DermHelpCentral

Prescription Data Mining

Pharmaceutical companies buy doctors’ prescribing records from pharmacies and use the information to target their marketing to physicians. This practice negatively affects:
    Public Health
    Cost
    Privacy
To read more about this see:  Download Rx Data Mining Fact  

Bogus Drug Trials

The pharmaceutical industry, in a cynical attempt to sell more drugs, has come up with yet another mechanism to push prescriptions:  the "seeding trial."   Pfizer recently used these trials to promote gabapentin (Neurontin) and increase prescribing among investigators.  PhRMA's Marketing departments are extensively involved in the planning and implementation of "seeding trials."  This is just another way that PhRMA strives to increase sales.  Unsurprisingly, patients both die and suffer in these bogus trials.

This practice is exposed in a recent article in the Archives of Internal Medicine (A Narrative Account ot the Neurontin STEPS Trial) and a fine Op-Ed piece in the NY Times (see  Download Useless Studies, Carl Elliott  ).

The business of PhRMA is business; and this is just one of the many ways that drugs are pushed in the U.S and elsewhere.

Definition from Wikipedia: "A seeding trial or marketing trial is a form of marketing, conducted in the name of research, designed to target product sampling towards selected consumers. In medicine, seeding trials are clinical trials or research studies where the primary objective is to introduce the concept of a particular medical intervention—such as a pharmaceutical drug or medical device—to physicians, rather than to test a scientific hypothesis.

Photosensitivity and Drugs

Jane Brody in the Tuesday, July 26, 2011 NY Times covered the topic of sun sensitivity to drugs quite well.

Intro:  "Many commonly used drugs can cause sun sensitivity,  These include antibiotics such as the tetracyclines (doxycycline is one), ciprofloxacin and the sulfa drugs (Bactrim, for example); the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide; and over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs, like ibuprofen and naproxen."   Note: not everyone who takes these will be photosensitive, and some of these drugs (like doxycycline and hydrochlorthiazide) are more likely to cause this than, say, ibuprofen or naproxen).  St. John's Wort can cause a bad sunburn, too.

The article is a keeper:  J. Brody on Photosensitivity.

Use Tests for Skin Allergy

This is a good article on testing to see if one is truly sensitive to a given agent applied to the skln.  There are two tests: the Repeated Open Application Test (ROAT) and the Provocative Use Test (PUT).  Here's the article: Download J_002

Generally, the skin in  front of the elbow is a good place to use for the ROAT.  Apply a small  amount of the cream/ointment/spray -- etc. a couple of times a day for a few days -- if no reaction within 4 - 5 days -- one is probably not sensitive to the agent.

Here's the abstract of the pdf above.

As one step in defining the clinical relevance of exposure to an allergen identified with patch
testing, use tests (provocative use test (PUT), and repeated open application test (ROAT)) have
been used. In 1/2 of the cases of seemingly reliable patch tests, use tests are negative, suggesting
that the patient’s biologic threshold of response had not been reached with open application dosing.
Dramatic differences exist in regional skin reactivity and percutaneous penetration. Negative
results of use tests on normal skin may become positive on diseased skin. To refine this assay
further, more controlled observations and analysis of reaction differences between normal and
damaged skin, and among regional anatomic sites might be performed. In addition, we require a
standardized measurement for the results. Use testing has significant potential in refinement of the
evidence-based diagnosis of clinical relevance. However, for general validation, we should fill the
deficiencies described above.

Sunburn Pain Relief

Researchers at King’s College London have found a molecule in the body which controls sensitivity to pain from UVB irradiation, identifying it as a new target for medicines to treat pain caused by other common inflammatory conditions such as arthritis.
 
The molecule, called CXCL5, is part of a family of proteins called chemokines, which recruit inflammatory immune cells to the injured tissue, triggering pain and tenderness. This is the first study to reveal this molecule’s role in mediating pain.

This is a basic science article, but it is worth reading and explains why NSAIDs like ibuprofen may help.  Don't use naproxyn, however.  There's a small chance of photosensitivity with that drug.

See news article on study:  Sunburn study could lead to new pain relief (7/7/2011)

Jane Brody on Psoriasis

Jane Brody, an award-winning health reporter at the New York Times, wrote a fine column on Psoriasis (July 5, 2011).

Ms. Brody tells us "Psoriasis is one of the most common skin ailments, affecting about 2 percent of the population, with no respect for gender, age or socioeconomic status. Caucasians.  As with other genetically influenced diseases, psoriasis tends to run in families. If both parents have it, their children have about a 40 percent chance of also developing it; the risk drops to 14 percent if only one parent is affected."

Click on For Many Millions, Psoriasis Means Misery to access the full article.