Urticaria meter Godse, Kiran V
Indian Journal of Dermatology/Indian journal of dermatology,
09/2012, Volume:
57, Issue:
5
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Urticaria is a heterogeneous group of diseases. All types and subtypes of urticaria share a common distinctive skin reaction pattern, i.e. the development of urticarial skin lesions and/or angioedema.
Chronic urticaria (CU) is characterized by itchy recurrent wheals, angioedema, or both for 6 weeks or longer. CU can greatly impact patients' physical and emotional quality of life. Patients with ...chronic conditions are increasingly seeking information from information and communications technologies (ICTs) to manage their health. The objective of this study was to assess the frequency of usage and preference of ICTs from the perspective of patients with CU.
In this cross-sectional study, 1800 patients were recruited from primary healthcare centers, university hospitals or specialized clinics that form part of the UCARE (Urticaria Centers of Reference and Excellence) network throughout 16 countries. Patients were >12 years old and had physician-diagnosed chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) or chronic inducible urticaria (CIndU). Patients completed a 23-item questionnaire containing questions about ICT usage, including the type, frequency, preference, and quality, answers to which were recorded in a standardized database at each center. For analysis, ICTs were categorized into 3 groups as follows: one-to-one: SMS, WhatsApp, Skype, and email; one-to-many: YouTube, web browsers, and blogs or forums; many-to-many: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Overall, 99.6% of CU patients had access to ICT platforms and 96.7% had internet access. Daily, 85.4% patients used one-to-one ICT platforms most often, followed by one-to-many ICTs (75.5%) and many-to-many ICTs (59.2%). The daily ICT usage was highest for web browsers (72.7%) and WhatsApp (70.0%). The general usage of ICT platforms increased in patients with higher levels of education. One-to-many was the preferred ICT category for obtaining general health information (78.3%) and for CU-related information (75.4%). A web browser (77.6%) was by far the most commonly used ICT to obtain general health information, followed by YouTube (25.8%) and Facebook (16.3%). Similarly, for CU-specific information, 3 out of 4 patients (74.6%) used a web browser, 20.9% used YouTube, and 13.6% used Facebook. One in 5 (21.6%) patients did not use any form of ICT for obtaining information on CU. The quality of the information obtained from one-to-many ICTs was rated much more often as very interesting and of good quality for general health information (53.5%) and CU-related information (51.5%) as compared to the other categories.
Usage of ICTs for health and CU-specific information is extremely high in all countries analyzed, with web browsers being the preferred ICT platform.
Urticaria is a disabling condition, resulting in an impaired quality of life and sleep disruption, and can have an adverse impact on work-related or school-related performance and attendance. It is ...defined according to the presence of unknown (chronic spontaneous urticaria) or known (inducible urticaria) eliciting factors. Guidelines recommend second-generation H
-antihistamines for the first-line treatment of urticaria. Bilastine is indicated in adults, adolescents (aged ≥12 years) and children (aged ≥2 years (Mexico and some African countries), ≥4 years (Canada) or ≥6 years (Europe)) with a body weight of at least 20 kg for the symptomatic treatment of urticaria and allergic rhino-conjunctivitis. The aim of the Original Real-world cases of Bilastine In Treatment (ORBIT) study was to review real-world cases from across the Asia-Pacific region supported by evidence-based literature. Eight diverse, real-world, difficult-to-treat cases with urticaria in people aged 10-75 years are presented. Once-daily bilastine (20 mg (adults/adolescents) or 10 mg (children)) was found to be well tolerated and effective in the long-term management of chronic spontaneous urticaria and inducible urticaria.
Patients with chronic urticaria (CU) are increasingly using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to manage their health. What CU patients expect from ICTs and which ICTs they prefer ...remains unknown. We assessed why CU patients use ICTs, which ones they prefer, and what drives their expectations and choices.
In this cross-sectional study, 1841 patients across 17 countries were recruited at UCAREs (Urticaria Centers of Reference and Excellence). Patients with CU who were >12 years old completed a 23-item questionnaire.
Most patients were interested in receiving disease information (87.3%), asking physicians about CU (84.1%), and communicating with other patients through ICTs (65.6%). For receiving disease information, patients preferred one-to-one and one-to-many ICTs, especially web browsers. One-to-one ICTs were also the ICTs of choice for asking physicians about urticaria and for communicating with other patients, and e-mail and WhatsApp were the preferred ICTs, respectively. Many-to-many ICTs such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter were least preferred for all 3 purposes. Living in rural areas and higher education were linked to higher odds of being interested in receiving disease information, asking physicians, and communicating with patients through ICTs.
Most patients and especially patients with higher education who live in rural areas are interested in using ICTs for their healthcare, but prefer different ICTs for different purposes, ie, web browsers for obtaining information, e-mail for asking physicians, and WhatsApp for communicating with other patients. Our findings may help to improve ICTs for CU.
Mometasone menace in melasma Godse, Kiran V; Zawar, Vijay
Indian Journal of Dermatology/Indian journal of dermatology
57, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Melasma (from the Greek word, "melas" meaning black) is a common, acquired, circumscribed hypermelanosis of sun-exposed skin. It presents as symmetric, hyperpigmented macules having irregular, ...serrated, and geographic borders. The most common locations are the cheeks, upper lips, the chin, and the forehead, but other sun-exposed areas may also occasionally be involved.
Melasma is one of the most common hyperpigmentary disorders found mainly in women and dark-skinned patients. Sunlight, hormones, pregnancy, and genetics remain the most implicated in the causation of ...melasma. Although rather recalcitrant to treatment, topical agents such as hydroquinone, modified Kligman's Regime, azelaic acid, kojic acid, Vitamin C, and arbutin still remain the mainstay of therapy with sun protection being a cornerstone of therapy. There are several new botanical and non botanical agents and upcoming oral therapies for the future. There is a lack of therapeutic guidelines, more so in the Indian setup. The article discusses available evidence and brings forward a suggested treatment algorithm by experts from Pigmentary Disorders Society (PDS) in a collaborative discussion called South Asian Pigmentary Forum (SPF).
...malaria is now considered a multisystem organ failure (MSOF) or single-system organ failure. A study from Japan proposes a novel mechanism that mast cells and mast cell-derived TNF play protective ...role in malaria.
Melasma is a notorious dermatosis, often resistant to treatment. Chemical peeling constitutes an acceptable option of management of melasma (of any type and duration). In this article, as a group of ...experts from Pigmentary Disorders Society (PDS) in collaboration with South Asian Pigmentary Forum (SPF), we have tried to elaborate the various chemical peeling agents for the treatment of melasma. Besides, we have reviewed the indications, mechanism of action, rationality and the detailed procedure of peeling. The evidence in favor of various peeling agents have been summarized as well.
Chronic urticaria (CU) is a persistent, debiliating condition that causes severe impairment on the quality of life (QoL) of patient by interrupting work productivity. Current guidelines recommend ...second-generation (nonsedating) anti-histamines for the treatment for all forms of urticaria. In patients who do not respond adequately to conventional doses of anti-histamines, it is recommended to increase the dose to up to four times to obtain control. But there are only few controlled studies that have assessed the efficacy and safety of nonsedating anti-histamines. Though sedating histamines are frequently used as an add-on therapy in severe cases, they have a negative impact on QoL by compromising sleep and performance. The use of other suggested therapeutic options (omalizumab, cyclosporine A, montelukast and dapsone) is also limited by paucity of data on their efficacy and adverse effect profile. Second-generation anti-histamines which are relatively safer require more proven data to support their judicious use to improve disease in patients with CU.
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