Accutane Side Effects & Information for Patients

With a consistent growth in medical advancements and technological breakthroughs, we live in a time where products, medicines and treatments are being introduced all the time. The safety and protection of consumers and patients must be the focal point of modern medicine.

Too often than not, drugs are approved for national use, only to be recalled weeks or months later due to adverse side effects and symptoms that went unnoticed or repressed from public knowledge. By providing FDA alerts, drug interactions and up to date information about prescription and over the counter medications, we can ensure an environment where patients have the best knowledge on their medical treatment and health.

Accutane

Accutane is a medication used for the treatment with severe cases of acne, especially those linked to permanent and disfiguring scarring such as acne vulgaris, acne conglobata and acne fulminans.

This drug is related to vitamin A, which makes it classified as a retinoid. Most dermatologists and physicians prescribe Accutane for management of acne. Since there are high risks for developing side effects, it is often not used as the first course of treatment. Deep facial cleansers and topical creams are usually the first round of treatments patients will receive. The medication has also been used sparsely to treat certain types of cancers including pancreatic and brain cancer. However, the drug may work throughout the body in killing cells not related to cancers.

A recall/black box warning information exists on all isotretinoin products, including Accutane. This label warns against the potential side effects and hazards involved with taking the drug.

Side Effects

Accutane Side Effects include: Acne flare ups, severe dry skin on body, hair thinning, headache, eczema, fatigue, brittle nails, menstrual problems, gastrointestinal problems, including diarrhea. Some severe side effects which can occur to patients who consistently take Accutane may include: severe depression, suicidal thoughts, birth defects, liver damage, intense nausea and allergic reactions.

Patients with a sensitivity or allergy to paraben should avoid this drug. Accutane should only be taken if prescribed by a doctor and should be taken only in the recommended dosage. Blood and liver tests may be requested while a patient is using Accutane to ensure the body is not responding negatively to the medication.

Patients with a family history of depression are discouraged from taking Accutane, as the risk for depression can be worsened. Certain conditions may warrant an adjustment in the suggested dosage of Accutane for some patients. Accutane should Also not be used by women who are pregnant or may become pregnant, as birth defects are likely.

Healthy Tips

By consulting your physician(s) and doing individual research, you can obtain the best method of treatment that is right for you personally. Sometimes, prescription of over the counter medications can provide the best treatment, other times they may not.

Eating a well balanced diet is vital in preventing chronic conditions and other health problems. Medical experts suggest eating simple organic foods; avoid junk foods; fried foods and make sure to eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables every day.

See Keeping Acne In Check

Not true! Major manufacturers use toxic chemicals, such as formaldehyde and lead, to make some cosmetics. This video digs deeper into the myth of safe cosmetics. Now you get the real story – and learn what you can do to help make safer cosmetics.

Learn more and become involved at: Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

Courtesy of CDC-PHIL

Cheap, Safe, Simple Treatment

A cheap, safe, and simple treatment for kids’ eczema has been discovered by researchers from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.  Powerful relief for kids’ eczema comes in the form of diluted bleach baths.  The treatment dramatically improves the rash as well as reduces flare-ups of eczema, which affects 17 percent of school-age children.

What is Eczema?  

“Dermatitis” means inflammation of the skin.  “Atopic” Dermatitis (AD) is a particular type of skin inflammation where dry sensitive skin becomes red, scaly, and itchy.  “Eczema” is another word for AD, and means “the result of boiling over.” (1)

Chronic, severe eczema can mar a childhood. The skin disorder starts with red, itchy, inflamed skin that often becomes crusty and raw from scratching. The eczema disturbs kids’ sleep, alters their appearance and affects their concentration in school. The itching is so bad kids may break the skin from scratching and get chronic skin infections that are difficult to treat, especially from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

The typical treatment of using oral and topical antibiotics increases the risk of bacterial resistance, something doctors try to avoid, especially in children. Bleach kills the bacteria but doesn’t have the same risk of creating bacterial resistance.

Patients on the bleach baths had a reduction in eczema severity that was five times greater than those treated with placebos over one to three months, said Amy S. Paller, M.D., the Walter J. Hamlin Professor and chair of dermatology, and professor of pediatrics, at the Feinberg School. Paller also is an attending physician at Children’s Memorial Hospital.

