paper (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette) reported on the outcome of the trial last week. The article title caught my eye as I was skimming the news: Jurors: Cancer therapy a fraud, Award in suit is $2.5 million (subscription only unfortunately).

A federal jury awarded $2.5 million in damages Tuesday to a California woman who paid $6,250 to undergo alternative treatments from a Jacksonville woman who promised a “100 percent success rate” in destroying cancerous breast tumors.

Antonella Carpenter, the former Jacksonville woman who has since moved to Broken Arrow, Okla., and continues to proclaim on her website that she has found a simple, painless way to kill cancerous tumors, wasn’t present for the verdict against her and her company, Lase Med Inc. …….

I don’t recall ever hearing of Lase Med Inc: LIESH Therapy.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit is Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*

An At-Home Laser Hair Removal System That Works

Without going into TOO much detail of how I know this… I have personally observed that the TRIA Laser Home Removal System does work after observing its use and its effects over a 6 month period of time. And before anybody asks… no… I was not paid to write this nor did I get a free one to try. Rather, someone I am close to bought it off Amazon.com and I was a skeptic on-looker.

In any case, the caveat being that I know it works (admittedly anecdotal) as long as the hair is dark (ideally black or brown) on very light colored skin (ideally white).

The way laser hair removal works is Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Fauquier ENT Blog*

Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

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How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

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Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

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The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

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Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

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