Path: typhoon.aracnet.com!newsfeed2.skycache.com!newsfeed.skycache.com!Cidera!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!newscore.gigabell.net!fu-berlin.de!newsfeed.iinet.net.au!news.iinet.net.au!not-for-mail From: dp@NOSPAMii.net (David Pascoe) Newsgroups: alt.skincare.acne,alt.support.skin-diseases,alt.skincare,sci.med,sci.answers,alt.answers,news.answers Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Subject: Rosacea Frequently Asked Questions v1.11 Date: Sat, 02 Jun 2001 09:34:27 GMT Expires: Sun, 30 Jun 2001 00:00:00 GMT Message-ID: <3b18b2c3.7688912@news.m.iinet.net.au> X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.21/32.243 Lines: 348 NNTP-Posting-Host: 203.59.161.21 X-Trace: news.iinet.net.au 991474267 11297 203.59.161.21 Xref: typhoon.aracnet.com alt.skincare.acne:58647 alt.support.skin-diseases:7474 alt.skincare:11359 sci.med:97026 sci.answers:5720 alt.answers:24125 news.answers:93684 X-Cache: nntpcache 1.0.6 (see ftp://suburbia.net/pub/nntpcache) Archive-name: medicine/rosacea Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: 2001/04/02 Version: 1.11 URL: http://rosacea.ii.net/faq.txt Maintainer: David Pascoe CVS Version: $Id: faq.txt,v 1.11 2001/04/02 14:55:14 davidp Exp $ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: the following information is a guide only. Self diagnosis is a dangerous pastime without all of the information. This Frequently Asked Questions is a simple guide to rosacea, and a pointer to more information. It should not be used in the place of professional advice from registered practitioners. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. What is Rosacea ? Rosacea (said rose-ay-shah) is an inflammtory skin disorder. The most common symptoms include facial redness across the nose, cheeks, chin and forehead, visibly damaged blood vessels and small red inflammatory papules and pustules. Rosacea develops gradually as mild episodes of facial blushing or flushing which, over time, may lead to a permanent red face. In some sufferers ocular symptoms may develop. These include dryness, gritty foreign sensations and eye lid disorders such as chalazions and blepharitis. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.1 How is Rosacea different to Acne Vulgaris ? Is is common that Rosacea does not present with blackheads that are seen with Acne Vulgaris. Also the age of onset, and the location of redness is a clue. Rosacea is mostly an adult disease, and is generally restricted to the nose, cheeks, chin and forehead. Some rosacea sufferers have a significant acne component in their symptoms so it can be easily confused with acne vulgaris. Rosacea will probably have an underlying redness that is related to flushing and thus looks different to Acne Vulgaris. The treatment for rosacea and acne vulgaris can be somewhat similar, but some of the acne vulgaris regimes are too harsh for rosacea and can aggravate the condition. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.2 What is the difference between Rosacea and Seborrheic Dermatitis ? Seborrheic Dermatitis and Rosacea are closely related, they both involve inflammation of the oil glands. Rosacea also involves a vascular component causing flushing and broken blood vessels. Seborrheic Dermatitis may involve flaking, burning and occasionally itching, and may also be found on the scalp, ears and torso. It does not usually involve red bumps as in Rosacea. Just to confuse things further, The two conditions are often seen together. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.3 What causes Rosacea ? No one really knows. There are a few developing theories, but none that yet describe rosacea fully. Rosacea is thought to be multi-factorial - i.e. that there may be several factors involved in any one sufferer. One theory from a dermatologist is that it is to do with hyperactive sebaceous glands, see the message at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rosacea-support/641.html Another theory is that Rosacea is somehow linked to how often and how strongly people flush or blush, or how the skin develops an inability to handle what would be otherwise normal flushing. This theory simply stated is that rosacea is a disorder of the facial blood vessels. Some other unproven theories suggest that Rosacea is caused by demodex folliculorum mites living on the skin or a gastro-intestinal bacteria called Helicobacter pylori. A Quote from "Rosacea: A study of clinical patterns, blood flow, and the role of Demodex folliculorum". "The rarity of rosacea in the young, its occurrence in sun-exposed areas, and the frequency in the fair-skinned person suggest that solar-induced degeneration of connective tissue is important in its origin. The flushing, association with migraine, histologic vasodilation, and increased skin blood flow indicate vascular reactivity. The presence of Demodex and granlulomatous histologic characteristics point to an immunologic phenomenon, possibly as a secondary event." See also the section titled `Folklore' and `Theories' at the Rosacea Support Highlights page at http://rosacea.ii.net/toc.