The study found giving pediatric patients with moderate or severe eczema (atopic dermatitis) diluted bleach baths decreased signs of infection and improved the severity and extent of the eczema on their bodies. That translates into less scratching, fewer infections and a higher quality of life for these children.

In the study, Paller and researchers treated 31 pediatric patients (6 months to 17 years old) who had eczema and a bacterial staph infection for 14 days with oral antibiotics. Half of the patients received bleach in their bath water (half a cup per full standard tub), while the other half received a look-alike placebo. Patients were also instructed to put a topical antibiotic ointment or placebo control into their nose (where the staphylococcus can also grow) for five sequential days of each month. All were instructed to bathe in the bleach twice a week, and soak for five to 10 minutes for three months.

Paller said bathing in the diluted bleach bath water was surprisingly odor-free because of the small amount of bleach added. “In our clinics, no one had the just-out-of-the-swimming pool smell,” she said.

The research team saw such rapid improvement in the kids taking the real bleach baths that they terminated the study early because they wanted the children getting the placebo to get the same relief.

“The eczema kept getting better and better with the bleach baths and these baths prevented it from flaring again, which is an ongoing problem for these kids,” Paller said. “We presume the bleach has antibacterial properties and decreased the number of bacteria on the skin, which is one of the drivers of flares.”

Northwestern researchers launched the study to confirm their hunch about the potential of bleach baths, “since bleach has been used by hospitals in the past few years as a disinfectant to decrease MRSA,” Paller said.

One interesting finding in the study was the eczema on the body, arms and legs improved dramatically with the bleach baths, but the face, which was not submerged in the bath, did not improve, further evidence of the positive effect of the bath.

As a result of the study, Paller suggests that kids who have eczema on their face close their eyes and mouths and dunk under the water to help improve the lesions. In her practice, patients have found that even daily bleach baths are well tolerated. The bleach baths may also be useful for individuals with frequent staphylococcus infection, whether related to eczema or not, and in adults with eczema and recurrent infections.

(Paller’s study was funded by investigator-initiated research grants from the Society for Pediatric Dermatology and the Neutrogena Corporation.)

To help treat a rising number of severe cases of eczema, Northwestern’s Feinberg School has recently opened an Eczema Care & Education Center. The new center offers patients one-on-one instruction for treating eczema, while a support group helps patients and their families cope with the emotional aspects of the disease.

“This is a disorder that can drive people crazy,” said Peter Lio, M.D., director of the Eczema Care & Education Center and an assistant professor of dermatology and of pediatrics at the Feinberg School. “Eczema beats people down.”

Lio said he just worked with an 11-year-old girl who had missed a half-year of school because of her severe eczema. “As we were working with her and demonstrating how to treat her skin, she started weeping,” he said. “Between the tears, she said ‘I’m crying because I know I’m going to get better.’ ”

Scientists believe eczema may be triggered by urban pollutants and toxins and/or allergies, and certainly shows a genetic tendency. “We don’t have all the answers and are still learning about this disease,” Lio said. He also is a physician at Children’s Memorial Hospital and Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Sources:

(1) Northwestern University Eczema Care and Education Center

(2) Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Marla Paul is the health sciences editor. Contact her at marla-paul@northwestern.edu

The study was published in the journal Pediatrics April 27.

“Merkel cells,” discovered by Friedrich Sigmund Merkel in 1875, are found in multiple regions of the skin and make contact with specialized never fibers, participating in the perception of touch.

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine assistant professor of pediatrics, neurosciences and otolaryngology, Stephen M. Maricich, M.D., Ph.D., and his team found that Merkel cells originate in the skin, not the neural crest lineage, as previously speculated.

“A real mystery surrounding Merkel cells was their developmental site of origin. Conflicting evidence suggested that these cells arose from either the skin or neural crest lineages, but there was no definitive proof of either origin,” said lead author, Dr. Maricich.

