A Brief History of Psoriasis Management in Canada.

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory disease with a varying degree of clinical presentations. Managing psoriasis has always been arduous due to its chronicity and its propensity to relapse. Prior to the development of targeted biologic therapies, there were few effective treatments for psoriasis. Ancient psoriasis therapies included pinetar, plant extracts, psychotherapy, arsenic, and ammoniated mercury. In the 19th century, chrysarobin was developed. Then, in the early half of the 20th century, anthralin and coal tar were in widespread use. In the latter half of the 20th century, treatments were limited to topical first-line therapies, systemic drugs, and phototherapy. However, as the treatment of psoriasis has undergone a revolutionary change with the development of novel biologic therapies, patients with moderate to severe psoriasis have been able to avail therapies with high efficacy and durability along with an acceptable safety profile. This article is a brief historical review of the management of psoriasis prior to the inception of biologics and with the development of novel biologic therapies.

Causas y curas de las dermatosis en la obra de Hildegarda de Bingen / Causes and Cures of Skin Diseases in the Work of Hildegard of Bingen

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Cosmetics, categories, and the future.

Cosmetics is an interesting unregulated category of over-the-counter products designed to enhance appearance and skin health. The coloring agents used in cosmetics are regulated along with their preservative constituents. New understandings of skin physiology have allowed cosmetics to advance beyond appearance issues into the functional arena. Cosmeceuticals is an unrecognized term from a regulatory perspective that conveys the new cosmetic formulations ability to improve skin health.

Historia de Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas (I): 1909-1959 / History of Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas, Part I: 1909-1959

Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas nació en mayo de 1909. Inicialmente la Revista se publicó por cursos académicos. En 1957 pasó a hacerse por años naturales. El tomo XVIII de la Revista no existe, por un reajuste entre los años de publicación y los tomos realizado en el curso 1926-1927. En octubre de 1928 la Revista aumentó de 6 a 9 ejemplares por año. El curso 1936-1937 no se publicó por el inicio de la Guerra Civil española, pero fue una de las primeras revistas científicas españolas en recuperarse durante la contienda. Su tirada inicial, estimada en unos 100 ejemplares, era ya de 700 poco después de la Guerra Civil. Sus contenidos han ido cambiando progresivamente, pasando de ser el reflejo estricto de las sesiones de la Sociedad Española de Dermatología y Sifiliografía (actual Academia Española de Dermatología y Venereología) a incluir artículos de revisión, casos clínicos, revista de revistas, noticias y diversas secciones. Su comité editorial también ha estado condicionado por la Junta Directiva de esta sociedad al coincidir los cargos durante muchos años. En los primeros reglamentos el director era el presidente de la Academia y el redactor-jefe era el vicepresidente. Los temas tratados son un retrato fiel de la evolución de la propia especialidad. La sífilis pasó de ser predominante, antes de la introducción de la penicilina en los años cuarenta, a ser residual después de esta. Otras grandes aportaciones terapéuticas del siglo xx , como el salvarsán, las sulfamidas, las tiacidas y los corticoides, también tuvieron un eco amplio y rápido en sus páginas. En Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas se publicaron algunas aportaciones originales de autores españoles a la Dermatología mundial, como los pseudoepiteliomas de Azúa o la piodermitis chancriforme de Covisa y Bejarano. El tomo 50, del año 1959, recoge los actos conmemorativos del primer cincuentenario de la Academia Española de Dermatología y Sifiliografía y de la Revista, que se cierran con una biografía de Enrique Álvarez Sainz de Aja, el único miembro fundador vivo en aquel momento (AU)

Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas was born in May 1909. At first, issues appeared in step with the academic year, but publication began to follow the calendar year in 1957. Volume 18 was skipped in 1926-7 in an effort to correct confusion in the numbering of volumes and pages of earlier issues. October 1928 saw the journal grow from 6 issues per year to 9. Although the Spanish Civil War brought publication to a halt during the 1936-7 academic year, Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas was one of the first Spanish scientific journals to recover from the conflict. The initial print run of 100 copies was increased to 700 after the war. The content evolved over time: while originally conceived to provide a strict account of sessions of the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (AEDV) —originally known as the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Syphilology— the journal gradually came to include review articles, case reports, a section summarizing the content of international journals, news and various other types of writing. The editorial board and the association's board of directors were one and the same for many years. According to the earliest charter, the editor-in-chief was also the president of the association and the associate editor was the association's vicepresident. The subjects of articles provide a faithful portrait of how the specialty has changed. Syphilis, a main concern before the introduction of penicillin in the 1940s, was sidelined afterwards. The appearance of 20th-century pharmaceuticals such as salvarsan, sulfa drugs, thiazides, and corticosteroids were soon reflected in the number of articles describing their use. Certain original contributions by Spanish authors to international dermatology first appeared in Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas. Examples are Azúa's description of pseudoepithelioma and Covisa and Bejarano's of chancriform pyoderma. Volume 50 (1959), which included accounts of the 50th anniversary of the association and the journal, closed with a biography of Enrique Álvarez Sainz de Aja, the only founding member still living at that time (AU)

A review of thalidomide's history and current dermatological applications.

Once abandoned because of devastating teratogenic effects, thalidomide has reemerged as an alternative treatment in many dermatologic diseases. In 1998, thalidomide became FDA approved for the acute treatment and suppression of the cutaneous manifestations of erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL). ENL is a systemic disorder that typically occurs after several years of antileprosy treatments, usually for lepromatous leprosy. Off-label uses for thalidomide include: aphthous stomatitis, Behçet disease, pyoderma gangrenosum, chronic discoid lupus erythematosus, systemic lupus erythematosus, lichen planus, prurigo nodularis and sarcoidosis. This review examines the background, pharmacokinetics, mechanism of action, side-effects, and indications of thalidomide.