ITSAN is pleased to announce a new systemic review of the effects of topical steroids on children by supportive friends of the ITSAN community, Dr. Sharon Jacob and Rosemarie Curley.
Dr. Sharon E. Jacob MD is a professor of dermatology at Loma Linda University and director of the Pediatric Contact Dermatitis (National) Registry. She has been a supportive friend of ITSAN for a few years now after taking an interest in the steroid-induced disease, Red Skin Syndrome/ TSA/TSW.
Sharon became very proactive in the cause of raising awareness of Topical Steroid Withdrawal Syndrome and joined Rosemarie in a crusade to raise awareness, especially with her peers in the medical community, of the risks involved with too much steroid use.
Rosemarie Curley, MPT, DPT is an inpatient rehabilitation physical therapist in Richmond, VA who started a blog (Beyond the Itch) in 2013 to document her young son's TSW journey.
Collaboration with other parents of children with TSW and frustration with the lack of research on TSW in children and the effects of long-term topical steroid use in individuals with eczema, lead her to pursue her doctorate at Northeastern University College of Professional Studies in Boston, MA, so that she could do further research and advocate for the patients' perspective in evidence-based practice.
She also presented "Thinking Outside the Topical Steroid Box: Topical Steroid Withdrawal in Children Diagnosed with Eczema" at the 2016 RISE Exposition at Northeastern.
Rosemarie credits Dr. Jacob and the Dermatitis Academy for recognizing the value of this study and she states that eczema is often a long-term problem. Therefore, treatments for eczema in children must be studied long-term.
Since such studies would be too expensive and would involve ethical issues, she begs clinicians and researchers to consider the qualitative information and data that can be gained from compiling these patients' histories documentation, and pictures. Much can be learned that cannot be obtained in the lab or clinic. "Applying this knowledge is key to prevention." A snippet of the conclusion of the 2017 review: "Topical steroid withdrawal occurs in children and can result from discontinuing topical steroids used for as little as 2 months."
PLEASE share this newsletter with your colleagues and the medical community, especially those who teach future pediatricians, dermatologists, nurses, pharmacists, endocrinologists, etc. Help prevent steroid-induced Red Skin Syndrome! | | |
