Briefing - May, '01

Pregnancy and Psoriasis to be Studied

I was very happy to read in the current issue of the National Psoriasis Foundation Bulletin that “The mystery link between hormones and psoriasis” in pregnant women is the subject of a three-year scientific study (March/April 2001 issue of the Bulletin, page 9).

We’ve been reading here, since FlakeHQ opened in 1996, from women whose P improved or cleared completely while they were pregnant.  These two exchanges from the archives are particularly relevant:

Any Clues from Remission During Pregnancy?

Pregnancy Thwarted Flaking — for Awhile

In the Bulletin article, some statistics previously published in Cutis magazine were sited.  Among these:

[P]atients reported that their psoriasis improved in 35 percent of pregnancies; 18 percent got worse and 46 percent had no change.

These statistics were compiled from a survey of 250 female flakers.

If a link between the clearing of psoriasis and some specific hormonal activity can be isolated, it may point to possibilities for future treatments.  I find it gratifying that this particular “mystery” is finally being examined scientifically.

The study, which is being run in Los Angeles and Orange County, CA, begins now and will run through August 2003.  If you are pregnant or become pregnant during this time, and live in these counties, you may email Jenny Murase at the University of California, Irvine, at [email protected].

Camp Discovery

The summer schedule for the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Camp Discovery program was also published in the current issue of the Bulletin (page 10).  This is the summer camp that P-kids can attend for free (if there is room) with a dermatologist’s referral.  The schedule in brief:

July 14-21: Camp Knutson in Crosslake, Minnesota for ages 10-13

July 28-August 3: Camp Knutson in Crosslake, Minnesota for ages 14-16

August 11-18: Camp Horizon in Millville, Pennsylvania for ages 9-13

For more information, parents should call 847-330-0230.

If your child is going and is a budding diarist, I would really like to post some first-person accounts of the goings-on at Camp Discovery.  -Ed

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Pre-Civil War Stone Fence
(common throughout the Bluegrass)

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