Stan, Clarence, Barry, and the Health Chatter team chat with Dr. Mitchell Elliott Bender, Clinical Professor of Dermatology and longtime leader in the field, about common and complex dermatologic conditions.Dr. Bender was born and raised in the Bronx, NYC, and earned his undergraduate degree in biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He went on to graduate from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and completed his residency in dermatology at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Bender founded Dermatology Specialists PA in Edina, Minnesota, which has grown into a 15-member practice. Though he retired from clinical practice in 2022, he continues to serve as Adjunct Faculty at the University of Minnesota Medical School and as Clinical Professor at the Minneapolis VA Hospital.Join us for an enlightening discussion about skin health and dermatological care, and stay tuned to gain fresh perspectives on how skin conditions impact overall wellness.Join the conversation at healthchatterpodcast.comBrought to you in support of Hue-MAN, who is Creating Healthy Communities through Innovative Partnerships.More about their work can be found at https://www.huemanpartnershipalliance.org/
Chapter 1: What are common dermatologic conditions discussed in this episode?
Hello, everybody. Welcome to Health Chatter, and we're welcoming back everybody. We've been taking a little time off over the summer, and now we're going into high gear with a great show today on dermatologic conditions with a wonderful guest. I'll get to Dr. Bender in just a second. We have a great crew that always, always is second to none and helps us
with all of these shows with background research and all the technical aspects. Maddie Levine-Wolfe is helping us record the show today. She also does background research and scheduling for us. Aaron Collins, Deandra Howard, Matthew Campbell, Sheridan Nygaard are second to none. And we couldn't do this without them. So many, many, many thanks to you guys. Second to none.
Also, my co-host is Clarence Jones. He'll be with us in a few moments. And he's been with us since obviously day one as well.
Chapter 2: How do skin conditions vary with age?
We're a little over three and a half years doing these shows. So it's been wonderful. And then, of course, Dr. Barry Baines is our medical advisor, consultant, and helps us with the medical aspects of some of these shows. So, Barry, welcome to you as well. So today, Dermatologic Conditions with Dr. Mitch Bender. Born out east.
Yes.
Right near the Bronx Zoo. Right near the Bronx Zoo. Wow, wow, wow, wow. Graduated at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and the College of Medicine at the University of Kentucky. Residency in dermatology at the University of Minnesota. Adjunct faculty there in the School of Medicine. Founder of Dermatology Specialists in Edina University. Minnesota.
Chapter 3: What constitutes a dermatologic emergency?
Actually, I'm going to see one of your colleagues in a couple of months. Yeah. And has been in this field for a long, long time. And I think he's seen it all one way or the other as it relates to skin conditions. So I want to really thank you for being willing to share your insights on a subject that, frankly, I think a lot of us kind of take for granted, you know, just skin. Okay.
It's like, we don't react to, you know, skin conditions like we would, for instance, if all of a sudden you're feeling chest pain, for instance, or, or what have you, but important nonetheless. So welcome. And thanks for being with us. I greatly appreciate your willingness to be on health chatter. So, all right, let me, let me start this thing out a
You know, as a parent, you know, you start out with, you know, with infants and, you know, your kids. And the first thing that comes up is like diaper rashes and, you know, all these types of things. So what came to my mind as I was reflecting on this subject is this, and maybe Mitch, you can respond to this.
Chapter 4: How does sun exposure affect skin health?
Are there particular skin related conditions as we age? In other words, are there some like, you know, when you're an infant or young, adolescents, adults, older people, are there things that we just kind of happen to us as we age?
First of all, thank you very much for the invitation. It's fun to be here. The answer to the question is yes, there are pediatric skin problems all the way from the relatively mundane like diaper rash all the way to genetic conditions, which often are manifest on the skin. And as we mature, different situations appear.
So in fact, right now there are subspecialties in dermatology, including pediatric dermatology, where people take additional training after their basic dermatology training, and they're able to diagnose genetic conditions and various, in addition to the mundane conditions, more unusual, more concerning conditions.
For example, this is just one example, diaper rash, of course, is very common because urine and stool in the diaper can be very irritating to the skin, and that usually could be fairly easily remedied. But there's one condition, Langerhan histiocytosis, which can appear in the diaper area and usually at the beginning is confused with diaper rash.
But Langerhan histiocytosis is a blood condition which is treatable, but it has to be diagnosed. So... One has to differentiate the mundane diaper rash from Langerhans histiocytosis.
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Chapter 5: What are the differences between physical and chemical sunscreens?
And one other example, there is a genetic condition, acrodermatitis enteropathica, which is due to a genetic condition where you can't absorb zinc. And this manifests as a rash on the face and in the diaper area. And so that has to be recognized and it's treatable, but it has to be recognized.
So at each stage of life, literally from birth to advanced senior age, different conditions pop up and they have to be kept in mind.
So what's considered a dermatologic emergency?
