I found an article online from the Times of India website which shows that a group of Indian dermatologists are launching an initiative to warn their fellow doctors about topical steroid abuse. They are calling it the MATSA initiative, which stands for the Movement Against Topical Steroid Abuse.
An article on the pharmabiz website states that:
"Prof. Jayakar Thomas, president of INSTED said,“As topical steroids bring relief from itching, the patients and pharmacists start using and promoting it as magical remedy for every skin disorder, which should not be the case. The adverse events of topical steroid abuse are steroid-induced acne, excessive sensitivity to sunlight, hyperpigmentation/hypopigmentation, cutaneous fungal and bacterial infections, striae, telangiectasis, hypertrichosis (excessive unwanted hair growth) and also systemic disorders like diabetes mellitus and cushingoid manifestations”.
Dr Dinesh Kumar, general secretary of INSTED said, “In view of the existing menace of topical steroid abuse, a Continuing Medical Education (CME) program is being organised to educate on oral antihistamines (anti-allergic drug) and topical steroid usage which happens to be common prescriptions in everyday practice. This CME is accredited by the Tamil Nadu Medical Council for CME Credit hours.”"
Exciting news indeed! I'm going to keep a close eye on this story and report any developments on the blog. Meanwhile, it may be a good idea for those in TSW to print out the articles to share with their own doctors and dermatologists.
Exciting news indeed! I'm going to keep a close eye on this story and report any developments on the blog. Meanwhile, it may be a good idea for those in TSW to print out the articles to share with their own doctors and dermatologists.
6 comments:
That's GREAT news! Too bad they didn't include RSS and TSA/TSW. Will itsan try to contact the head docs of mats to share the pictures, stories, and info collected on/by itsan?
Thank you!
Rosemarie
It would be great if that happened and the two organisations could share information. It's great that there is another organisation out there spreading the word about steroid dangers.
I'm not sure whether ITSAN know about this yet. I did post the link on the forum, but I don't know if any of the board members have seen it. I will try and get in touch with the ITSAN board and see what they say. If I get an answer, I will post it on here. X
I saw Joey posted this today.. amazing!! Slowly but surely!! :) Very promising!
Yes, Joey has also forwarded the information to the ITSAN board and they are going to forward it to the national eczema association, who are currently investigating TSW.
Good news all round and nice to see progress at last!
Can I just say I found this blog fascinating. I myself have had severe Eczema all my life and for many years have been using Steroid ointments. One question I would like to ask from what you know of TSW, even if you use it on patches of skin (legs, arms) does this still cause Red Skin Rosacea in other areas? A dermatologist that I saw recently has prescribed Protopic to deal with any minor flare-ups, particularly on the face.
It is frustrating now that I am in later life, I have been taking advantage of having clearer skin by having a couple of tattoos, BUT one was a particularly difficult tattoo in terms of ink blowout and strange healing, I think due to the thinning effects of topical steroid use over so many years.
I'd love to get my arms and neck back to a more whiter skin colour instead of the overall red look, so would appreciate any advice on getting off the steroids for good.
Oh and one last thing, there is a definite link to steroid use and cataracts as I have had eye surgery on both eyes 3 years ago, and have wide angle glaucoma.
Best regards
Jerry
Hi jerry. Glad you like the blog!
In reply to your question,yes,there have been many cases where people have used steroids in one area only to have Rashes appear elsewhere. In his papers, Dr Rapaport calls it "distant" eczema and I think the idea is that steroid use is systemic and affects the vascular system, causing patches to pop up anywhere on the body.
If you haven't already, please consider joining the Itsan.org forum, where many of us share our experiences.
Hope to see you there.
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