Category Archives: Transhuman News

Kiwi Company Provides Scalp Relief For Coeliac Community

TAURANGA, Thursday 20th September 2012: Psoriasis and dandruff are the lesser known but irritating side effects of coeliac disease - for which New Zealand has one of the highest rates globally and a leading brand of hair formulations is offering the gluten-free community some welcome respite.

Mediceuticals specialist scalp and hair loss formulations proved extremely popular at the recent Auckland and Wellington Gluten Free Food and Allergy shows for those suffering from psoriasis and associated scalp conditions.

Mediceuticals NZ Ltd spokesperson, Geoff Grace says, When your digestive system is out of balance, your scalp and skin can also show sensitivity. For some people a flaky, itchy scalp can be a socially worrying health problem associated with coeliac disease. Our natural plant-based dermatological products have provided welcome relief to coeliac sufferers with scalp concerns.

There are an estimated 14,000 undiagnosed cases of coeliac disease in New Zealand, with Canterbury in particular having one of the highest rates in the world (1.2 per cent).

At the upcoming Christchurch Gluten Free Food and Allergy show on October 27th and 28th, Mediceuticals will be demonstrating its Scalp Therapies range, specifically designed to treat and control a broad spectrum of common scalp and skin disorders.

Both genetic and environmental factors play important roles in coeliac disease and those who attended the recent Gluten Free Food and Allergy shows were a very health-focused, educated audience actively seeking solutions for their health concerns, Grace says.

They quickly understood how Mediceuticals products worked and were excited about the benefits we could offer coeliac disease sufferers who struggle with psoriasis and other scalp and skin conditions.

Grace says Mediceuticals Scalp Therapies range has been developed to treat and control scalp and skin disorders like dandruff, psoriasis, oily scalp and dry scalp. Products within the range are designed to be mixed & matched depending on the specific scalp concern.

X-Folate is a specialist shampoo for persistent dandruff and psoriasis that reduces cell production whilst removing the flaky, yellow dead cells associated with dandruff. It is a gentle cleanser that also provides important UV protection.

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Kiwi Company Provides Scalp Relief For Coeliac Community

Newswise Armed with a new $1.8 million grant from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, dermatology researcher Nicole Ward, PhD, assistant professor of dermatology and neurosciences at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, will lead a study examining the link between psoriasis and heart attack and stroke.

The work will advance research conducted earlier this year in Dr. Wards lab. She and colleagues at the University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute published a major discovery that psoriasis could cause the development of cardiovascular disease in mouse models. The team of researchers also found that aggressive treatment of the skin disease reversed the cardiovascular disease.

Prior to our recent publication, the evidence linking these two diseases was entirely at the epidemiological level and didnt show mechanistic insight for why this occurred, says Dr. Ward, who is also a scientist with the Murdough Family Center for Psoriasis at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. Our goal was to examine whether psoriasis influences cardiovascular disease. Psoriasis was previously thought of as a disease that severely affected skin appearance as well as the patients quality of life. We now know it decreases a patients life span by seven years.

Dr. Ward and colleagues will work to identify intrinsic changes in the skin cells and the subsequent cascade of events that leads to blood-clot formation in either heart attack or stroke. By identifying this trigger, the researchers hope to provide first-ever evidence that cell-specific events in psoriasis can be targeted for treatment.

This preclinical evidence will impact the approach to patient clinical care, as doctors will need to be more aggressive in monitoring for cardiovascular disease and other co-morbidities in those with moderate to severe-plaque psoriasis. By treating and keeping the skin disease in check, the risk for heart-related inflammation is reduced as well. In addition, they will conduct preclinical testing of the efficacy of current psoriasis medication on cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Ward's research discovery is quite exciting, says Kevin Cooper, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Dermatology at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, It demonstrates for the first time that a mouse model of psoriasis exhibits a cardiovascular co-morbidity often seen in human psoriasis patients. Importantly, the basis of Dr. Ward's grant demonstrates that aggressively treating the skin disease improved the cardiovascular complications associated with psoriasis. The work supported by this grant will help to pinpoint how current therapeutics for psoriasis may also improve co-morbidities associated with chronic skin inflammation.

This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Psoriasis Foundation, and the Murdough Family Center for Psoriasis.

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About Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Founded in 1843, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is the largest medical research institution in Ohio and is among the nation's top medical schools for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The School of Medicine is recognized throughout the international medical community for outstanding achievements in teaching. The School's innovative and pioneering Western Reserve2 curriculum interweaves four themes--research and scholarship, clinical mastery, leadership, and civic professionalism--to prepare students for the practice of evidence-based medicine in the rapidly changing health care environment of the 21st century. Eleven Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with the school.

Read more from the original source:
$1.8M Grant Supports Investigation of Psoriasis Link to CVD

Public release date: 20-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jessica Studeny jessica.studeny@case.edu 216-368-4692 Case Western Reserve University

Armed with a new $1.8 million grant from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, dermatology researcher Nicole Ward, PhD, assistant professor of dermatology and neurosciences at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, will lead a study examining the link between psoriasis and heart attack and stroke.

The work will advance research conducted earlier this year in Dr. Ward's lab. She and colleagues at the University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute, published a major discovery that psoriasis could cause the development of cardiovascular disease in mouse models. The team of researchers also found that aggressive treatment of the skin disease reversed the cardiovascular disease.

"Prior to our recent publication, the evidence linking these two diseases was entirely at the epidemiological level and didn't show mechanistic insight for why this occurred," says Dr. Ward, who is also a scientist with the Murdough Family Center for Psoriasis at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. "Our goal was to examine whether psoriasis influences cardiovascular disease. Psoriasis was previously thought of as a disease that severely affected skin appearance as well as the patient's quality of life. We now know it decreases a patient's life span by seven years."

Dr. Ward and colleagues will work to identify intrinsic changes in the skin cells and the subsequent cascade of events that leads to blood-clot formation in either heart attack or stroke. By identifying this trigger, the researchers hope to provide first-ever evidence that cell-specific events in psoriasis can be targeted for treatment.

This preclinical evidence will impact the approach to patient clinical care, as doctors will need to be more aggressive in monitoring for cardiovascular disease and other co-morbidities in those with moderate to severe-plaque psoriasis. By treating and keeping the skin disease in check, the risk for heart-related inflammation is reduced as well. In addition, they will conduct preclinical testing of the efficacy of current psoriasis medication on cardiovascular disease.

"Dr. Ward's research discovery is quite exciting," says Kevin Cooper, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Dermatology at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, "It demonstrates for the first time that a mouse model of psoriasis exhibits a cardiovascular co-morbidity often seen in human psoriasis patients. Importantly, the basis of Dr. Ward's grant demonstrates that aggressively treating the skin disease improved the cardiovascular complications associated with psoriasis. The work supported by this grant will help to pinpoint how current therapeutics for psoriasis may also improve co-morbidities associated with chronic skin inflammation."

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This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Psoriasis Foundation, and the Murdough Family Center for Psoriasis.

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$1.8 million grant supports investigation of psoriasis link to cardiovascular disease