Using genetically engineered mouse lines, the researchers were able to delete Atoh1, a gene essential to the formation of Merkel cells, from different areas of developing embryos. This “conditional deletion” of Atoh1 in the neural crest did not affect the Merkel cell population, however using this same technique in the skin lineage resulted in the loss of all Merkel cells.

“Knocking out Atoh1 in the neural crest line caused other problems for developing embryos, but Merkel cells were completely unaffected. However, loss of Atoh1 expression in the skin deleted all the Merkel cells,” said Dr. Maricich. “This showed us that we had specifically targeted the Merkel cells and that Atoh1 expression by skin cells is necessary to their development.”

The researchers also fate mapped the cells, a technique used to trace developmental fates of embryonic tissues. This analysis further supported their conditional knockout findings.

“The techniques used in this study will help neuroscientists to further explore the function of Merkel cells, including the behavioral consequences when only Merkel cells have been deleted,” said Ellen Lumpkin, Ph.D., a study co-author and assistant professor of neuroscience, molecular physiology and biophysics and molecular and human genetics at the Baylor College of Medicine.

“It is thought that Merkel cells give rise to Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare but aggressive form of skin cancer that responds poorly to current treatments,” said Dr. Maricich. “In addition to solving a 130 year-old mystery, our data may be relevant to the understanding of Merkel cell carcinoma, and may provide important clues in the search for novel therapeutic targets.”

Source: Case Western Reserve University (news : web)

Source:  University of Michigan Healthcare System

National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers have identified a gene that suppresses tumor growth in melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. The finding is reported today in the journal Nature Genetics as part of a systematic genetic analysis of a group of enzymes implicated in skin cancer and many other types of cancer.

The NIH analysis found that one-quarter of human melanoma tumors had changes, or mutations, in genes that code for matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) enzymes. The findings lay the foundation for more individualized cancer treatment strategies where MMP and other key enzymes play a functional role in tumor growth and spread of the disease.

Tumor suppressor genes encode proteins that normally serve as a brake on cell growth. When such genes are mutated, the brake may be lifted, resulting in the runaway cell growth known as cancer. In contrast, oncogenes are genes that encode proteins involved in normal cell growth. When such genes are mutated, they also may cause cancer, but they do so by activating growth-promoting signals. Cancer therapies that target oncogenes usually seek to block or reduce their action, while those aimed at tumor suppressor genes seek to restore or increase their action.

Dissappointing Performance of Drugs Explained

The new study may help to explain the disappointing performance of drugs designed to treat cancer by blocking MMP enzymes. Because members of the MMP gene family were thought to be oncogenes and many tumors express high levels of MMP enzymes, researchers have spent decades pursuing MMPs as promising targets for cancer therapies. However, when MMP inhibitors were tested in people with a wide range of cancers, the drugs failed to slow — and in some cases even sped up — tumor growth.

Now, it turns out that one of the most often mutated MMP genes in melanoma is not an oncogene at all. In its study, the team led by researchers from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) found that MMP-8 actually serves as a tumor suppressor gene in melanoma. Consequently, in the estimated 6 percent of melanoma patients whose tumors harbor a mutated MMP-8 gene or related tumor suppressor(s), it may not be wise to block all MMPs. The study suggests that a better approach may be to look for drugs that restore or increase MMP-8 function or for drugs that block only those MMPs that are truly oncogenes.

“This research is an illustrative proof of concept that shows the value of genomic strategies for understanding cancer and possible therapies,” said NHGRI Scientific Director Eric Green, M.D., Ph.D. “It is gratifying to see that genomic technologies are guiding scientific discovery, advancing cancer research, especially melanoma research.”

Melanoma is the Deadliest Skin Cancer

Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer. In the United States and many other nations, melanoma is becoming more common every year. A major cause is thought to be overexposure to the sun. The ultraviolet radiation in sunlight can damage DNA and lead to cancer-causing genetic changes within skin cells.

MMP enzymes help the body to break down and recycle proteins, playing a crucial role in the process of remodeling skin after sunburns, cuts or other injuries. The MMP gene family has been associated with tumor growth in a variety of cancers, including breast, colon and melanoma.

