Aesthetics

Las Vegas - Long gone are the days when only bodybuilders would take anabolic-androgenic steroids to gain so great a muscle mass that they would get stretch marks on their arms. The use of high doses of anabolic steroids by all types athletes, bodybuilders, and people just trying to look good is widespread in the United States. It's rapidly increasing among both sexes and people of many ages.

Should physicians withhold information from patients about specific treatment options for their conditions when their insurance carriers do not cover them?

Chicago - The American Academy of Dermatology Assn. wasted no time in responding to a study in Archives of Surgery that questioned the safety of procedures performed outside of ambulatory care centers.

Professor Gottfried Lemperle is the inventor of Artes Medical's proprietary microsphere technology and an internationally recognized expert in plastic surgery. He is the former of head of the Division of Plastic Surgery at the University of Frankfurt/Main. In Germany he was voted one of the country's top plastic surgery specialists and is the author of several books and scientific journal articles on plastic surgery. He is now a clinical professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery at the University of California in San Diego and oversees scientific and medical development at Artes Medical, the U.S. patent holder of the Artefill microsphere technology. Recently, Dermatology Times caught up with Dr. Lemperle and asked him to respond to several questions regarding the safety and efficacy of the new product.

New Orleans - Laser resurfacing in combination with fat autograph muscle injection (FAMI) is a novel, holistic approach to the aging skin, according to Yardy Tse, M.D.

San Francisco - The cannula used for tumescent anesthesia infiltration can double as the liposuction surgeon's best suction cannula, Paul Salmon, M.D., said.

San Francisco - When reconstruction of a surgical defect requires a split-thickness skin graft, some dermatologists will refer the patient to a plastic surgeon. However, that procedure is quite simple and is something that can be completed very quickly with a minimum of equipment, Paul J.M. Salmon, M.D., said.

New Orleans - Power liposuction not only has the edge on traditional tumescent liposuction in terms of aspirating higher volumes of fat and reducing both procedure and recovery time. New research led by Bruce E. Katz, M.D., concludes that the complication rate is comparable to that of traditional liposuction performed with tumescent anesthesia.

National Report - In the past 25 years, numerous clinical studies have been conducted on acne. Many topical and systemic drugs have been developed as a result of that research. Although dermatologists haven't been short of treatment options, they have been lacking updated guidelines about recent advances in therapy. In fact, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) issued the last guidelines on acne treatment in 1990.

Chicago - Psoriasis in the HIV-infected patient can present a treatment challenge, but there are a number of safe and effective options to consider, Mark Lebwohl, M.D., said at Academy '03.

New Orleans - Injecting a higher volume of solution containing equivalent units of botulinum toxin A results in greater diffusion and a larger affected area, Te-Shao Hsu, M.D., said.

The FDA will review both Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp.'s Restylane and Inamed Corp's Hylaform on November 21.

Astralis has begun Phase I clinical trial for Psoraxine for the treatment of moderate plaque psoriasis.

A new drug, Onercept or r-hTBP-1, seems promising in the treatment of psoriasis.

Studies show that people treated with Botox (botulinum toxin, type A) for chronic migraine report less frequent, less intense headaches, and new data show that the use of Botox for headache prevention can reduce the number of emergency room visits by as much as 50 percent, according to Andrew Blumenfeld, M.D., chief of neurology at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego.

A preliminary study shows that a peptide developed by Helix BioMedix Inc. can help reduce the severity of mild to moderate acne.

According to a report by Reuters Health, owners of tropical fish need to take special precautions when cleaning the tank.

The FDA has approved a supplemental new drug application for Valtrex (valacyclovir HCI) manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.

In Texas, voters approved a constitutional amendment limiting medical malpractice awards.

An affiliate company of DFB Pharmaceuticals Inc, Healthpoint, Ltd., has signed an exclusive agreement with IsoTis, S.A. to develop and license its patented, biologic, wound-healing technology called Allox.

Galderma Laboratories has formed a new sales division, Theracutix, which will supplement the company's two current sales divisions: Galderma and CutiScience.

Ecolab Inc. sold the consumer dermatology business of its Adams Healthcare subsidiary to Britain's Ferndale Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

The U.S. Army offers a website to help aspiring healthcare professionals.

Cytochroma Inc. discovered a new gene ? CYP26C ? which encodes a retinoic-acid-metabolizing enzyme.

Biologics manufacturers cite complex research and development process,along with FDA scrutiny, as reason for costly - but worthy - drugs

Chicago - Despite popular claims to the contrary, topical alpha lipoic acid is ineffective as a photoprotectant of skin, according to Sheldon R. Pinnell, M.D., professor of dermatology, Duke University Medical Center.

Database consolidates drug safety, effectiveness data to fully leverageemerging research findings on biologic

New efficacy and safety data continue to impress

San Francisco - While formal studies have yet to be conducted, an emerging injection technique for facial-fat grafting seems to add volume to the aging face with long-lasting if not permanent results and without fear of allergic reactions. The technique, called fat autograft muscle injection (FAMI), appears loaded with potential benefits for physicians and patients, according to unpublished data compiled by Stephen H. Mandy, M.D. clinical professor of dermatology, University of Miami School of Medicine.

San Francisco - For patients who want to smooth out wrinkles and facial lines but who cannot tolerate collagen injections, alternative fillers already in use in other countries are at the cusp of FDA approval. More people than ever are interested in pursuing such anti-aging measures, as worldwide facial aesthetic product sales in the first quarter of 2003 rose to $17 million, an increase of 8 percent over the first quarter of 2002.