Skin Pigmentation News and Research

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The color of the human skin is due to a brown pigment called melanin. Pigmentation or coloration of the skin is dependent on the amount of melanin present in the skin. People with pale skin produce very little melanin and people with darker skin produce higher amounts of melanin. Pregnancy and sun exposure can also make skin darker, while infections, burns, and blisters can make skin lighter.

Cord blood vitamin D linked to pediatric RTI risk

South Korean researchers say that encouraging pregnant women to spend more time outdoors or to increase their vitamin D supplementation may reduce the number of respiratory tract infections in their infants.

13 Jan 2014

Research: Low level of daily exposure to sunlight can cause skin damage

A low level of daily exposure to a common component of sunlight can cause skin damage at the molecular level after just a few days, new University of Michigan Medical School research shows.

5 Dec 2013

UAB experts offer advice on how to slow aging, boost self-esteem

For many men and women older than 30, the fun of birthdays fades with aging, but experts at the University of Alabama at Birmingham offer advice on how to slow aging and boost self-esteem.

4 Nov 2013

Genetic condition that attacks multiple organs can be detected using new MRI technique

A genetic condition that attacks multiple organs and usually results in fatal heart problems can be detected using a new MRI technique that was developed at the University of Alberta. The discovery of this new diagnostic tool has resulted in updated clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of Fabry disease in Canada.

3 Oct 2013

Dietary factors explain most variation in vitamin D status in infants

Research shows that vitamin D supplementation and cow’s milk intake have the greatest influence on 25–hydroxyvitamin D levels in healthy children aged 1–5 years.

17 Jan 2013

Two cups of milk per day is enough to maintain adequate vitamin D levels for children

New research has answered one of the most common questions parents ask their doctors: How much milk should I be giving my children? The answer is two cups per day.

18 Dec 2012

Significant correlation between vitamin D and excessive daytime sleepiness

A new study suggests that there is a significant correlation between excessive daytime sleepiness and vitamin D, and race plays an important factor.

14 Dec 2012

Low vitamin D levels mediate racial disparities in pain

A new study reveals that black Americans display lower levels of vitamin D and greater pain sensitivity compared to white Americans. Findings published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), indicate that vitamin D deficiency may be one of many factors that account for increased pain in older black Americans with knee osteoarthritis (OA).

7 Nov 2012

Researchers describe inflammatory mechanism of sunburn

The biological mechanism of sunburn - the reddish, painful, protective immune response from ultraviolet (UV) radiation - is a consequence of RNA damage to skin cells, report researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and elsewhere in the July 8, 2012 Advance Online Publication of Nature Medicine.

9 Jul 2012

Having antibodies for cutaneous HPV and sun exposure can act synergistically in BCC, SCC

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of South Florida and the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg have found that having antibodies for cutaneous types of human papillomavirus (HPV), coupled with sun exposure (ultraviolet radiation) or poor tanning ability, can act "synergistically" in the development of non-melanoma skin cancers such as basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

26 Jun 2012

Vitamin D deficiency may account for unexplained disparities in cancer survival rates

A paper just published in Dermato-Endocrinology suggests that vitamin D deficiency may account for unexplained disparities in cancer survival rates between African and White Americans.

10 Jun 2012

Skin transplant surgery safe and effective for patients with vitligo

Henry Ford Hospital dermatologists say skin transplant surgery is safe and effective for restoring skin pigmentation caused by the skin disease vitligo.

31 May 2012

Arab Health conference to discuss link between vitamin D deficiency and osteoporosis

Reports from the American University of Beirut Medical Centre have concluded that The Middle East and Africa region has the highest incidence of osteoporosis in the world, while UAE-based studies from the Emirates Osteoporosis Society (EOS) across Emiratis and expatriates show that one third of people in the UAE over the age of 50 suffer from osteoporosis. The society's findings also conclude that 78% of the UAE population, most notably Emirati women, suffer from Vitamin D deficiency, which is essential for good bone health, despite the abundance of sunshine.

19 Dec 2011

Avita Medical announces acquisition of intellectual property from McComb Foundation

Avita Medical Ltd., the regenerative medicine company, is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed the transfer and acquisition of intellectual property currently licensed through the McComb Foundation of Western Australia.

29 Nov 2011

New technologies could aid in malignant melanoma diagnosis and therapy

Because the incidence of malignant melanoma is rising faster than any other cancer in the U.S., researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and colleagues at Tampa-based Intezyne Technologies, Inc., Western Carolina University and the University of Arizona are working overtime to develop new technologies to aid in both malignant melanoma diagnosis and therapy.

4 Nov 2011

Avoiding sun may increase risk of vitamin D deficiency in light-skinned people

Light-skinned people who avoid the sun are twice as likely to suffer from vitamin D deficiency as those who do not, according to a study of nearly 6,000 people by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

4 Nov 2011

Henry Ford becomes first U.S. hospital to offer skin transplant surgery for vitiligo

Henry Ford Hospital is the first in the country to offer skin transplant surgery as part of its treatment portfolio for patients with the skin disease vitiligo.

27 Oct 2011

NYU Cancer Institute scientists present new research findings at ASCO 2011

Experts from The Cancer Institute, an NCI-designated cancer center, at NYU Langone Medical Center presented new research findings at the 47th American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2011 Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.

8 Jun 2011

Study to determine how vitamin D affects cardiac structure, functions in blacks with hypertension

A Wayne State University School of Medicine physician researcher has received a $1.9 million National Institutes of Health grant to study the role of vitamin D in halting and reducing subclinical cardiac damage in African-Americans suffering from high blood pressure.

3 Jun 2011

Scientists mimic dyskeratosis congenita through study of undifferentiated iPS cells

A rare genetic disease called dyskeratosis congenita, caused by the rapid shortening of telomeres, can be mimicked through the study of undifferentiated induced pluripotent stem cells, according to new findings from the Stanford University School of Medicine.

24 May 2011