Symptom Of Skin Diseases Research Articles

The Development of a Mobile Application to Support Peripheral Health Workers to Diagnose and Treat People with Skin Diseases in Resource-Poor Settings.

The high prevalence of skin diseases in resource-poor settings, where health workers with sufficient knowledge of skin diseases are scarce, calls for innovative measures. Timely diagnosis and treatment of skin diseases, especially neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that manifest with skin lesions, such as leprosy, is crucial to prevent disabilities as well as psychological and socioeconomic problems. Innovative technological methods like telemedicine and mobile health (mHealth) can help to bridge the gap between the burden of skin diseases and the lack of capable staff in resource-poor settings by bringing essential health services from central level closer to peripheral levels. Netherlands Leprosy Relief (NLR) has developed a mobile phone application called the ‘SkinApp’, which aims to support peripheral health workers to recognize the early signs and symptoms of skin diseases, including skin NTDs, and to start treatment promptly or refer for more advanced diagnostic testing or disease management when needed. Further research is needed to determine how greatly mHealth in general and the SkinApp in particular can contribute to improved health outcomes, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.

How Does Anxiety Affect Adults with Skin Disease? Examining the Indirect Effect of Anxiety Symptoms on Impairment Through Anxiety Sensitivity

Emerging research suggests social anxiety, health anxiety, and generalized anxiety disorder symptoms are particularly relevant for dermatology patients. Unfortunately, very few studies have investigated how these anxieties affect quality of life among individuals with skin disease. The aims of the present study were to characterize the rates of these anxiety syndromes among adults with active skin disease symptoms, examine correlations between anxiety and skin disease symptoms, and test the mediating role of anxiety sensitivity in skin-related impairment. A considerable number of participants (N = 237) screened positive for social anxiety disorder (62.9%), health anxiety (18.1%), and generalized anxiety disorder (32.5%). Consistent with hypothesis, each anxiety syndrome was indirectly related to skin-related impairment through anxiety sensitivity. Overall, the findings emphasize the importance of anxiety symptoms in dermatological outcomes.

Stress and skin disease quality of life: the moderating role of anxiety sensitivity social concerns.

Stress is an important factor in the onset, exacerbation and reoccurrence of many skin diseases. Little is known about psychological risk factors that affect the association between stress and dermatological conditions. One relevant factor that may modulate this link is anxiety sensitivity (AS) social concerns - the propensity to respond fearfully to anxiety-related sensations (e.g. sweating, flushing) owing to perceived social consequences (e.g. rejection or humiliation). To gain insight into psychological factors affecting skin disease, we examined the moderating role of AS social concerns in the relationship between stress and skin disease quality of life (QoL). Participants [n = 237 (161 female), mean ± SD age 34·18 ± 9·57 years] with active skin disease symptoms were recruited online and completed questionnaires assessing stress, AS social concerns, skin disease QoL and global skin disease symptom severity. AS social concerns moderated the association between stress and skin-related emotional and social functioning in adults with skin disease. Stress was a significant predictor of the impairment associated with skin disease. Stress was linked to skin disease-related emotional and functional impairment associated with skin disease among individuals with high AS social concerns. These results highlight the potential for AS reduction interventions to break the vicious cycle of stress and skin disease symptoms and to improve psychosocial well-being in dermatology patients.

Stress and skin disease quality of life: the moderating role of anxiety sensitivity social concerns

Summary The term ‘stress’ is used to describe when a person feels tense or under pressure. An interesting fact is that stress can make some skin diseases worse, and can even trigger some skin diseases. This can lead to a vicious circle for patients, as their skin disease causes more stress, which then in turn worsens the symptoms, and so on. Little is known about psychological risk factors that play a part in this link between stress and skin disease, but it is thought that one relevant factor is ‘anxiety sensitivity (AS) social concerns’. This is when a person is fearful of anxiety-related sensations (e.g. sweating, flushing) because they are worried about social consequences (the reactions of other people e.g., rejection or humiliation). Thus the person is worried about the visible signs of their anxiety. In this study from the U.S., 237 people with skin disease symptoms completed questionnaires assessing stress, AS social concerns, skin disease quality of life, and the severity of their skin symptoms. The study found that people with high AS social concerns are more likely to notice and fear the social repercussions of (e.g. how other people react to) physical signs caused by stress or skin disease, thereby worsening the impact of skin disease on their emotional wellbeing and their everyday life. However, people with high AS social concern did not report worse quality of life relating to the physical symptoms of their skin disorder, suggesting that stress was not linked to symptom severity.

