Category Archives: Transhuman News

With the summer heat, many Canadians no doubt will be replacing those long pants, shirts, and sweaters with shorts, tees, and swimwear. However, for up to one-sixth of our population, this choice may not come as easy as we think. It's because they suffer from a disease known officially as atopic dermatitis although most of us call it eczema.

Eczema is a difficult disease to pin down. The symptoms range from itchy rashes to cracked, oozing skin. This condition can be a mere annoyance but in severe cases, it can impact one's ability to function in society. The same difficulties can be said for treatment. Some can manage the condition with hygiene while others may require prescription medications.

When it comes to the cause, eczema has proven to be an enigma. Researchers have known for years the ailment arises due to a change in one's immunity. For some reason, the body tends to overreact in certain areas of the body leading to the symptoms. This explanation is the basis for numerous pharmacological treatments known to calm the immune response and reduce or eliminate the ailment.

While therapeutic options may be helpful for those suffering, for public health officials, there is a need to know why eczema happens. They need to understand how this alteration of immunity starts in the first place. If they can figure out why our defense forces go awry, they can develop steps to prevent the problem.

The most obvious potential culprits behind this disease are microbes. They can be found all over the skin and research has revealed different parts of the body have different microbial populations. One or more species could find themselves in areas where they don't belong, such as the elbows or the back of the knees, and in an infection-like process, force the immune system to alter in a manner that leads to symptoms.

This idea does seem sound and evidence has been shown to support this theory. Yet it has never been proven. The closest researchers have come is the identification of reduced microbial diversity in flare sites. However, no one has singled out one species.

Now that has changed thanks to a group of American researchers. They have devoted their attention to the microbes found in eczema. In the process, they have revealed the name of the most likely culprit. Unfortunately, the research also has led to even more questions.

The team collected microbial samples from children suffering from varying degrees of eczema. They also collected control samples from times when the kids were not suffering from flares. The hope was to find some distinct change in the types of microbes present and pinpoint one species as being the cause.

When these initial results came back, there was reason for hope. As seen in other studies, flares led to a reduce diversity of bacteria in the area. A closer examination revealed one particular species, Staphylococcus aureus, tended to be higher during symptoms. Moreover, more of this species meant worsening symptoms.

Right off the bat, this discovery makes perfect sense. The species is known to be involved in many skin conditions, including acne, impetigo, and rashes. But this result cannot explain why some individuals end up with eczema while others have no issues.

The answer comes in a subcategory of a species, known as strains. S. aureus has numerous different strains and each one acts differently from the rest. In this light, one or more strains might be responsible for causing the disease.

Not surprisingly, this is the direction the researchers went next. The team examined the diversity of the strains in the hopes of finding an appropriate culprit. As expected, they found blooms of single strains in the eczema areas. The path to an answer became a little clearer.

But the elation didn't last long. When the group compared these single strains among the different eczema patients, they found something rather unsettling. Each patient had a different troublesome strain.

This significantly increased the complexity of the situation and required the group to take the investigation to a new level. They needed to find out if these strains were producing a common molecule that led to symptoms.

The team explored the genetic information of the bacteria in the hopes of finding a common cause for the symptoms. They came across many potential candidate molecules yet none were expressed in all the strains. Rather than being able to hone in on a particular gene, the team realized the onset of symptoms was more complicated than they believed.

While the results of the study did not manage to find the smoking gun, the group did develop some useful information for public health officials. The onset of eczema is due to a lack of microbial diversity on the skin and S. aureus is the most likely candidate for trouble. Moreover, seeing blooms of a particular strain could spell trouble.

The discovery may lead to the development of new diagnostic measures to determine the risk for flares. This also may develop a new treatment concept in which the immune system is not targeted but the bacteria population. By increasing diversity through the addition of friendly microbes, eczema may be both prevented and treated.

If this direction pans out, the future of eczema prevention may come in a cream consisting of a diverse microbial population. All one would have to do is use it regularly when trouble arises. That way, they might be able to lose the worry about symptoms and confidently enjoy wearing those summer clothes.

See more here:
The Microbial Mystery Behind Eczema - Huffington Post Canada

People say that pregnancy is supposed to be a happy time. Well, Im pretty sure those people don'thave eczema. For mea woman with a severe case of the skin condition, which causes itchy, red rashes on the skinthose nine months were the most miserable days of my life.

