Fragrance contact allergens in 5588 cosmetic products identified through a novel smartphone application.

BACKGROUND: More than 25% of the adult European population suffers from contact allergy, with fragrance substances recognized as one of the main causes. Since 2005, 26 fragrance contact allergens have been mandatory to label in cosmetic products within the EU if present at 10 ppm or above in leave-on and 100 ppm or above in wash-off cosmetics. OBJECTIVE: To examine exposure, based on ingredient labelling, to the 26 fragrances in a sample of 5588 fragranced cosmetic products. METHODS: The investigated products were identified through a novel, non-profit smartphone application (app), designed to provide information to consumers about chemical substances in cosmetic products. Products registered through the app between December 2015 and October 2016 were label checked according to International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) for the presence of the 26 fragrance substances or the wording 'fragrance/parfum/aroma'. RESULTS: The largest product categories investigated were 'cream, lotion and oil' (n = 1192), 'shampoo and conditioner' (n = 968) and 'deodorants' (n = 632). Among cosmetic products labelled to contain at least one of the 26 fragrances, 85.5% and 73.9% contained at least two and at least three of the 26 fragrances, respectively. Linalool (49.5%) and limonene (48.5%) were labelled most often among all investigated products. Hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde (HICC/Lyral® ) was found in 13.5% of deodorants. Six of the 26 fragrance substances were labelled on less than one per cent of all products, including the natural extracts Evernia furfuracea (tree moss) and Evernia prunastri (oak moss). A total of 329 (5.9%) products had one or more of the 26 fragrance substances labelled but did not have 'parfum/fragrance/aroma' listed on the label. CONCLUSIONS: Consumers are widely exposed to, often multiple, well-established fragrance contact allergens through various cosmetic products intended for daily use. Several fragrance substances that are common causes of contact allergy were rarely labelled in this large sample of cosmetic products.

Pulsed dye laser vs. intense pulsed light for port-wine stains: a randomized side-by-side trial with blinded response evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Pulsed dye lasers (PDLs) are considered the treatment of choice for port-wine stains (PWS). Studies have suggested broadband intense pulsed light (IPL) to be efficient as well. So far, no studies have directly compared the PDL with IPL in a randomized clinical trial. OBJECTIVES: To compare efficacy and adverse events of PDL and IPL in an intraindividual randomized clinical trial. METHODS: Twenty patients with PWS (face, trunk, extremities; pink, red and purple colours; skin types I-III) received one side-by-side treatment with PDL (V-beam Perfecta, 595 nm, 0.45-1.5 ms; Candela Laser Corporation, Wayland, MA, U.S.A.) and IPL (StarLux, Lux G prototype handpiece, 500-670 and 870-1400 nm, 5-10 ms; Palomar Medical Technologies, Burlington, MA, U.S.A.). Settings depended on the preoperative lesional colour. Treatment outcome was evaluated by blinded, clinical evaluations and by skin reflectance measurements. RESULTS: Both PDL and IPL lightened PWS. Median clinical improvements were significantly better for PDL (65%) than IPL (30%) (P = 0.0004). A higher proportion of patients obtained good or excellent clearance rates with the PDL (75%) compared with IPL (30%) (P = 0.0104). Skin reflectance also documented better results after PDL (33% lightening) than IPL (12% lightening) (P = 0.002). Eighteen of 20 patients preferred to receive continued treatments with PDL (P = 0.0004). No adverse events were observed with PDL or IPL. CONCLUSIONS: Both the specific PDL and IPL types of equipment used in this study lightened PWS and both were safe with no adverse events. However, the PDL conveyed the advantages of better efficacy and higher patient preference.

The effect of spiritual healing on in vitro tumour cell proliferation and viability--an experimental study.