Neurophysiology of atopic pruritus

Pruritus is one of the major symptoms of inflammatory skin diseases and strongly affects the quality of life in patients. Although the perception of pruritus and pain are closely intertwined, pruritus represents a distinct sensation, which is also significantly different to pain at aneurophysiological level. The pathophysiological basis of chronic and acute pruritus is not fully understood. Besides histamine, aplethora of different neuromediators of itch, including neurotrophins, neuropeptides and their corresponding receptors, have been identified. In atopic dermatitis the release of these mediators leads to an activation of immune cells, such as mast cells and eosinophilic granulocytes, which in turn release neuromediators and cytokines that activate peripheral neurons. This review focuses on the neurophysiological interactions which regulate pruritus and summarizes the function of neurological and inflammatory mediators in atopic pruritus.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate attenuates acute and chronic psoriatic itch in mice: Involvement of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effects and suppression of ERK and Akt signaling pathways

Chronic itch is a distressing symptom of many skin diseases and negatively impacts quality of life. However, there is no medication for most forms of chronic itch, although antihistamines are often used for anti-itch treatment. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a major green tea polyphenol, exhibits anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. Our previous studies highlighted a key role of oxidative stress and proinflammatory cytokines in acute and chronic itch. Here, we evaluated the effects of green tea polyphenon 60 and EGCG on acute and chronic itch in mouse models and explored its potential mechanisms. The effects of EGCG were determined by behavioral tests in mouse models of acute and chronic itch, which were induced by compound 48/80, chloroquine (CQ), and 5% imiquimod cream treatment, respectively. We found that systemic or local administration of green tea polyphenon 60 or EGCG significantly alleviated compound 48/80- and chloroquine-induced acute itch in a dose-dependent manner in mice. Incubation of EGCG significantly decreased the accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) directly induced by compound 48/80 and CQ in cultured ND7-23 cells, a dorsal root ganglia derived cell line. EGCG also attenuated imiquimod-induced chronic psoriatic itch behaviors and skin epidermal hyperplasia in mice. In addition, EGCG inhibited the expression of IL-23 mRNA in skin and TRPV1 mRNA in dorsal root ganglia (DRG). Finally, EGCG remarkably inhibited compound 48/80-induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and imiquimod-induced p-AKT in the spinal cord of mice, respectively. Collectively, these results indicated EGCG could be a promising strategy for anti-itch therapy.

Implementation of Nearest Neighbor using HSV to Identify Skin Disease

Today, Android is one of the most widely used operating system in the world. Most of android device has a camera that could capture an image, this feature could be optimized to identify skin disease. The disease is one of health problem caused by bacterium, fungi, and virus. The symptoms of skin disease usually visible. In this work, the symptoms that captured as image contains HSV in every pixel of the image. HSV can extracted and then calculate to earn euclidean value. The value compared using nearest neighbor algorithm to discover closer value between image testing and image training to get highest value that decide class label or type of skin disease. The testing result show that 166 of 200 or about 80% is accurate. There are some reasons that influence the result of classification model like number of image training and quality of android device’s camera.

Improved Algorithm for Detection of Skin and Symptoms of Skin Disease ‘Seborrheic Keratosis’ with Implementation on FPGA and MATLAB

This paper presents an improved algorithm for implementation of skin cancer detection. In this era, skin cancer is the common cause for death of millions. In skin cancer, some abnormal cells grow on skin which create difference in normal skin and diseased skin. System designed in paper ensures real time processing for both skin color module and binary projection. Skin cancer detection is widely open area for researches. System can be implemented in both hardware and software. Improved algorithm reduces number of computations and is not much complex as of widely known algorithms. The system was implemented on MATLAB for performing experiments. Results from MATLAB were used for implementation of system onto Altera DE2–115 Cyclone IV E Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) using Qsys. This system gave enhanced performance over many previous research studies.

Antipruritic effect of curcumin on histamine-induced itching in mice.

Itching is a common clinical symptom of skin disease that significantly affects a patient's quality of life. Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) receptors of keratinocytes and peripheral nerve fibers in skin are involved in the regulation of itching as well as pain. In this study, we investigated whether curcumin, which acts on TRPV1 receptors, affects histamine-induced itching in mice, using behavioral tests and electrophysiological approaches. We found that histamine-induced itching was blocked by topical application of curcumin in a concentration-dependent manner. In ex-vivo recordings, histamine-induced discharges of peripheral nerves were reduced by the application of curcumin, indicating that curcumin acts directly on peripheral nerves. Additionally, curcumin blocked the histamine-induced inward current via activation of TRPV1 (curcumin IC50=523 nM). However, it did not alter chloroquine-induced itching behavior in mice, which is associated with transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1). Taken together, our results suggest that histamine-induced itching can be blocked by topical application of curcumin through the inhibitory action of curcumin on TRPV1 receptors in peripheral nerves.