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. How can Rosacea be treated ? The best answer is "by your registered health professional". There are some medications available that control the redness and reduce the number of papules and pustules. Current run of the mill treatment might include oral antibiotics and topical metronidazole. One study showed that the use of topical metronidazole alone can help to reduce rosacea flare-ups once the rosacea is brought under control (see more on rosacea research on the web at http://dmoz.org/Health/Conditions_and_Diseases/Skin_Disorders/Rosacea/Research ) For those sufferers that do not benefit from the metronidazole based treatments, there are many other options. Quite a few treatments options are often discussed on the rosacea-support email group. Some of their posts can be found under the `Treatments' node on the list highlights page see ; http://rosacea.ii.net/toc.html Experts agree that a gentle cleansing regime is very important. Avoiding chemicals that aggravate the rosacea, but will clean and moisturise the skin is a step in the right direction. The vitamin A derivate isotretinoin (known as Accutane or Roaccutane), has been shown to be effective against sever papopustular rosacea. It works by inhibiting sebaceous gland function and physically shrinking the glands. It also has potent anti-inflammatory properties, making it ideal to treat resistent rosacea. The mixed light pulse laser - Photoderm is showing promise as a treatment for the vascular component of rosacea. It works by targetting facial microvessels that are damaged. One treatment that has been shown to help many is Rosacea-LTD III. It is the third generation of topical mineral salt based treatment. The minerals shrink facial vessels as well as reduce papopustular lesions. More information is available at http://www.rosacea-ltd.com From a subjective view of the rosacea-support list members it would appear that one person's treatment does not necessarily suit another, so your mileage may vary with any recommended treatment. Experiment a little and find what helps you. Depending on the stage of your rosacea, some treatments may be aggravating, while for others the same treatment may not cause problems. Every rosacea patient is unique and needs individual treatment. Whatever path you choose, the support of a doctor or dermatologist that is willing to work with you will be very important, so shop around until you are happy with your health professional. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1 Can you be cured of Rosacea ? Perhaps not cured in the sense of cured of a cold, but you can reduced your symptoms to a manageable level. There are plenty of treatment options out there, you may just need to experiment with a few. If you want to feel encouraged that Rosacea really can be practically cured, check out Geoffrey Nase's before and after photographs at http://rosacea.ii.net/gnase/index.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. What information is available on the Internet about Rosacea ? There are some pages that are worth visiting. You can find a list of reviewed Internet resources relating to Rosacea as part of the Open Directory at http://dmoz.org/Health/Conditions_and_Diseases/Skin_Disorders/Rosacea There you will find sections on companies offering treatment products, research results as well as medical texts on rosacea. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.1 Are there any newsgroups relating to Rosacea ? Not exclusively for Rosacea. Perhaps the best 2 to try are alt.skincare.acne and alt.support.skin-diseases. You can read these forums using the Google Groups facility at http://groups.google.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.2 Are there any email mailing lists relating to Rosacea ? Yes, see http://rosacea.ii.net/ml.html or go straight to the email group hosting page at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rosacea-support Many interesting and useful discussions have taken place on the mailing list since it was created in October 1998. There are 2 Doctors on the list who have hugely contributed to the group and posted great articles. You can see the list highlights categorised by treatment, symptoms and more at http://rosacea.ii.net/toc.html There is a Rosacea forum for those who use AOL as their internet company. The address is aol://5863:126/mB:144806 A Bulletin board devoted to Hyperhidrosis and Facial Blushing also covers quite a lot of rosacea questions: http://www.voy.com/14653 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.3 Are there any Books about Rosacea I should read ? There are very few books about Rosacea. In the last year of so there has been a couple of `self help' books written about rosacea. You can find a review of a couple of these at http://rosacea.ii.net/reviews.html A recently published book by Dr. Geoffrey Nase is destined (we believe) to become a seminal text on Rosacea. You can read a detailed discussion of the contents of the book at http://www.drnase.