Psoriasis, Cold Sores Most Stigmatized Skin Disorders: Survey

By Maureen Salamon
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Oct. 9, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Psoriasis and cold sores top the list of stigmatized skin conditions, a new survey indicates, but experts say much of the ill will directed at sufferers is misguided.

Surveying 56 people, Boston researchers found that nearly 61 percent wrongly thought psoriasis — which produces widespread, scaly red skin lesions — looked contagious, and about nine in 10 said they would pity a person who had it. About four in 10 said herpes simplex, or cold sore, is the most bothersome skin condition.

“We knew from other studies that psoriasis seemed to be more stigmatizing than other skin diseases, [and] we did this study to try to find out why,” said study author Dr. Alexa Kimball, a dermatology professor at Harvard Medical School.

“We suspected that the fact that it looked infectious could be part of the reason people reacted strongly to it, but we didn’t expect that reaction to be as strong as it was,” Kimball said. “This result … provides an obvious opportunity to educate the public about the fact that it can’t be spread.”

The study is published in the September issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Psoriasis is the most common autoimmune condition in the United States. About 7.5 million Americans suffer from the condition, which is thought to stem from both genetic and environmental triggers, according to the National Psoriasis Foundation.

Meanwhile, cold sores are caused by a virus and typically resolve within days. Affecting millions at any given time, cold sores appear on or near the lips and vary in size. Unlike psoriasis, they are contagious to the touch.

Many skin conditions, including psoriasis and cold sores, have no cure, but medications and other treatments can help calm or shorten symptoms.

For their study, the researchers used an image-based questionnaire at an outpatient dermatology clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Average age of the study participants was 43, and none were allowed to have any self-reported skin condition other than teenage acne. Also, none worked in the health care field.

The participants were asked about their attitudes and opinions toward psoriasis compared with other common skin conditions such as acne; vitiligo (which causes the loss of skin color); atopic dermatitis or eczema (an itchy skin inflammation); rosacea (redness and small bumps on the face); warts; cold sores, and tinea versicolor (a fungal infection causing rash).

Almost half of participants felt upset by images of psoriasis, most often because of the color, thickness and size of lesions. But significantly more were upset by images of cold sores.

Study authors noted, however, that while participants found cold sores and psoriasis to be similarly bothersome, psoriasis may have a greater overall impact because skin lesions are chronic.

“People with psoriasis often tell us they are stared at and asked not to participate in certain activities because of the appearance of their skin,” said Kimball, who is also director of the Clinical Unit for Research Trials and Outcomes in Skin at Massachusetts General.

“This study validated what they describe experiencing,” she added. “It’s important that people understand it’s not contagious — and frankly, it’s a little surprising that it’s so poorly understood, given how many people suffer from this condition.”

Dr. Laura Ferris, director of clinical trials in dermatology at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said the new research incorporated “an interesting approach” by showing survey participants photos of the skin conditions involved in the questions.

Ferris said she hopes the research will dispel the myth that persistent skin conditions such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and vitiligo are infectious.

“It’s important to realize that of all of the conditions they reported on, none are fatal diseases,” she said. “The study shows the really profound psychological impact of these diseases, and not just in the eye of the person afflicted. It speaks to the importance of good treatments for these diseases.”

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine offers more information about a wide variety of skin disorders.

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7 People on What It’s Really Like to Have Lupus

Photo: Getty Images

Selena Gomez is finally opening up about the real reason she took some time off in 2013: The pop star was busy with treatment for lupus.

In a new interview with Billboard, the actress-singer, 23, explained that she underwent chemotherapy for the autoimmune disease amid intense fan and media speculation (some reports said she was in rehab for addiction, adding insult to injury) about why she was keeping a low profile.

“I was diagnosed with lupus, and I’ve been through chemotherapy. That’s what my break was really about. I could’ve had a stroke,” Gomez told the magazine. “I wanted so badly to say, ‘You guys have no idea. I’m in chemotherapy. You’re a–holes.’ I locked myself away until I was confident and comfortable again.”