MMP Genes in Melanoma

To explore the role of MMP genes in melanoma, the NHGRI researchers studied a bank of tumor and blood samples collected from 79 patients with aggressive melanoma by collaborator Steven Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., chief of surgery at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Specifically, they compared the sequence of MMP genes in tumors and normal DNA from the same patients, looking for mutations in all 23 members of the MMP gene family.

The researchers identified 28 different mutations in eight MMP genes in the melanoma tumors studied. These mutations were found to be distributed in different frequencies and patterns among the tumor samples. Nearly one-quarter of the tumors analyzed had at least one MMP gene mutation. Some mutations were found in as few as 3 percent of tumors, while more than 6 percent of tumors had mutations in MMP-8 and more than 7 percent had mutations in MMP-27, which codes for an enzyme very similar to MMP-8.

“We often talk about cancer as though it is one disease, and cancers do have many common denominators. But when we look at the DNA level, we see that different cancers have different genetic profiles, and so do different patients who have the same cancer,” said the study’s senior author, Yardena Samuels, Ph.D., an investigator in the Cancer Genetics Branch of the NHGRI’s Division of Intramural Research.

Dr. Samuels and her collaborators followed up their DNA sequencing work with cell and animal studies to see whether MMP-8 mutations affect enzyme function. Strikingly, the researchers showed that five of the mutations reduced activity of the MMP-8 enzyme. The researchers next studied whether MMP-8 mutations promote activities related to cancer. Indeed, cells with MMP-8 mutations showed increased ability to multiply outside the constraints of normal cells, a hallmark of cancer development known as anchorage-independent growth. Likewise, cells with MMP-8 mutations had a greater ability to migrate — a key aspect of cancer metastasis — than normal cells.

The researchers found that mice injected with cells expressing normal MMP-8 did not develop skin ulcers, which are one of the most important measures of cancer aggression in melanoma. In contrast, mice injected with cells expressing mutated MMP-8 went on to develop ulcerations and metastases in their lungs.

Collaboration Team

In addition to Dr. Samuels’s and Dr. Rosenberg’s laboratories, the NIH team included researchers from the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, who helped with the mouse studies; and NHGRI’s Genome Technology Branch, Bioinformatics and Scientific Programming Core, and Office of Laboratory Animal Medicine. Other collaborators included researchers from the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, and the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia.

About NHGRI and NIH

NHGRI is one of the 27 institutes and centers at the NIH, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The NHGRI Division of Intramural Research develops and implements technology to understand, diagnose and treat genomic and genetic diseases. Additional information about NHGRI can be found at its Web site, www.genome.gov.

The National Institutes of Health — “The Nation’s Medical Research Agency” — includes 27 institutes and centers, and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more, visit www.nih.gov.

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Contact:

Raymond MacDougall
301-402-0911
macdougallr@mail.nih.gov

Courtesy: Richard Lee, M.D., Ph.D., National Cancer Institute (NCI

Drawing on the power of DNA sequencing, National Institutes of Health researchers have identified a new group of genetic mutations involved in the deadliest form of skin cancer, melanoma. This discovery is particularly encouraging because some of the mutations, which were found in nearly one-fifth of melanoma cases, reside in a gene already targeted by a drug approved for certain types of breast cancer.

In the United States and many other nations, melanoma is becoming increasingly more common. A major cause of melanoma is thought to be sun exposure; the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight can damage DNA and lead to cancer-causing genetic changes within skin cells.

Sequencing Work Points to New Target for Melanoma Treatment

In work published in the September issue of Nature Genetics, a team led by Yardena Samuels, Ph.D., of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) sequenced the protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) gene family in tumor and blood samples from people with metastatic melanoma. The samples were collected by the study’s coauthor Steven Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., a leading expert on melanoma and chief of surgery at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

The PTK family includes many genes that, when mutated, promote various types of cancer. However, relatively little had been known about roles played by PTK genes in human melanoma. The NIH study was among the first to use large-scale DNA sequencing to systematically analyze all 86 members of the PTK gene family in melanoma samples.

The team’s initial survey, which involved samples from 29 melanoma patients, identified mutations in functionally important regions of 19 PTK genes, only three of which had been previously implicated in melanoma. The researchers then conducted more detailed analyses of those 19 genes in samples from a total of 79 melanoma patients.

New Gene Mutations

One of the newly implicated genes stood out from the rest. Researchers detected mutations in the ERBB4 gene (also known as HER4) in 19 percent of patients’ tumors, making it by far the most frequently mutated PTK gene in melanoma. In addition, researchers found that many ERBB4 mutations were located in functionally important areas similar to those seen in other PTK oncogenes involved in lung cancer, brain cancer and gastric cancer.

Next, the researchers moved on to laboratory studies of melanoma cells with ERBB4 mutations. They found that these melanoma cells were dependent on the presence of mutant ERBB4 for their growth. What’s more, the melanoma cells grew much more slowly when they were exposed to a chemotherapeutic drug known to inhibit ERBB4. The drug, called lapatinib (Tykerb), was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2007 for combination use in breast cancer patients already taking the drug capecitabine (Xeloda).

Achilles’ Heal of Melanomas Found

Encouraged by their study results, the researchers are planning a clinical trial using lapatinib in patients with metastatic melanoma harboring ERBB4 mutations. The clinical trial will be conducted under the direction of Dr. Rosenberg at the NIH Clinical Center. “This collaborative study represents an ideal example of how sophisticated genetic analyses can be translated to the benefit of cancer patients,” said Dr. Rosenberg.

“We have found what appears to be an Achilles’ heel of a sizable share of melanomas,” said Dr. Samuels, who is an investigator in the Cancer Genetics Branch of the NHGRI’s Division of Intramural Research. “Though additional work is needed to gain a more complete understanding of these genetic mutations and their roles in cancer biology, our findings open the door to pursuing specific therapies that may prove useful for the treatment of melanoma with ERBB4 mutations.”

In addition to ERBB4, the researchers identified two additional PTK genes, FLT1 and PTK2B, with a relatively high rate of mutations in melanoma. Each of these genes was mutated in about 10 percent of the tumor samples studied.

NHGRI Scientific Director Eric D. Green, M.D., Ph.D., pointed out how such research is helping to lay the groundwork for the era of personalized medicine. “We envision a day when each cancer patient will have therapies tailored to the specific genetic profile of his or her tumor. Ultimately, this should lead to more effective and less toxic approaches to cancer care,” said Dr. Green, who directs the NIH Intramural Sequencing Center, which generated the DNA sequence data for the melanoma study.

In addition to NIH scientists, the team included a researcher from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore.

In May 2009, Dr. Samuel’s group reported in Nature Genetics another large-scale DNA sequencing study of a different group of genes involved in melanoma, the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) gene family. This earlier study found that one gene, MMP-8, thought to spur cancerous growth actually served to inhibit it. Those findings are now helping to shape melanoma treatment strategies aimed at MMP genes.

About NHGRI

NHGRI is one of the 27 institutes and centers at the NIH, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The NHGRI Division of Intramural Research develops and implements technology to understand, diagnose and treat genomic and genetic diseases. Additional information about NHGRI can be found at its Web site, www.genome.gov.

NCI leads the National Cancer Program and the NIH effort to dramatically reduce the burden of cancer and improve the lives of cancer patients and their families, through research into prevention and cancer biology, the development of new interventions, and the training and mentoring of new researchers. For more information about cancer, please visit the NCI Web site at www.cancer.gov or call NCI’s Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).

The National Institutes of Health – “The Nation’s Medical Research Agency” – includes 27 institutes and centers, and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more, visit www.nih.gov.

Contact

Geoffrey Spencer
301-402-0911
spencerg@mail.nih.gov

NCI Office of Media Relations
(301) 496-6641
ncipressofficers@mail.nih.gov

    * changes in hormone levels in adolescent girls and adult women 2 to 7 days before their menstrual period starts
    * oil from skin products (moisturizers or cosmetics) or grease encountered in the work environment (for example, a kitchen with fry vats)
    * pressure from sports helmets or equipment, backpacks, tight collars, or tight sports uniforms
    * environmental irritants, such as pollution and high humidity
    * squeezing or picking at blemishes
    * hard scrubbing of the skin
    * stress

Read the full article:  Facing Facts About Acne

Skin Cancer: Latest Developments in Detection

Skin Structure

Normal Skin Growth

National Institute of Arthritus and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)-supported scientists at the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Palo Alto and at Stanford University have discovered a mechanism that contributes to differentiation of skin cells during normal skin growth. Understanding the processes that regulate normal skin growth may provide a better understanding of and lead to the development of therapies for diseases such as eczema and skin cancer. The study appeared in a recent issue of the journal Genes & Development.