Well, you know, in adults, there are conditions that could be very acute. Probably the most one that comes to mind, people who have growths on their heart valves. endocarditis. These bacterial particles can go into the blood and wind up. You can see them on the skin and the fingernails on the hands. And that's a very serious condition because that can mean systemic infection called sepsis.
and if you go to the emergency room, they'll look at your skin, and that's a very serious thing, and those people have to be treated with antibiotics quickly, and their heart situation has to be assessed quickly. There are other conditions that show up on the skin that indicate serious internal conditions, bad liver disease, lung disease, colon disease, kidney disease.
So it's not that the skin itself is necessarily in danger, but it indicates that there is an internal condition which needs immediate attention.
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Chapter 6: How do diet and nutrition impact skin health?
So those have to be diagnosed quickly.
Yeah. And do you see more emergencies with older people or does it go across the lifespan? It depends.
I think it really goes across the lifespan because infants, including newborns, can show some very serious things that have to be addressed pretty quickly, either because they're already in crisis or they might develop into a crisis. So you'd like to get them diagnosed sooner rather than later.
All right, Barry.
Take it away. Okay. Well, you know, being my background is family practice, I usually like to talk a bit more about some of the more mundane things, as it were, because they tend to be a lot more common. And I couldn't help myself that when we were getting to the summertime, where, well, the daylight today, there's so much smog, they can't tell us that the sun is out.
But I've just, you know, known that over the years, there's just been more and more things written about and highlighting really the dangers of what can happen from prolonged sun exposure to different things that how that affects the skin, because I do know that the skin is the largest organ in the human body. There's, you know, and it gets exposed a lot and to sunlight.
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Chapter 7: What advancements have been made in dermatological treatments?
And that's something that I think is of particular importance, especially in the summertime, because I know that there are things that that we should know about the sun related skin things. And that was, you know, sort of my driver to get an expert like Mitch, you know, here on the show, to have some conversation about that.
Because that's, you know, we go outside, except winter when it's too cold to go outside. But we're outside a lot. And so I just like to, you know, get the take from from Dr. Bender on that sun piece of skin because of the exposure. And I'll kind of toss the baton here to Mitch and let him talk about, let us know, like, what should we know?
What should, you know, our listening public know about sun exposure and sun-related diseases?
Yeah, well, you're absolutely right. And what I'm going to be saying is pretty much echoing what the American Academy of Dermatology, which is our main educational society in dermatology, says. We're very concerned about skin cancers. Skin cancer is the most common kind of cancer affecting human beings. There are over 5 million cases diagnosed in the United States each year.
There are about 105,000 people who die each year from one of the more serious kinds of skin cancer called malignant melanoma.
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Chapter 8: When should someone see a dermatologist for skin concerns?
And the overwhelming majority of those cancers are related to ultraviolet light exposure. And starting from an early age, So we are trying to alert the public about sun protection, and we're trying to get people to use sunscreen, to wear hats with a brim, and now wear photoprotective clothing. You can buy clothing which has sun protective harmless chemicals added to the fabric.
Because just a few statistics I think will speak for themselves. Right now, one in five American adults will develop skin cancer, 20%. When in 1930, the incidence of melanoma, the most serious kind of skin cancer, was one out of 1,500. The present rate of melanoma is one in 60. So in almost 100 years, we've gone from 1 in 1,500 to 1 in 60.
That will give you an idea about the rapid rate of increase. And melanoma can be a very, very serious tumor. And the bad news about melanoma is that the rate is increasing pretty rapidly. The good news is that the mortality rate is staying even, I think, because people are going in for skin checks.
They're getting their tumor diagnosed early when it's very fixable, rather than waiting until it spreads and becomes more of a complication. So I think One point that I'd like the viewers to take away is that sunscreen and hats are your friend. I liken it to wearing a seatbelt in a car. No one prevents you from driving, but the intelligent driver is going to wear a seatbelt.
And just be cautious, and that's what sunscreen is. And one other misconception, people are worried about not getting enough vitamin D if they use sunscreen, maybe avoid going in the sun. And I myself take supplemental vitamin D every day. The body doesn't care whether you get it by supplement. I think the official supplement is 800 international units per day. I take 2,000 units per day.
You will not become vitamin D deficient with a well-balanced diet. And if you take supplemental vitamin D. So I think that's something... to keep in mind. It's very important. And a lot of this skin cancer is preventable. The other thing that, and this is stated by the American Academy of Dermatology, tanning beds and tanning bed use
The incidence of skin cancer is increasing in young adults, including melanoma on young people, and that has been correlated with use of tanning beds before age 19. So dermatologists are not real thrilled about tanning beds. We think that they increase the risk of melanoma and perhaps other skin cancers too.
So I don't want to sound anti-industry, but we are very worried about tanning bed use and don't recommend it. So those are some of the practical things that summer brings on. ultraviolet protection. The highest rates of skin cancer in the world, Australia is number one, because the people have collected blue-eyed blonde, mostly Northern European appearance.
Number two is Israel, another country closer to the equator that gets a lot of ultraviolet light. So I think the evidence of ultraviolet light causing most, not all, but most skin cancers is is incontrovertible. So if people remember one recommendation from this podcast, please use sunscreen, hats, some protective clothing.
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