RELATED: 9 Celebrities With Lupus

What is lupus?

Short for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks its own healthy organs and tissues— and it can often take years to diagnose. Lupus can also sometimes be mistaken for other illnesses. Why? The symptoms are often non-specific and vary widely, such as fatigue, joint pain, swelling, fever, and rashes, especially what’s called a “butterfly rash,” which stretches across both cheeks and looks like a sunburn.

The inflammation caused by lupus can harm everything from the kidneys, skin, joints, and blood cells, to the lungs, brain, and heart. However, the physical and mental implications of the condition can be vastly different from person to person.

Because lupus is not only tricky to diagnose, but also tricky to understand, we asked several people living with lupus to share what it’s really like, what they wish people knew about this disease, and how they push forward. Here are their stories.

“Many people say that we ‘don’t look sick’ when there is a battle raging inside of us.”— Sharon Harris, 36, founder and president of Lupus Detroit

Harris, who was diagnosed at 23, has experienced it all over the past 13 years: from the “butterfly rash” to swollen joints. She is now recovering from a recent stroke.

“One day, I washed my face and brushed the washcloth across my eyelashes. [It] stopped me dead in my tracks. I was too exhausted to scream but it knocked the life out of me so much so that I had to sit on the edge of the tub to regroup,” Harris says. “My eyelashes hurt—I will never forget that.”

But on the other extreme, Harris says there are days she feels like she can run a marathon. “See, lupus just isn’t a physical disease. It’s also mental. On my good days, my mind is clear and at peace, my movements are fluid.”

Her mantra: Avoid negativity at all costs, and love yourself. “You might be hairless, you may have a butterfly rash, your knuckles may be as swollen as large as lemons, but you still matter.”

RELATED: 9 Celebrities With Lupus

“I’ve had folks tell me, ‘At least it’s not cancer.'” — Ayanna Dookie, 34, stand-up comedian

Nov. 9 2012: Dookie will never forget the day she got her official diagnosis of SLE. She didn’t have any of the telltale symptoms of lupus, except for joint pain in her wrist that just wouldn’t go away.  It wasn’t until her doctor ordered blood tests that it all lined up.

“A horrible day feels like I’m un-rested, like barely-can-keep-my-eyes-open-tired, my joints are aching, and my back is aching from the inflammation in my lungs,” Dookie says. “Performing basic functions is the biggest obstacle in the world, and it feels like the flare will last forever.” In other words, it’s not cancer, but it can still feel overwhelming.

Instead of waiting for her illness to fill up her schedule, though, she stocks her good days full of other activities and listens to her body about when she needs to cut back. This month, Dookie had a busy calendar with stand-up performances, and she even signed up for an inflatable obstacle course 5K run with friends.

“Maintaining good health isn’t just a physical journey,” she says.

“I had to give up a lot of my old life.” — Kristin Jones, 30, knitwear designer

Jones’ journey with lupus began just over a year ago, and while it’s required some major changes in her life, she’s learning how to live a full life with lupus.

“I’m having a great day, then it’s like I’m back to my old self. But I’m not, I’m still sick—and so no, I can’t go ride bicycles or go for a run,” she says. “Stretching for 10 minutes a day is really strenuous activity for me—and that’s something that people just don’t understand because when I’m sitting and talking to you, most of the time I seem normal.”

Still, Jones adds, “While your life does change and limitations change, that doesn’t mean you can’t be happy and fulfilled. Find your own new space in the world.”

RELATED: 8 Signs and Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis

“The hardest part for me, hands down, is the health insurance component.” — Dana Whitney, 42, communications vice president.

At 17, Whitney noticed her first symptoms, sore muscles and a rash, which she thought was just a sunburn at first. But her mom, who also had an autoimmune disorder, became frantic when things got worse and took her see a rheumatologist, who diagnosed her with lupus.

