Psoriasis: The Naked Truth, a new pan-European educational programme to expose the physical and emotional impact of living with psoriasis, launches today.

Considerably more people than previously believed are allergic to the most common fragrance ingredient used in shampoos, conditioners and soap. A thesis presented at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden found that over 5% of those who underwent patch testing were allergic to the air oxidized form of the fragrance ingredient linalool. "I would suspect that about 2% of the complete population of Sweden are allergic to air oxidized linalool.

Tracking Acute Kidney Injury Dr. Eisei Noiri and colleagues at the University of Tokyo, Japan identified a novel biomarker to monitor acute kidney injury. They present their data in the April 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology. Acute kidney injury may be reversible if treated promptly and appropriately. Novel biomarkers therefore need to be developed to identify injury at early time points as well as to estimate the severity of the damage.

Title: Dry Skin
Category: Symptoms and Signs
Created: 3/27/2009
Last Editorial Review: 3/27/2009

Researchers at Oregon State University have found one gene in the human body that appears to be a master regulator for skin development, in research that could help address everything from skin diseases such as eczema or psoriasis to the wrinkling of skin as people age. Inadequate or loss of expression of this gene, called CTIP2, may play a role in some skin disorders, scientists believe, and understanding the mechanisms of gene action could provide a solution to them.