DermHelpCentral

Melanoma Essentials

On October 18, 2008 there was a fine piece in the NY Times:  Fighting Melanoma in the Mirror:

It covers many of the salient points and is a good starting place for patients and their families.

In Brief:

Skin self-exams are the most direct method for detecting potentially deadly melanoma, though the benefits remain unproved.

Moles that are smaller than a pencil eraser are rarely cancerous.

90 percent of melanoma growths are curable if caught early and removed; untreated, survival rates are worse than for lung cancer.

When it comes to melanoma, vanity may be a virtue.  The most direct method for detecting this deadly tmour is to face a mirror, clothes off, and check for suspicious moles from head to toe.

“Melanoma is, therefore, the biggest no-brainer for screening,”  Melanoma: Essentials

Science of Perfect Skin

The New Science of Perfect Skin
by Daniel Yarosh, Ph.D,

Advertising On Amazon:  Finally—the ultimate beauty bible that gives you everything you need to navigate the dizzying array of claims made by cosmetic companies, and to create your own personalized regimen for perfect skin.

We all want glowing, radiant skin no matter what our age, but with all the skin-care options on the market today, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by choices. Do you really need a cleanser and a toner? Do designer brands from Hollywood doctors really work? Are antioxidants the next true anti-aging breakthrough, and is there a Botox-free way to make wrinkles actually disappear? And, most important, how can you know which products are really worth your money and your time?

As a thirty-year veteran of the beauty world, with experience developing and testing products for brands like Estée Lauder and L’Oreal, Daniel Yarosh, Ph.D., understands your skin from the inside out. And he knows how to separate the help from the hype. Today there are plenty of true skin-care miracles that can deliver amazing results, and in The New Science of Perfect Skin, Yarosh gives you everything you need to identify and choose the best, most-effective products—without blowing your beauty budget.

You can get this from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. 

Shingles and the Shingles Vaccine

Jane Brody of the NY Times has an important article on Herpes zoster (shingles) in a section called "Times Essentials"  It gives most of the information you need about this disorder and has a reasoned discussion of Zostavax utility and value.  See:  Brody on Shingles.