T H U R S D A Y , J U L Y 3 , 2014
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TREATMENTS LABEL
Laser may help stop hair loss MIAMI | When Mercedes Lopez fi rst noticed her hair was falling out in the shower, she didn’t pay much mind to it. Increasingly, however, entire clumps would fall out as Lopez ran her hands through her hair. Lopez, 76, purchased some overthe-counter creams and pills. They didn’t work, and her hairline was receding — a dramatic change from the fine hair she loved to style herself. “When you lose your hair, you feel ashamed,” Lopez said. “I lost a lot of hair in my front, and it was noticeable. That made me feel very uncomfortable.” Last June, Lopez decided to seek treatment. After consulting several doctors, she received a diagnosis: frontal fibrosing alopecia, a condition in which inflammation destroys the hair follicles around the hairline. Although there is no clear solution, Dr. Antonella Tosti, professor of clinical dermatology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has been exploring a new avenue of treatment that has helped some patients. The treatment, which involves low-power lasers, uses light energy to stimulate blood flow to the follicles, which can result in hair growth for some patients. “The treatment is not good for every type of alopecia, but can be very effective for patients experiencing infl ammation,” said Tosti. “The light has anti-inflammatory properties.” Of the patients she has treated using laser therapy, Tosti says eight out of 10 usually see success. Lopez is one of those patients. — The Miami Herald
STUDIESLABEL & RESEARCH
Girls prone to knee injuries Watch your knees, girls. A new study in Pediatrics, the journal for the American Academy of Pediatrics, found that anterior cruciate ligament injuries are on the rise, and girls are more likely to get this injury than their male friends. In the U.S. study, girls playing the same sport as boys are 2.5 to 6.2 times more likely to have an ACL injury than boys. In a Norwegian study, girls ages 10-19 had a 76 in 100,000 chance of tearing their ACL; boys in that same age range had a 47 in 100,000 chance of the same injury. About 70 percent of these injuries happen when there is no contact with another player at all. Usually, you feel a pop in the knee and then see swelling, says Dr. Randall Schultz, an orthopedic surgeon with Texas Orthopedics. Sometimes it will hurt; other times, the pain might not be that bad. It’s not something you have to go to the emergency room for, he says, but you should see a doctor the next day or after the weekend is over to see what’s going on and what needs to be done. In the meantime, put ice on it and use crutches to try to stay off it, Schultz says. Sports where kids stop suddenly and turn a different direction usually are the common offenders: soccer, gymnastics, volleyball and basketball. Boys also saw problems in football. Locally, doctors see all of these, plus cheerleading and dance. The risk goes up for girls once they hit age 12 or 13 and for boys around age 14 or 15. Why? Puberty. This is the time when kids grow faster and their bodies can’t always keep up, which is especially true in the leg’s tibia and femur bones. For girls, hormones also make the ligaments more lax. In boys, the testosterone surge actually helps them increase muscular power and control, allowing them to handle the rapid skeletal growth better. The number of kids with ACL injuries is on the rise because more kids are focusing on one sport intensely all year with few breaks. This is very different from the old habit of kids playing a variety of sports with time off in between seasons. — Austin AmericanStatesman, Texas
Soak up
the sun (SCREEN)
More people still sunburn in summer despite better labeling pushed by FDA By Debbie Carlson
How to use:
ummertime means being outside, whether it’s at the beach, a street festival or just in the backyard. As good as it might feel to soak up the sun, doctors warn that people need to take more seriously their use of sunscreen to avoid premature aging or worse — skin cancer. In 2012, new rules from the Food and Drug Administration took effect governing label information regarding sunscreen. The new rules define the term “broad spectrum,” which means a sunscreen offers protection from both ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B ( U V B) in proportional amounts. Before, sunscreens did not address UVA radiation, which causes skin cancer and early aging but not necessarily the telltale signs of sunburn. Additionally, claims such as “waterproof,” “sweatproof” or “sunblock” are no longer allowed. Sonya Lunder, senior analyst at the Environmental Working Group, said despite greater awareness of the damage sun can do and products with higher sun protection factors (SPF), melanoma rates are still increasing. Melanoma is one of the most deadly forms of skin cancer. “No one really knows why,” she said. “We think mismarketing of sunscreen really contributes to that problem by giving consumers the idea that they can rely on sunscreen and be out all day safely in the sun. People misuse sunscreen and get more sunburns, not fewer.”