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.4 Is this Frequently Asked Question list on the Internet ? Yes, you may find a more up to date listing if you check http://rosacea.ii.net/faq.txt You can also find the official html'ised archived version of the FAQ at http://www.faqs.org/faqs/medicine/rosacea Also you can get this FAQ via email. The address of the faq server is mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu First, get the directory listing with the `index' command, and then fetch the latest version of the FAQ with the `send' command. You should include the commands in the _body_ of the message, the subject will be ignored. All messages to the mail server should be on one line only, if your email program inserts carriage returns because the line is too long, you may find retrieving the FAQ difficult. For example, to get version 1.6 of the FAQ you would send the following texts in the body of 2 emails (first one to get directory and second, once you know the filename you want). index usenet-by-group/alt.support.skin-diseases send usenet-by-group/alt.support.skin-diseases/Rosacea_Frequently_Asked_Questions_v1.6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Are there any support groups related to Rosacea ? You may want to check out The National Rosacea Society and the rosacea-support email list. The National Rosacea Society is a non profit organisation set up to provide information about Rosacea. You can find them at http://www.rosacea.org/home.html They publish newsletters online as well as conduct surveys about rosacea sufferers. Also they make published information available to sufferers via regular mail. The National Rosacea Society are an introductory organisation that are a good first point of contact for information. Their depth and breadth of information is something that we hope that they will get to work on. There is an email support group that you can subscribe to. This email group is free and unmoderated. Currently there are about 1400 users and about 30 messages per day. Digest versions are available. To find out more information about the list, visit http://rosacea.ii.net/ml.html or go straight to the email hosting page at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rosacea-support An alternative list archive on the web is also located at http://www.escribe.com/health/rosacea-support this site has a slightly more traditional feel to it, you may prefer to read from this archive. Rosacea Reading Glossary ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- As you read more about Rosacea, you might come across lots of terms that are new to you. Below is a short list of some of the terms you might come across. accutane: a powerful vitman A derivate that was originally prescribed for severe acne vulgaris. Has been used effectively for rosacea as well. blepharitis: inflamation of the eyelids. demodex folliculorum: a microscopic mite that lives in the skin. Some have suggested that this is the cause of rosacea, but no proof that increases in the presence of this mite is the cause of rosacea rather than just them enjoying the inflamed environment. doxycycline: an antibiotic often prescribed for rosacea. edema: swelling erythema: inflammatory redness of the skin. helicobacter pylori: a stomach bacteria proven to cause stomach ulcers, cured with oral antibiotics. Thought by some to cause rosacea, although no link has been proved. hypertrophy: abnormal growth. hyperemia: abnormally increased blood flow ketconozole: the active ingredient in nizoral, helpful for seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff. metronidazole: a topical treatment for rosacea. Has been proved as effective against rosacea. Is the active ingredient in metrogel, metrocream and noritate. ocular: of the eye. papule: a small, solid, elevated skin lesion, less than 0.5cm in diameter. peri-oral dermatitis: photoderm: an intense light source, fired at the facial skin to reduce flushing associated with rosacea. a new treatment for rosacea that is producing some exciting results. pustule: a vesicle filled with cloudy fluid, such as pus, often associated with a hair follicle but can exist independently. rhinophyma: abnormal growth of the soft tissue of nose, caused by sebaceous gland hypertrophy. retin-A: a vitamin A derivative prescribed for acne vulgaris, has been suggested as bad for rosacea. rosacea-ltd: a non-prescription topical treatment for rosacea, see http://www.rosacea-ltd.com seborrheic dermatitis: an inflamatory skin condition, associated with itchy flaking skin. sebaceous gland: telangiectasis: damaged micro blood vessels, often visible on the surface of the skin. tetracycline: an antibiotic often prescribed for rosacea. vascular: of the blood vessels. " vim:tw=74:et -- David Pascoe, dp@ii.net, South Perth, Western Australia Remove NOSPAM from email address to reply.