“Unfortunately, my family did not have medical insurance at the time,” Whitney explains. “We had to wait a few months to pursue treatment in order to line up health insurance, so those first few months of high school were pretty tough.”

“It’s driven a lot of my career decisions in life” because of the insurance component, she says. “[But] the best parts are getting good news from doctors. ‘No more chemo, let’s come down on your drugs, that sort of thing.’ I’ve been healthy for quite some time now, and it’s great. It can happen.”

“It’s hard to talk to people about what you’re feeling and have them really understand why and how you’re so tired.” — Jessica Goldman Fuong, 32, author and founder of the blog Sodium Girl

Fuong comes from a long line of women with autoimmune diseases. But it wasn’t until days after her 21st birthday when an lupus attack on her brain and kidneys occurred; blood tests later revealed lupus.

One of her tricks is adjusting the language she uses, both with herself and with her loved ones. Case in point? She embraces the word “maybe.” Fuong said, “I hate feeling like a flake. But now, by always saying maybe, I give myself an easy out when needed. And I set realistic expectations with friends.”

She also refuses to use words like “sick” or “tired.” For example, “For energy level, using a one to 10 scale—one being the energizer bunny and 10 being a sloth after a night in Vegas—humor never hurts, too,” she said.

“There are days when I feel great.” — Ingrid Harrell, mid-40s, teacher

Harrell was diagnosed in 2011 after suffering from chronic joint pain that caused a limp.

Ingrid, too, described the heavy effects of fatigue and how it takes a toll on relationships with friends and family. “They write me off as a flake or a hypochondriac when this illness can really take a huge toll on your body,” she said.

Her advice for others: Give yourself a break. “For me, stress is a huge trigger for inflammation. I would advise avoiding stressful situations if you can and paying very close attention to your body. Pushing yourself too hard can lead to much more serious side effects,” she explained.

RELATED: 13 Ways Inflammation Can Affect Your Health

“The most common misconception is that lupus is not a disease that affects men.” — Anthony Turk, 47, publicist

Turk, who has a family history of lupus, was diagnosed in his 20s. Regardless of what he did to take care of himself, he ended up getting sick with colds and the flu, and suffered joint pain. It wasn’t until a doctor friend noticed the telltale butterfly rash on his face that he made an appointment and got a formal diagnosis.

While lupus is more common in women, anyone can get it. “Male lupus patients are being diagnosed with the disease everyday,” Turk says. “Lupus symptoms come in many different forms and not everyone has the same symptoms. Also, not all Lupus patients have the same severity of the disease.”

And one of the trickiest things, Turk says, is learning how to keep up with an unpredictable disease. “I have to be able to determine when I am too tired or run down and rest before I send myself into a lupus flare up. Also, I have to try and keep my stress level at bay because stress can send me into a flare up too.”

Still he adds, “This may sound strange, but it has been what’s kept me going amid some difficult times. If you love your lupus and embrace it and take care of it, you can better control it and you can keep it from controlling you.”

RELATED: 15 Diseases Doctors Often Get Wrong

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Weight, Growth Early in Life May Affect Adult Brain

FRIDAY, Oct. 9, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Birth weight and growth during childhood could affect hearing, vision, thinking and memory later in life, a new study suggests.

“Sensory problems and illness such as dementia are an increasing problem, but these findings suggest that issues begin to develop right from early life,” said the study’s leader, Dr. Piers Dawes. He is a lecturer in audiology at the University of Manchester’s School of Psychological Sciences in England.

“While interventions in adulthood may only have a small effect, concentrating on making small improvements to birth size and child development could have a much greater impact on numbers of people with hearing, vision and cognitive [mental] impairment,” Dawes said in a university news release.

However, the study findings don’t mean that parents of children who don’t physically match their average-sized peers at birth or as they’re growing throughout childhood should panic. The study was only designed to find an association between these factors; it cannot show a cause-and-effect relationship.

The researchers looked at data from more than 430,000 adults, aged 40 to 69, in the United Kingdom.

After considering other factors, such as health and smoking, the researchers concluded that children who were too small or too large at birth had worse hearing, vision, and thinking and memory skills by the time they reached middle-age. Meanwhile, babies born within the 10th and 90th percentile for weight had better hearing, sight, and mental skills when they were adults, the study reported.

In addition, better childhood growth was associated with better hearing, vision, and thinking and memory skills later in life, according to the study published recently in PLOS One.

The study authors suspect that poor nutrition during childhood may have a negative effect on the brain and the senses. They theorized that early influences on growth hormones and genetic regulation might affect long-term neurosensory development.

More information

The March of Dimes has more on the health risks of low birth weight.

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Dying at Home Brings More Peace Without More Pain, Study Finds

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Oct. 9, 2015 (HealthDay News) — The choice to die at home, rather than in a hospital, provides great comfort to both the patient and their loved ones, a new British study says.

People who die at home experience more peace in their final days and hours than they would in a hospital, with no greater pain, according to findings published Oct. 8 in the journal BMC Medicine.

Further, their relatives experience less grief in the months following their passing, said lead author Barbara Gomes, a research fellow at King’s College London.

“Dying at home happened more peacefully, and in no greater pain, than in the hospital,” Gomes said. “This could bring some comfort and help people deal with what is a very difficult time for someone who has recently lost a friend or relative to cancer.”

But the researchers also identified a set of factors that must be in place for a person to be able to die at home.

Both the patient and their relatives must be on board with the decision, the study showed. The patient also needs to have access to palliative care and nursing support in the home during their last three months of life.

These factors “are almost essential,” Gomes said. “They were present in more than 91 percent of home deaths.”

The new study involved 352 bereaved relatives of London cancer patients, 177 of whom died in a hospital and 175 who died at home. The relatives filled out questionnaires that measured the patient’s pain and peace in the last week of life, and the relative’s own intensity of grief.

The researchers found that about 25 percent of patients who died in a hospital experienced little to no peace in the last week of their lives. By comparison, only 12 percent of patients dying at home were unable to find any peace.

Being at home during one’s final days can help a person take solace in the life they lived, said Don Schumacher, president and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, based in Alexandria, Va.

“The smells, the familiarity, the comfort, the love, the things they’ve helped to create, the garden they’ve built — all of this is around them,” Schumacher said. “It creates such a sense of accomplishment and nurturing and caring.”

The study also found that relatives reported that people who died at home experienced no more pain than those who died receiving hospital care.

“Many people with cancer justifiably fear pain,” Gomes said. “So, it is encouraging that we observed patients dying at home did not experience greater pain than those in hospitals, where access to pain-relieving drugs may be more plentiful.”

Dying at home also appeared to help the people left behind. Relatives reported less intense grief when the patient died at home, even months following their death.

Bereaved relatives might receive some comfort from the fact that the patient died more peacefully, Gomes said. They also may have been able to spend more time with the person in a familiar setting, helping them achieve a sense of closure.

However, dying at home requires that the patient clearly express the desire to do so, and often requires relatives to support that decision, the study found.

That means people need to have end-of-life discussions sooner rather than later with loved ones, and make their wishes clear, Schumacher said.

“Don’t wait too long to have these conversations,” he said. “There’s nothing worse than waiting until you’re in crisis, because then it’s so easy to misinterpret things.”

People also were more likely to die at home if their relatives had accepted the fact that their condition was terminal, the researchers found.

Health care professionals who are skilled in end-of-life care can help facilitate these discussions, Gomes said. They also can make sure that the topic is revisited regularly, as a person might change his or her mind or the medical situation might require that the plan be altered.

The patient also needs strong hospice support to die at home, according to the findings, and that means people living in some areas will be more apt to have their wishes obeyed.