Dermatologists said there’s a lot of sunscreen misuse, and the biggest problem is most people don’t use enough. “Nobody uses enough, ever, ever, ever. You’re supposed to use one ounce, which is as much as a shot glass to cover all of your exposed body areas,” said Dr. Jason Reichenberg, vice chair at the University of Texas Southwestern at Austin department of dermatology. Apply it at least 15 minutes before going out, and that amount needs to be reapplied every two hours — more often if the person is sweating a lot or swimming, he said. Wear sunscreen on a cloudy day, too. “You can still get a bad sunburn on a cloudy day as the ultraviolet rays still pass through,” said Dr. Elizabeth Martin, a dermatologist with Pure Dermatology & Aesthetics, in Hoover, Ala. Being “sun smart” is just as important as sunscreen use, Martin and Reichenberg said. That includes trying to avoid the sun between the hottest time of the day, which is usually between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., wearing a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses and preferably long pants and long-sleeved shirts, they said. And forgoing sunscreen to get vitamin D exposure from the sun is a bad idea, the dermatologists stressed. Instead, take a supplement or eat foods rich in vitamin D like fatty fish, or drink fortified orange juice. And never, ever go to a tanning booth. “It’s a myth to get a ‘base tan,’ ” Martin said. “All you do is damage the skin.”
Chicago Tribune
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In 2012, new rules from the Food and Drug Administration took effect governing label information regarding sunscreen. Before, sunscreens did not address UVA radiation, which causes skin cancer and early aging but not necessarily the telltale signs of sunburn.
ILLUSTRATION BY ANTHONY BRATINA
TECH/PRODUCTS
Aggressive allergies: When a rose may not smell so sweet PIT TSBURGH | Is it possible that there are more chemicals being used in perfumes and sprays that are hurting more people than 10 or 20 years ago? “That is definitely accurate,” said Merritt Fajt, an allergist who is a nationally known physician at the University of Pittsburgh Asthma Institute at UP Medical Center and an assistant professor of medicine at Pitt. “One reason that fragrant sensitivities are on the rise is that the use of fragrances is becoming a lot more prominent in this world, and now there are about 500 different fragrances, and even more if you combine the different fragrances.” Allegheny Health Network allergist Deborah Gentile agreed that there are now “four or five hundred types of these chemicals.” These newer chemicals are used in fragrances, perfume and air fresheners. “Some of these chemicals may cause breathing problems, irritation in the nose or chest, headaches, stomach aches,” Dr. Gentile said. “You can
Elizabeth Sandhagen, of Whitehall Borough, Pa., talks with Dr. Deborah Gentile after being injected with Xolair in Pittsburgh. PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
treat them using allergy medications like antihistamines.” Liz Sandhagen, 48, of Whitehall, Penn., a patient of Dr. Gentile’s partner, David Skoner, said she has a list of allergens that includes household cleaners, scented candles, perfume and smoke. “I don’t go places where there might be smoke, and nobody comes to the house and smokes. There are no perfumes or colognes in our
house either,” she said. Sandhagen is treated monthly with a shot of Xolair. She said the allergy care she has received more than 25 years has helped reduce the number of hospital stays she has needed for other medical problems. “It’s limited my hospital visits,” she said, “and I don’t react to the stimuli like flowers, perfumes. I can tolerate them a little bit better than I did.”
The growing popularity of fragrances has caused at least one person to have a terrible allergic reaction that has no treatment available yet. Brandon Silk, 16, of Bethlehem, Penn., has been terribly allergic to the Axe body spray others his age have been wearing since he was in the fi fth grade. “One day (in the fi fth grade) he went into anaphylactic shock,” said his mother, Rosa, who wrote a story to raise awareness about his problem. “He stayed for days in the hospital as doctors tried to fi gure out what was the cause. ... They came to the conclusion that it was something airborne that he must have been exposed to.” The physicians never were able to conclude what was causing Brandon’s symptoms, but he figured it out himself. He walked into a school hall, felt the familiar allergic reaction starting and at the same time recognized a scent. It was Axe body spray. — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette