Many performance-enhancing supplements are increasing in popularity among professional and amateur athletes alike. There is gathering evidence that these agents demonstrate significant benefits not only for athletes, but may also prove helpful in critically ill patients in whom preservation and restoration of lean body mass and neuromuscular function are crucial. Beneficial supplements include creatine, branched-chain… Read more »
Keratoacanthomas (KA) are rapidly growing papules that can enlarge from a 1 mm macule or papule to as large as 2.5 cm lesion in 3-8 weeks. Fully developed they are hemispheric, dome-shaped, skin colored nodules which often demonstrate a smooth crater filled with a central keratin plug. The smooth portion of the KA is often… Read more »
Walter Reed Files: I recently had the opportunity to mention Lafora’s Disease in the comment section of my video on adhesive arachnoiditis syndrome and thought it would be a good opportunity to review this disorder. This particular case had a huge impact on me and I grieved for this young lady. To see such a… Read more »
It pays to be inquisitive. A 73 year-old female presented for routine treatment of actinic keratosis and needed a head to toe annual examination. I noticed a blob of tattoo ink along her left chest just below her axillary region. I asked her what it was from, and she promptly responded…that’s my atomic tattoo. I… Read more »
Some of you may be wondering what the heck I’m doing posting about Adhesive Arachnoiditis…it’s not exactly a condition a dermatologist would be asked to be involved with, but there is a story here. Some of you may not know that in addition to being a dermatologist I am also an internist, and at one… Read more »
Tinea Versicolor (TV), also known as Pityriasis Versicolor, is a benign, superficial fungal infection of the skin caused by Malassezia species, particularly M. furfur, M. obtusa, and M. slooffiae. TV typically presents at hypopigmented or hyperpigmented, coalescing scaling macules, most commonly involving the trunk and upper arms. Pink colored, atrophic and trichrome variants have been… Read more »
In 1860 von Hebra first described Erythema Exudativum Multiforme. The original disease described is now called Erythema Multiforme Minor or Herpes Simplex Associated Erythema Multiforme and is often associated with a recurrent herpetic infections. When cutaneous lesions are accompanied with mucosal membrane involvement the cause is most often related to Mycoplasma infection (pneumonia) and is… Read more »
Pityriasis Lichenoides et Varioliformis Acuta (PLEVA) is also known as Mucha-Habermann disease. The eruption often appears suddenly in children and young adults. At onset the lesions are erythematous macules, papules or papulovesicles, which tend to be brownish red in color, ranging from 5-15 mm in size and evolve through stages of crusting, necrosis and varioliform… Read more »
Molluscum Contagiosum (MC) is caused by four closely related poxvirus types, referred to as MCV-1 through MCV-4. It is a worldwide infection that occurs mostly in children. They have also been referred to as Water Warts. There are two other classifications, 1) sexually transmitted form and 2) immunocompromised patients, most commonly HIV patients. In children… Read more »
In 1933, Sir Aldo Castellani presented a paper suggesting using the term Elephantiasis Verrucosa Nostra (EVN) to indicate nonfiliarial forms of elephantiasis. He suggested that the term should be used in a “very relaxed way” to denote all kinds of conditions of different etiology including elephantoid conditions due to climatic bubo, syphilis, tuberculosis and tumors. … Read more »