Alternative treatments such as spiritual healing and prayer are increasingly popular, especially among patients with life-threatening diseases such as cancer. According to theories of spiritual healing, this intervention is thought to influence living cells and organisms independently of the recipient's conscious awareness of the healer's intention. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that spiritual healing will reduce proliferation and viability of two cancer cell lines in vitro. Three controlled experiments were conducted with three different healers and randomised allocation of cells to five different doses of healing or control. Researchers conducting the assays and statistical analyses were blinded to the experimental conditions. Main outcome measures were MTT viability, 3H-thymidine incorporation and counts of an adherent human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), and a nonadherent mouse B-lymphoid cell line (HB-94). Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) revealed no significant main or dose-related effects of spiritual healing compared to controls for either of the two cell lines or any of the assays (P-values between 0.09 and 0.96). When comparing healing and control across all three experimental days, doses, assays, and cells, 34 (51.6%) of 66 independent comparisons showed differences in the hypothesised direction (P = 0.90). The average effect size across cell lines, days, assays, and doses approached zero (Cohen's d = -0.01). The results do not support previous reports of beneficial effects of spiritual healing on malignant cell growth in vitro. Reported beneficial effects of spiritual healing on the well-being of cancer patients seem more likely to be mediated by psychosocial and psychophysiological effects of the healer-patient relationship.

Changes in cellular immune function after immune specific guided imagery and relaxation in high and low hypnotizable healthy subjects.

This article presents the results of two investigations, each measuring cellular immune function on 3 investigation days 1 week apart in 15 high and 15 low hypnotizable healthy subjects randomly selected for three groups: (1) a guided imagery group receiving instructions to enhance cellular immune function: (2) a relaxation group which did not receive instructions regarding the immune system, and (3) a control group. Study 1 investigated changes in monocyte chemotaxis (MC) and lymphocyte proliferative response (LPR) to three mitogens, while natural killer cell activity (NKCA) was measured in study 2. The results show similar patterns of brief decreases in LPR and NKCA immediately after intervention on all investigation days in both the imagery and relaxation groups. Increases in MC were found in both intervention groups on day 1. On a follow-up investigation day in study 2, a brief stress task yielded a slight increase in NKCA. In study 2, the control group showed decreases in NKCA similar to those observed in the two intervention groups. In general there were no significant changes in preintervention immune function throughout the investigation period. When comparing the effects in high and low hypnotizable subjects, we found that high hypnotizables showed greater decreases in LPR and NKCA than low hypnotizables. There are several inconsistencies between the results of the limited number of investigations studying the effects of guided imagery and relaxation on immune function. These differences may in part be explained by differences in methodology, time intervals between blood sampling, and subject characteristics such as age, health status and hypnotizability. The inconsistent results make it premature to make inferences about possible benefits of the application of these techniques in the treatment of immune related diseases, and further investigations are needed.

Monocyte chemotactic activity in sera after hypnotically induced emotional states.

In a number of studies it has been shown that psychological factors in general and specifically emotional factors can be correlated to changes in immunological function and defence mechanisms. Although the mediating pathways between the central nervous system and the immune system still remain unclear, it is known that some of the 'classical stress hormones' such as cortisol and catecholamines have modulatory effects on different immunological parameters. In this investigation we wished to study the effect of brief hypnotically induced emotional states on monocyte chemotaxis and endocrinological parameters. Eleven highly hypnotically susceptible volunteers were, while in a deep trance, given suggestions to re-experience earlier life experiences involving intense anger and depression in random order. Before concluding hypnosis subjects were given suggestions to re-experience a feeling of happiness and well-being. Monocyte chemotactic activity in sera and serum levels of cortisol, as well as venous plasma levels of the catecholamines epinephrine, norepinephrine, DOPA and DOPAC, were measured before hypnosis, after each emotional state and immediately after hypnosis. The results showed a significant differences (P less than 0.02) in chemotactic activity between the angry and the depressed emotional states, the depressed state exhibiting a decreased chemotactic index compared with the angry state. Chemotactic index after the happy relaxed emotional state also showed a significant (P less than 0.01) increase compared with both chemotactic index before hypnosis and chemotactic activity after the angry and depressed state. Though there were significant differences between emotions and between emotions and the before-hypnosis-condition, no clear-cut significant differences between the emotional states of anger and depression could be detected for serum cortisol levels and catecholamine plasma levels. Significant positive correlations (P less than 0.01) for differences in chemotactic activity and differences in plasma DOPA levels between emotional states was found. When investigated in vitro, DOPA did not in itself exhibit monocyte chemotactic properties. No other significant correlations between differences in chemotactic activity and other endocrinological parameters could be detected. Soluble interleukin-2 receptors in serum were also measured. No significant differences were found.