Stapleton et al's (2020) study found that tanning bed use had decreased in female students over 17 years of age
The trend of cutaneous lesions during COVID-19 pandemic: lessons from a meta-analysis and systematic review
Aside from the widely reported respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms, there are now increasing reports of cutaneous manifestations in COVID-19 patients.
The aim of this study was to estimate how common cutaneous manifestations are in COVID-19 patients.
The study was carried out in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. The authors performed a detailed literature search on PubMed and Embase from 1 December 2019 to 1 May 2020. Studies that reported cutaneous manifestations in COVID-19 patients were included in this study. In total, 2086 articles were selected.
The authors found that the prevalence of cutaneous manifestations in COVID-19 patients was 5.69%. They also found other related manifestations, such as urticaria, chilblain-like lesions, livedo reticularis and finger/toe gangrene.
The authors concluded that their study might be premature to conclude the prevalence of the cutaneous manifestations during the ongoing pandemic, but stated that their report may encourage other physicians to perform investigations into cutaneous manifestations in COVID-19 patients to estimate the final prevalence.
Prevalence and location of indoor tanning among high school students in New Jersey 5 years after the enactment of youth access restrictions
This study examined whether New Jersey (US) state restrictions that ban minors from using indoor tanning beds are effective in reducing the prevalence of indoor tanning among high school students.
The authors found that unique evidence supporting the benefit of enacting new regulatory efforts that restrict indoor tanning access among minors and extending the existing restrictions to address unsupervised non-salon tanning. Although several state governments have issued bans on minors using indoor tanning beds at tanning salons, less is known about tanning occurrence in areas generally not covered by restrictions, such as non-salon locations.
The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence and location of indoor tanning among minors in New Jersey, US, after a 2013 statewide indoor tanning ban for those younger than 17 years.
To carry out this study, the authors included four representative cross-sectional surveys that were carried out between 2012 and 2018 among 12 659 high school students in New Jersey, US.
The main outcome of this study was discovering the frequency of indoor tanning use in the past year. A total of 12 659 high school students were surveyed, and the study showed that tanning prevalence among students younger than 17 years was 48% lower in 2018 compared with that in 2012.
Tanning use was 72% lower among female students older than 17 years. Prevalence rates were not significantly different for male students aged 17 and older, nor were they for BAME students. The occurrence of tanning in salons and private residences was similar among students younger than 17 years.
The authors' findings suggest that the use of tanning in New Jersey, US, has decreased among all people younger than the legal tanning age and among female students older than 18 years in the past 5 years following a statewide tanning ban.
The authors note that these study findings will provide valuable evidence that will help policymakers to support the ongoing efforts to authorise age-specific indoor tanning bans.
Characteristics and impacts of itch in children with inflammatory skin disorders
Itching is a widely associated symptom of paediatric disorders and can have a negative impact on quality of life, and yet, not many studies have been conducted that have addressed these symptoms and examined the impact of itch in paediatric patients.
The authors of this study focused on trying to understand the paediatric patient's experience of itching, and also looked at the specific impact that the itch has on affected children. The authors also included a comparison with the adult experience.
Interviews were carried out with 9 parents and 15 children who experienced itching. The authors explored the concerns related to paediatric itch experiences and then compared those with previous adult interviews. The authors also carried out a literature review that identified the need for further comprehensive studies relating to paediatric itch.
The authors found that itch intensity, duration and triggers (sweating, weather change, stress and different fabrics) were all important factors in the child's itching. Further itch-related themes emerged, including skin disruption, physical function, concentration, emotional reactions, stigma and relationships.
The authors found that the paediatric patient's itch experience could not be effectively captured in any specific paediatric scale. They also found that the need for a paediatric-specific measurement tool was emphasised by the differences between child and adult reports of itch-related pain, functional limitations, fatigue and restlessness, emotional reactions to itch and treatment effects.
The mechanisms of action and use of botulinum neurotoxin type A in aesthetics: key clinical postulates II
The authors of this study found that literature on botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT-A) is extremely wide-ranging, often inconsistent and complicated by a competitive market of products and research trying to mark the individuality of brands.
This study aimed to comprehensively review all of the literature available detailing BoNT-A use in aesthetics, as well as using clinical examples.
In 2017, a guide was formulated to help aesthetic practitioners understand BoNT-A pharmacodynamics and to compare the different toxins on the market.
The updated guide now includes: ‘all type A toxins act identically’; ‘the mathematical relationship between toxin and receptor is the basis of efficacy, and clinical efficacy is influenced by molecular potency and patient attributes including muscle mass, gender, age, and ethnicity’; ‘efficacy, onset, and duration are functions of ‘molecular potency’ defined as the number of active 150 kDa molecules available for binding’; ‘“Molecular potency” is difficult to objectively quantify for commercially available toxins’; ‘up to a point, increased molecular potency decreases time to onset and increases duration of effect, and the “Molecular Potency Quotient” is a construct for comparing molecular potency commercial cost’; ‘the area of effect of a toxin injection is dependent upon molecular potency, diffusion (passive), and spread (active)’; ‘differing reconstitution volumes; and ‘increased number of injection sites can affect spread, onset, and duration of effect’.
The study concluded that the principles of BoNT-A for aesthetics use, while complicated, are understandable, as outlined in the framework of the updated guide, which is a useful tool in detailing the most effective treatment and looking at the research on toxin formulations.
Impact of cigarette smoke on physical-chemical and molecular proprieties of human skin in an ex vivo model
This study looked at the ageing process of the skin, and focused particularly on the effects of cigarette smoke.
For this study, human living skin explants (HSE) were exposed to cigarette smoke from two cigarettes over 2 hours using a custom-made exposure chamber.
The effects on the molecular properties of the skin and the surface's physico-chemistry were analysed and detailed in this study.
The results showed that the treated HSE demonstrated a decrease in the total surface free energy. The decrease reflected higher interactions with polar compounds from the environment, which reduced the surface hydrophobicity.
Additionally, the results showed an increase in transepidermal water loss and skin pH.