Up until I got pregnant at age 17, my eczema was manageable. I was diagnosed when I was four years old, and used the same topical steroid for years. Whenever I had a flare, I put on the cream and my skin would calm down. When I was eight, I moved to Tampa, Florida, and, despite the occasional rash, I still wore shorts and tank tops. Besides, the air felt good on my skin. But by the time I entered middle school, things started to get worse. The patches were spreadingto my wrists, the back of my legs, and eventually to my face. Then I got pregnant, and my skin just went crazy.

RELATED: 5 Things You Should Never Say to Someone With Eczema

I was two months pregnant when the left side of my face started to itch uncontrollably. I felt it before I went to bed one night, and by the next morning, my skin was so inflamed that my mom had to take me to the hospital. As the weeks went on, my skin got worse: I scratched the sores on my head so much so that my hair was falling out in patches, and my legs were raw from clawing at the skin.

As my due date neared, my mom took me to the hospital because she suspected that something was seriously wrong with me. Walking was too painful, and my legs were oozing so much that I had to keep them wrappedin bed sheets. When I was wheeled into the hospital on a chair, the doctors looked at me and basically shrugged. They didnt want to admit me because they didnt think there wasnt anything wrong. Luckily, my mom stood her ground, and someone took my blood pressure. Thats when I found out that I had preeclampsia, or very high blood pressure (which can lead to premature birth).

While monitoring my blood pressure, the doctors took culture swabs of my legs. Two days later, the results came back: MRSA, a serious, sometimes life-threatening infection caused by a type of Staph bacteria. Before I knew it, I was being whisked away to a room at the end of the hallan isolation room, where they told me I was going to be quarantined.

When my mom arrived back at the hospital, the doctors told her that shed need to wear a gown and gloves if she wanted to see me. She refused. She said, I lived with her while she had this infection. Im not talking to my daughter like that.

Two days after that, I was induced. The doctors moved me to a delivery room and gave me an epidural. I was only in labor for about threehours before giving birth: a healthy baby boy who weighed about 6.8 pounds. Hes ten years old nowand thankfully, he doesn'thave eczema.

RELATED: The Best Lotions for Eczema, According to Dermatologists

I was discharged a day and a half later, but I was still in a lot of pain, especially in my legs. Everything hurt. It even hurt to wash my sons bottle. I eventually had to go to a different hospital to get a prednisone shot. That was the first time in two months that my legs stopped hurting.

It wasanother three years before I found a good dermatologist. He did everything he could for me, even saw me on days when he had a full schedule. Now,I dont itch as much, and Im not in so much pain. My skin is regaining some of its color, and my eyebrows and eyelashes are starting to grow back; in the past, Id rubbed them off. For the first time in years, I feel as if Ive finally found help.

Jillian M., 27, from Tampa, Florida, as told to Maria Masters

Original post:
My Eczema Was Under ControlUntil I Got Pregnant - Health.com

VW independent/submitted information

DELPHOS A Delphos couple were injured in a home invasion assault that occurred Saturday morning.

David and Dianna Allemeier of 209 S. Pierce St. in Delphos were both taken to St. Ritas Medical Center in Lima for treatment of injuries received when a man gained entry to their home and reportedly assaulted them.

Delphos Police were first called out at 6:05 a.m. Saturday on a report of a suspicious person in the 300 block of Jackson Street who was knocking on doors and then walking away. However, while en route to that call, officers were informed that a man had been injured and was bleeding in the 200 block of Pierce Street.

When officers arrived on the scene, they found Allemeier bleeding from an injury to his neck. The Delphos resident said he received the injury from a man who had gained entry into his home.

Officers approached the residence and found the back door unlocked and a lot of blood at the scene. The home was secured and a K-9 and Crime Scene Unit sought from the Allen County Sheriffs Office.

Allemeier then said his wife was still in the house and officers then entered and found Mrs. Allemeier, who was also injured, in the bedroom area of the residence.

After the Allemeiers were transported to the hospital, a K-9 search was made of the area, and the house was processed by an Allen County sheriffs deputy.

No information was released on whether items were taken from the Allemeier house.

Police are currently seeking a young, skinny white male with black hair, possibly wearing cutoff shorts. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Delphos Police Department or Allen County Sheriffs Office.

The investigation is continuing, with no further information forthcoming at this time.

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