Acupuncture and Cutaneous Medicine: Is It Effective?

Background: In China, acupuncture has been used as a form of medical therapy for more than 2500 years. It is a part of traditional medical practice and is used to treat the entire spectrum of human and veterinary disease. Although dermatologic disease has received much less attention in worldwide acupuncture research than pain and musculoskeletal conditions, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting acupuncture's usefulness in this area. Objective: The aim of this article was to review the evidence in the literature regarding the usefulness of acupuncture in managing dermatologic illness. Results: Trials and case reports of patients using acupuncture have been published in the areas of atopic dermatitis and urticaria, herpes zoster, psoriasis, acne, melasma, and hyperhidrosis, as well as in promoting wound healing. Itch modulation by acupuncture has been the focus of recent research as itch is a predominant symptom in allergic skin diseases and leads to serious impairment of quality of life. Conclusions: Although more research is needed, acupuncture's use in cutaneous medicine is promising in the area of itch modulation, in treating atopic dermatitis and herpes zoster pain, and in promoting wound healing.

Evaluation of street food vendors’ hygienic practices using fast observation questionnaire

The aim of this study was to check the compliance of street food vendors hygienic practices with requirements of the Codex code of practice - general principles on food hygiene and of the Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004. The materials were 110 street food vendors located in Athens, Greece. Specially designed questionnaire allowed fast data collection. The lowest ratings were found in the hygiene of food preparation and serving, that was related to basic infrastructure, especially the protection of light bulbs from glass spreading in case of breaking, and protection of hair from falling into food by wearing sufficient hair covers or caps. Much higher ratings were found in separation of fresh food from ready-to-eat one and in the section of personal hygiene - lack of visible cuts or skin disease symptoms on hands. One of the most interesting findings is that street vendors selling meat or fish meals obtained higher ratings than vegetable or fruit ones. A greater effort should be made to increase hygiene level especially in the case of small mobile food vendors. Because of variation in hygiene level there is a need for more inspections covering greater number of street food vendors. Due to high popularity of street food and its importance for tourism, more effort should be made to improve the degree of compliance with the hygiene requirements. The fast observation questionaire used in this study allowed rapid assessment of implementation of hygiene principles. Further research is needed to explain why, despite food safety authorities licencing and inspection, implementation of hygiene principles by street food vendors is often incomplete and what factors affect the correct operation.

A cream based on Aquaphilus dolomiae extracts alleviates non-histaminergic pruritus in humans

Itch is a symptom of many skin diseases. At least two pathways of itch have been described: a histaminergic and a non-histaminergic pathway. The latter is activated by cowhage, a tropical plant with spicules that, upon skin contact, release mucunain, a cysteine protease serving as a ligand for the protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR-2) [1]. In humans, PAR-2, expressed by mechanically-sensitive C fibres and keratinocytes, is involved in the development of inflammation and itch in atopic dermatitis [...]

Clinical features of «metabolism» diseases of the skin in patients with chronic diffuse liver diseases

To determine the clinical features of skin diseases developing in the presence of metabolic disturbances in patients with chronic diffuse liver diseases. A total of 368 patients with different clinical forms of hepatopathy were comprehensively examined. 817 cases of seborrhea, skin itch, xerodermia, xanthomatosis, and dyschromia were detected in 318 (86.4%) patients. The prevalence and intensity of cutaneous manifestations depended on the nature of the pathological liver process and indirectly testified to its severity and activity. The symptoms of skin diseases were most pronounced in patients with autoimmune liver lesions, chronic toxic hepatitis, and cirrhosis.

Quality of Life and Psychosocial Needs of Children Suffering from Chronic Skin Diseases

