DermHelpCentral

Soul 2 Cell

From the NY Times: An article in JAMA this week describes a "new technique, called targeted muscle reinnervation which involves taking the nerves that remain after an arm is amputated and connecting them to another muscle in the body, often in the chest. Electrodes are placed over the chest muscles, acting as antennae. When the person wants to move the arm, the brain sends signals that first contract the chest muscles, which send an electrical signal to the prosthetic arm, instructing it to move. The process requires no more conscious effort than it would for a person who has a natural arm."  Full article.

Oh Brave New World...  Here the mind uses the nerves to send messages to myocytes (cells) to move artificial fingers.  These are the first baby steps, early insights into how the soul can direct the soul.

Updike on Psoriasis

 "From the Journal of a Leper" is a fiction piece written by John Updike which appeared in the October 19, 1976 New Yorker magazine.  It is difficult to find so we have placed it here in two parts: Download Updike Pso 1 and Download Updike Pso 2

 

Updike's second essay on psoriasis appeared in the New Yorker in 1985 and in the book"Self-Consciousness," Chapter 2.  Here it is as PDF in four parts:

Download Updike War Skin 1

Download Updike War 2

Download Updike War Skin 3

Download Updike War Skin 4

For more on Updike and psoriasis see the Pathography Blog. The Pathography posting has the information about Updike's other essay on psoriasis, a memoir called "At War With My Skin."

Dry, Itchy Skin

  cartoon by Gene Blasen

This is a good discussion of the dry, itchy skin many people experience during winters: 
It’s Cold and Your Skin Is Suffering. So What Are You Doing to Moisturize? 

It begins:  IT’S been a challenging winter for people with dry skin. The country has been blasted with Arctic air, making this winter the coldest so far in a decade, according to Scott Stephens, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Climatic Data Center. With the cold comes low humidity — sometimes as low as 10 percent — along with moisture-stripping winds that can cause chapped, flaky skin."

This article has some practical (and very inexpensive tips) as well as an interesting multimedia presentation.

Skin Cancer Screening: The Facts

Sabrina Reid, a Williams College premedical student, brought this article to our attention.  "The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) says there isn't enough evidence for or against the skin cancer checks during which you or your doctor looks for changes in the color, size and texture of skin growths.

"This task force makes recommendations about the effectiveness of medical treatments every five to seven years to U.S. primary-care doctors. When it reviewed the latest data on whole body exams, the panel didn’t find evidence that they reduced mortality from skin cancer or the disease's spread. And it found that there are few studies of how accurately docs identify suspicious moles in real patients, rather than in photos. The task force recommends better research.

"There isn’t consensus about whether screening is beneficial or not. And there isn’t consistency about how frequently or which populations" should get checked, Wolff tells ScientificAmerican.com. "It points to the limited evidence in this area."

[Of course, this holds true for other screenings as well.  It is also unclear if colonoscopy is any better than tests for stool ocult blood -- but your gastroenterologist will lead you to think differenctly.  PSA is not recommended as a screening test for men over age seventy.  Caveat emptor.  Remember,  "Every peddler praises his needles."

Telling Food Allergies From False Alarms

 "Doctors say that misdiagnosed food allergies appear to be on the rise, and countless families are needlessly avoiding certain foods and spending hundreds of dollars on costly nonallergenic supplements. In extreme cases, misdiagnosed allergies have put children at risk for malnutrition."

This is an important article that you should read if you are afraid you or your child has food allergies.  It's old news.  Hugh Sampson has been saying this for > 15 years, but many docs were not listening.  The simple answer is that in many cases RAST testing is overused. Be warned.

Full article.