Lead researcher, Paul A. Khavari, M.D., Ph.D., and his colleagues found that a specifically modified histone — a protein that interacts with DNA to regulate gene expression — represses the expression of some genes that are associated with differentiation of immature skin cells, resulting in the development of a specific type of mature skin cell. These mature skin cells migrate to the upper layers of the skin. This state of inhibition remains in place until an enzyme removes the modification, allowing the cell to mature. The researchers found that normal skin growth and maintenance depend upon the intricate balance of inhibition and activation of differentiation genes, regulated by the modified histone 3 Lysine 27 (H3K27me3) and the enzyme that removes the modification, Jumanjii C domain-containing protein (JMJD3).

Four Skin Layers

The human skin growth process starts in the basal layer, where stem cells, the kind of cells that could become almost anything in our bodies, begin to change and migrate outward in four distinct stages, making up four skin layers. The researchers looked at keratinocytes, the main type of cell found in the epidermis — the outer layer of human skin. These skin cells are constantly replenishing themselves. In humans, the epidermal layer is completely replaced about every four weeks. Unlike reptiles, which keep their skin for a long time and then lose it all at once, we are continuously sloughing off dead cells and replacing them with new cells.

The proper balance between skin cell growth and differentiation, to form an effective barrier layer, is important for the health of the skin. Uncontrolled growth is a hallmark of skin cancer and defects in the skin barrier layer are often associated with diseases such as eczema and asthma. This study helps understand the role of epigenetics in the regulation of the growth and differentiation of the skin which may lead to new targets for drug development for these diseases.

About NIAMS

The mission of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, a part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health, is to support research into the causes, treatment and prevention of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases; the training of basic and clinical scientists to carry out this research; and the dissemination of information on research progress in these diseases. For more information about NIAMS, call the information clearinghouse at (301) 495-4484 or (877) 22-NIAMS (free call) or visit the NIAMS Web site at http://www.niams.nih.gov.

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Sen GL, Webster DE, Barragan DI, Chang HY, Khavari PA. Control of differentiation in a self-renewing mammalian tissue by the histone demethylase JMJD3. Genes and Dev. 2008 Jul15;22(14):1865-70. PMID: 18628393

A new National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) research program in response to the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA)

13 Million Workers Exposed

Courtesy of NORA DERP

Estimates indicate that more than 13 million workers in the United States are potentially exposed to chemicals that can be absorbed through the skin. A hazardous chemicals skin exposure may occur through direct contact with contaminated surfaces, deposition of aerosols, immersion, or splashes. When substantial amounts of chemicals are absorbed, systemic toxicity can result. Contact dermatitis can also result when chemicals are absorbed through a worker’s skin. Contact dermatitis is one of the most common chemically induced causes of occupational illness, accounting for 10 to 15 percent of all occupational illnesses at an estimated annual cost of at least $1 billion.

500 External Partners
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and approximately 500 external partners created the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) to guide occupational safety and health research into the next decade. The Agenda is made up of 21 priority research areas including allergic and irritant dermatitis. As part of NORA, NIOSH encouraged its intramural researchers to join together to develop large scale programs in and across NORA priority areas. One of the three funded interdisciplinary cross-divisional programs is the development of a dermal policy based on laboratory and field studies. The overall goal of this program is to promote the development of improved NIOSH policies and recommendations for identifying and controlling dermal overexposures and dermatitis. This goal will be accomplished by (1) adding critical information to our current knowledge base through laboratory and field investigations and (2) developing and applying scientific decision-making processes for policy development using that knowledge base.

Learn more about the NORA Dermal Exposure Research Program (DERP)