IntroductionThe inner world of an individual and his/ her relationship with the environment are expressed at the 'boundary', the biggest organ of our body - the skin [1]. The skin and psyche are most often linked in the studies including the following groups of disorders [2]: (1) psychophysiological dermatoses - primarily psychiatric diseases resulting in skin disorders and (2) secondary psychological disorders occuring as reactions to the visibility and the chronic course of skin diseases. According to Hong, Koo and Koo [3] skin diseases are mostly not life threatening, which is the reason why they receive less attention both medically and psychologically. However, individuals suffering from skin diseases, also suffer psychosocially, equally or even more than those with other chronic somatic diseases [4], especially children and youth [5].Children suffering from chronic skin diseases show more signs of depression and anxiety [6-8], a poorer self-image [9], and they estimate their quality of life lower than children with other diseases like cystic fibrosis, asthma, epilepsy and enuresis [6]. Studies show that among skin diseases, atopic dermatitis is most strongly related with negative indicators of mental health in children [7,10,11], which is explained multifactorially. Atopic dermatitis is a condition which is: (1) visible, (2) incurable in most cases, (3) causes sleeping problems, (4) causes constant itching, (5) can cause reactions of disgust from the environment [7,8,12].The psychological indicator most often studied in children with chronic skin diseases is the quality of life. According to the World Health Organization, the quality of life is defined as individuals' perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns (The WHOQOL Group, 1995). It includes several aspects - physical health, the psychological status, the level of independence, social relationships, personal beliefs and their relationship to the salient features of their environment [13]. The quality of life of children suffering from skin diseases is most often examined by quantitative methodology, questionnaires, predominantly CQOL (Child Health-Related Quality of Life) [14], CDQOL (Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index) [15] and CLQU (Children's Life Quality Index) [16]. Measures CQUL and CDQOL are based on the quality of life linked with physical health, while CLQU measures various aspects of children's lives. Both questionnaire structures contain certain bias. Children with lower life satisfaction due to their health condition will not differentiate in the first two questionnaires because the questions only refer to health. On the other hand, according to the CLQU factors [16], a child may be satisfied with family circumstances, the economic status, his/her academic achievement, s/he can positively perceive his/her future, and at the same time be dissatisfied with e.g. his/her health, appearance and social status due to a skin condition. Regardless of how intensely dissatisfied a child may be with his/ her aspects of life affected by a skin condition, his/her total life satisfaction will seem at least average because of the satisfaction with other aspects of life. Therefore, the results obtained by questionnaires need to be critically interpreted and complemented by qualitative methodology.In most studies of the quality of life of children suffering from skin diseases, at least a part of questionnaires was filled in by adults in their environment. Davies, Noll, DeStefano, Bukowski and Kulkarni [17] emphasize that adult perceptions can be significantly different from child perceptions. For example, unclear link between the severity of skin disease symptoms and the quality of life of children can be explained by physicians assessing the severity of symptoms, while in some cases parents assess the quality of their children's lives [18,19]. …

Gene Function Analysis in the Ubiquitous Human Commensal and Pathogen Malassezia Genus.

ABSTRACTThe genus Malassezia includes 14 species that are found on the skin of humans and animals and are associated with a number of diseases. Recent genome sequencing projects have defined the gene content of all 14 species; however, to date, genetic manipulation has not been possible for any species within this genus. Here, we develop and then optimize molecular tools for the transformation of Malassezia furfur and Malassezia sympodialis using Agrobacterium tumefaciens delivery of transfer DNA (T-DNA) molecules. These T-DNAs can insert randomly into the genome. In the case of M. furfur, targeted gene replacements were also achieved via homologous recombination, enabling deletion of the ADE2 gene for purine biosynthesis and of the LAC2 gene predicted to be involved in melanin biosynthesis. Hence, the introduction of exogenous DNA and direct gene manipulation are feasible in Malassezia species.

The peripheral and central mechanisms underlying itch.

Itch is one of the most distressing sensations that substantially impair quality of life. It is a cardinal symptom of many skin diseases and is also caused by a variety of systemic disorders. Unfortunately, currently available itch medications are ineffective in many chronic itch conditions, and they often cause undesirable side effects. To develop novel therapeutic strategies, it is essential to identify primary afferent neurons that selectively respond to itch mediators as well as the central nervous system components that process the sensation of itch and initiate behavioral responses. This review summarizes recent progress in the study of itch, focusing on itch-selective receptors, signaling molecules, neuronal pathways from the primary sensory neurons to the brain, and potential decoding mechanisms based on which itch is distinguished from pain. [BMB Reports 2016; 49(9): 474-487]

Effects of osteopathic manipulative treatment on hand function, disease symptoms and functional status in systemic sclerosis: a series of single-case studies in working women

BackgroundSome studies involving manual techniques combined with exercises have shown encouraging results in reducing disability in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). There is a paucity of data on the effect of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) for this population. ObjectiveOur aim was to explore the effects of OMT on hand function, disease symptoms and functional status in patients with SSc. MethodsA series of single-case studies was undertaken. Six female SSc participants with hand contractures and self-reported limitations in vocational activities received 9 weekly semi-standardized OMT sessions targeting the upper limbs, thorax and cranial base. The outcomes of interest were hand stiffness, range of motion of the fingers, distal upper limbs skin score, disease symptoms (pain, dyspnea and fatigue), hand and global disability, work disability and health-related quality of life. ResultsAll participants (n = 6/6) improved in hand stiffness and in range of motion of the fingers, and most improved on distal upper limbs skin score (n = 4/6). Disease symptoms improved (pain: n = 6/6, dyspnea: n = 3/4, fatigue: n = 4/6) as did functional status (global disability: n = 5/5, work disability: n = 4/6, health-related quality of life, physical (n = 6/6) and mental (n = 4/6) components). When comparisons were possible, almost all observed improvements were greater than minimal clinically important differences suggested for this population. ConclusionThese findings suggest that OMT can be effective in relieving symptoms and reducing disability in SSc.

