Dietary strategies for chronic spontaneous urticaria: an evidence-based review.

Although the relationship between diet and chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) remains elusive, several patients seek dietary modifications as they are easy and cost-effective. Adequate patient education and counseling are crucial as modified diets may be beneficial for a subset of antihistamine refractory CSU patients, and no modality currently exists to identify these patients. Elimination of food items based exclusively on patient history may lead to unnecessary restrictions in most cases resulting in nutritional deficiencies and impaired quality of life. Several dietary strategies have been tried till date with varying rates of success and evidence. This review highlights the various dietary strategies along with their levels of evidence, which may help the treating dermatologists and physicians to counsel CSU patients and make evidence-based treatment decisions. There is grade A recommendation for the elimination of food additives (artificial pseudoallergens), personalized diets, vitamin D supplementation, Diamine oxidase supplementation and probiotics (in children), grade B recommendation for dietary elimination of red meat, fish and their products, natural pseudoallergens (fruits, vegetables, and spices), and low-histamine diet, while dietary elimination of gluten (with concomitant celiac disease) has grade C recommendation. Notably, elimination diets should be continued for at least 3 consecutive weeks to assess their effectiveness.

Therapeutic options in vitiligo with special emphasis on immunomodulators: A comprehensive update with review of literature.

Vitiligo is a relatively common disorder characterized by areas of depigmented skin. It may be associated with social stigma and adversely affects the quality of life. Although many treatment options are available, none is curable. The search continues for an effective therapeutic option. New targeted options include biologics and other immunomodulatory agents, with varying degrees of evidence. We have discussed briefly the therapeutic options with special emphasis on the newer immunomodulatory agents. We undertook a comprehensive English literature search across multiple databases such as PubMed, SCOPUS, EMBASE, MEDLINE, and Cochrane using keywords (alone and in combination) and MeSH items such as "vitiligo," "treatment," "recent," and "immunomodulators" to obtain several relevant articles, priority being given to prospective randomized controlled trials. We scanned all the relevant articles and summarized them to obtain the latest information about the treatment of this condition to prepare the current article.

Use of vegetable oils in dermatology: an overview.

Vegetable oils have been used for a wide variety of purposes since time immemorial; however, their principle use remains as skin moisturizers, especially in neonates and children. Because of their considerable efficacy and a low side effect profile and bearable cost, these oils are hugely popular as moisturizers among the common people in countries such as India. A wide variety of oils have been used, and newer ones are coming up with each passing day. This article focuses on the different types of vegetable oils and their varied uses in dermatology.