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A high sodium diet may increase the risk of eczema, according to researchers, who found that eating just one extra gram of sodium per day—the amount in a Big Mac—increases the likelihood of flares by 22%. Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, is a chronic disease that causes dry, itchy skin. It has become increasingly common in recent years, especially in industrialized countries, implicating environmental and lifestyle factors like diet. Sodium, which most people consume in the form of salt, increases the risk of hypertension and heart disease. And scientists recently discovered that sodium is stored in the skin, where...

Antihypertensive drugs are associated with an increased risk for eczematous dermatitis in older adults, and the effect sizes are largest for diuretics and calcium channel blockers, according to a study. Morgan Ye, M.P.H. and colleagues examined whether antihypertensive drug use is associated with eczematous dermatitis in a longitudinal cohort study of individuals aged 60 years and older without eczematous dermatitis at baseline. The researchers found that the overall prevalence of eczematous dermatitis was 6.7% among 1,561,358 older adults during a median follow-up of six years. The incidence of eczematous dermatitis was higher among those receiving versus those not receiving antihypertensive...

Increased consumption of dietary sodium may increase the risk for atopic dermatitis, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Investigative Dermatology, held May 18 to 21 in Portland, Oregon. Morgan Ye, M.P.H., from the University of California San Francisco, and colleagues examined the association between sodium intake and atopic dermatitis in a U.S. population-based cohort of 13,183 children and adults identified from the 1999-2000, 2001-2002, and 2003-2004 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The researchers found that the average dietary sodium intake was 3.30 g and 6 percent of participants reported...

Students over the age of 2 will be required to wear face coverings for nearly the entire school day under Pennsylvania’s universal mask order, according to a Department of Education memo released this week. There will be a limited number of instances in which students will be allowed to remove their face coverings, according to the memo. These include while eating or drinking, or during an activity that makes mask-wearing unsafe. Students can also take their masks off during 10-minute “face-covering breaks.” “For the safety of students, staff and families and to avoid community spread of COVID-19, students and staff...

According to the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD), people have been going to see doctors with a mysterious rash on their ears or cheeks. Doctors believe the rashes to be “mobile phone dermatitis,” a skin allergy caused by too much mobile phone use. Referring to published studies, dermatologists explained that this red or itchy rash, affects people who from an allergic reaction to the nickel surface on mobile phones after spending long periods of time holding the devices up to their ears as they talk. Nickel is often found in the handset casing or buttons, particularly in the most fashionable...