The Covid‐19 pandemic has resulted in healthcare systems responding to rapidly rising demand. Simultaneously, increased infection prevention measures for staff, which includes additional personal protective equipment (PPE) and more rigorous hand hygiene procedures, has resulted in an increased incidence of occupational skin disease in frontline staff (1).
In the first conundrum, permanent hair dyeing involves the use of aromatic amines such as pphenylenediamine (PPD), whose oxidation is pivotal to the dyeing process, but also generates potent allergens. Despite prolonged efforts by industry to search for safer alternatives, hair dyeing is still reliant on this type of aromatic amine. In the second conundrum, patch testing with 1% PPD remains the most useful screen for hair dye contact allergy. However, there is a very small but real risk of actively sensitizing the patient. Lowering the PPD concentration below 1% significantly reduces test sensitivity and diagnostic utility. Here, we argue that by applying Friedmann's principles of contact sensitization each conundrum can be addressed from a new perspective. These principles indicate that, when the exposed area of skin is small (<1 cm 2 ), induction of contact allergy is sharply reduced, whereas elicitation of allergy is unaffected. Careful reflection on this principle suggests that we can predict where hair dye sensitization is most likely to occur, indicates a strategy to reduce the chance of contact sensitization occurring in consumers as a result of hair dyeing, and how we might mitigate the risk of active sensitization resulting from diagnostic patch testing.
This review provides a summary of key findings from 27 systematic reviews of 51 articles first published or indexed during 2015, focusing on the treatment of psoriasis and on precision medicine in psoriasis. The evidence supports weight-loss interventions by dieting and exercise for improvement in disease severity in overweight and obese patients with psoriasis. No significant increased risk of serious infections was reported for the biologic therapies adalimumab, etanercept and ustekinumab compared with appropriate comparators. Evidence could not provide reliable estimates of rare adverse events, emphasizing the need for large prospective registries. Polymorphisms in the tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α gene may confer improved responses to TNF inhibitor (TNFI) therapy, but the studies to date lack power to detect a true association. From the limited available evidence, multidisciplinary management is both more effective and more satisfactory for patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis than conventional consultations. This summary of reviews provides a succinct guide for clinicians and patients wishing to remain up to date with high-quality evidence for the treatment of psoriasis.
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