Skin disease symptoms and related risk factors among young workers in high-risk jobs.

Occupational skin diseases are the one of the most frequent diseases in many industrialized countries. The studies about skin disease (SD) on young workers were limited. In this study, we aim to evaluate the prevalence of SD symptoms and related risk factors among young workers in high-risk occupations. This cross-sectional study was undertaken between 2011 and 2012 in two vocational training centres. We included 455 young workers who were working as hairdressers, jewellers, or car mechanics. Data were collected with the Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire, which was adapted to Turkish for young workers. The average age of the young workers was 17.9 ± 1.7 years. Of the 455 young workers, 52.7% were female and 47.3% were male. During the previous 12 months, the prevalences of the total SD symptoms, hand/forearm eczema symptoms and urticaria symptoms were 49.7%, 44.4%, and 13.4%, respectively. Those who worked as car mechanics were 5.8 times more likely [odds ratio (OR) 5.81, 95%CI: 2.58-13.10) to have a dry skin type, 2.9 times more likely (OR 2.86, 95%CI: 1.72-4.75) to work for >12 h daily, 2.6 times more likely (OR 2.59, 95%CI: 1.25-5.35) to have worked for >5 years, and 3.0 times more likely (OR 3.05, 95%CI: 1.14-8.14) to have SD symptoms. The results indicate that young workers in high-risk jobs have a high frequency of skin symptoms. These results could provide a basis for occupational health professionals to plan prevention programmes for young workers.

Diagnostic Procedures of Itch.

A complex and multifactorial pathogenesis of itch makes the proper diagnosis of underlying disease a difficult and challenging clinical problem. The examination of every patient with itch should be started by gathering an accurate history. During the anamnesis it is important to obtain data about the beginning of the appearance of symptoms, its location, diurnal variation, and the factors influencing itch perception. After careful anamnesis the patient should undergo a detailed physical examination, with particular attention to the skin in order to look for any signs of skin lesions. Special attention should be paid to distinguish the primary lesion from the changes resulting from scratching. In patients in whom the etiology of the itch cannot be identified on the basis of the medical examination, a panel of primary screen laboratory examination may be required, and if necessary, depending on the results of basic laboratory results and data from medical history, additional diagnostic tests should be considered. In patients in whom an organic cause of itching has not been established, itch is most likely of undetermined origin; however, psychogenic causes should also be suspected and ruled out. In conclusion, it could be stated that itch is a common symptom of many skin diseases, systemic of neurological diseases. Despite the complex etiology of the disease, an exact cause of itch should be searched for in each patient, as successful therapy is largely dependent on the determination of the cause of the itching.

Skin disease and thyroid autoimmunity in atopic South Italian children.

To verify the prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity (TA) and the possible association between atopy and TA in children affected by skin disease. Three hundred and twenty-four children consecutively referred due to skin disease symptoms to our Pediatric Department were enrolled. One hundred and eighty-seven were diagnosed with atopic dermatitis (AD), 95 with acute urticaria, 40 with chronic urticaria (CU), and 2 with alopecia areata (AA). According to the work-up for atopy, the children were divided into two groups: Atopics and non-atopics. TA was diagnosed by serum thyroid peroxidase autoantibodies and/or thyroglobulin autoantibodies levels more than twice normal values over a period of two months by immunoassay. In all children with skin disease, a significant prevalence of TA in atopics compared with non-atopics (13.67% vs 2.67%, P = 0.0016) and a significant association between TA and atopy (OR = 5.76, 95%CI: 1.71-19.35) were observed. These findings were confirmed as significant in children with AD: TA in atopics was 11.5%, while TA in non-atopics was 2.7% (P = 0.03, OR = 4.68, 95%CI: 1.02-21.38). In addition, atopics with CU showed a significantly higher prevalence of TA (26.9%), but none of the non-atopics showed CU (P = 0.0326). On the other hand, atopics with AA showed a 100% (2 out of 2) prevalence of TA, compared with none of the non-atopics. In children with skin disease, atopy seems to be associated with an increased risk of TA.