Dr. Swastika Suvirya, head of the department of dermatology, said, “Pollution, pesticides and bad diet are also major factors for skin problems. It is good to take medicine as per the advice of the expert.”
Head of the Department of Pathology, Prof. US Singh explained the role of pathology in the diagnosis of skin diseases. He said that the coordinated efforts of the Departments of Dermatology and Pathology give better results in diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. Atin Singhai said that some skin problems are region specific as people living in a specific region have specific diseases.
The Dark Side of Skin Lightening Cream
Dr. Parul Verma, Faculty, Department of Dermatology, KGMU, cited the example of a 20-year-old girl who had discolored skin about four months ago.
She went to a medical store, which offered steroid-based skin whitening creams. He used it for three months but instead of improving, the wound turned into a scar.
Doctors at KGMU detected that she was suffering from leprosy, which was confirmed through a biopsy.
Dr Verma said, “It will take months for the girl to recover from the damage caused by the steroid cream. Her treatment would have been easier had she not used steroids.”
She said that there are many people who take steroid-based creams without a prescription for problems such as fungal infections, post-psoriasis itchy skin rash and acne.
In KGMU alone, out of 400 patients who come to the OPD daily, 50 percent come after their condition worsened by indiscriminate use of the cream.
Head of the Department of Dermatology, KGMU, Prof. Swastika Suvirya said, ‘There may be some patients who get relief for the moment, but in the long term these drugs give serious reactions and can cause allergies, ulcers, tumors and infections.’
Source: IANS