People in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada appear to have sufficient access to hospice care to allow them the option of dying at home, the researchers said in background information, while people in Japan, Germany, Greece and Portugal often die in a hospital because there’s less support for hospice.

“The reality may be different in other regions, particularly in those where access to home palliative care teams — specialists in controlling pain and any other challenging symptoms in the community setting — is patchy,” Gomes said.

More information

For more on hospice care, visit the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

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Research May Help Spot Soldiers at Risk for Workplace Violence

THURSDAY, Oct. 8, 2015 (HealthDay News) — With a newly developed computer model, researchers were able to successfully predict which 5 percent of U.S. Army soldiers committed more than one-third of all major Army workplace violent crimes over a six-year period.

The researchers said that the model could help identify service members who need intensive interventions. Such interventions, they suggested, might help prevent this type of violence.

“The fact that the model identifies such a high proportion of violent crimes is especially exciting because the variables used in the model are routinely collected administrative data the Army can use to identify high-risk soldiers without carrying out expensive one-on-one clinical assessments,” the study’s lead author, Anthony Rosellini, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School in Boston, said in a school news release.

The researchers used Department of Defense and Army records for the study. They reviewed information on almost 1 million regular U.S. Army soldiers. The soldiers were on active duty from 2004 through 2009.

The researchers then created a computer model with that information to predict who would go on to commit serious violent crimes.

The investigators found that the 5 percent of soldiers identified as having the highest predicted risk accounted for 36 percent of all major physical violent crimes committed by men, and 33 percent of the crimes committed by women during the six-year study.

The study findings were published online Oct. 6 in Psychological Medicine. The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.

The researchers also tested the model on a more recent group of Army personnel. The study period for this group was from 2011 to 2013. The 5 percent of soldiers with the model’s predicted highest risk accounted for 50 percent of all major physical violent crimes, the study showed.

“These numbers are striking,” the study’s principal investigator, Ronald Kessler, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, said in the news release.

“They show us that predictive analytic models can pinpoint the soldiers at highest violence risk for preventive interventions. Targeting such interventions might be the best way to bring down the violent crime rate in the Army,” he added.

The study’s co-author, John Monahan, a professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law, said that “it is important to recognize that severe violent crimes are uncommon even in this high-risk group. This means that implementing intensive high-risk preventive interventions would make sense only if the interventions are shown to be highly efficient, something that has not yet been demonstrated.”

More information

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs provides a variety of mental health services for soldiers.

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Common Gene Variant May Raise Miscarriage Risk, Study Finds

THURSDAY, Oct. 8, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Scientists report that a common gene variant may be linked to both early pregnancy loss and failed in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments.

The variant in a woman’s genome, which causes errors in the cell replication process, is strongly associated with risk of aneuploidy — an abnormal number of chromosomes in a cell, the researchers said. But they did not prove that the variant causes pregnancy problems.

“Early in human development, this [cell replication] process is particularly error-prone, affecting as many as 75 percent of embryos and often causing pregnancy loss as soon as five days after fertilization — before the mother even knows she is pregnant,” study first author Rajiv McCoy, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle, said in a news release from the American Society of Human Genetics.

Healthy human cells contain a total of 46 chromosomes, or 23 pairs. Aneuploidy results when chromosomes distribute unevenly. This condition is believed to be a major cause of early pregnancy loss. It may also prevent successful IVF treatments. A woman’s age affects the risk for aneuploidy, but the study authors theorized that genetics also played a role.

In order to test their theory, McCoy and colleagues from Stanford University analyzed more than 46,000 embryos from about 2,400 IVF patients. The investigators found the gene variant known as rs2305957 was strongly associated with risk of aneuploidy. They also discovered that embryos with this uneven distribution of chromosomes were more likely to have come from patients who had a failed IVF treatment in the past, suggesting treatment failure may have been due to aneuploidy.

“Surprisingly, about half of women had this genetic variant, and that rate is fairly consistent across populations,” McCoy said. “If it’s so damaging to reproduction, why does it appear so often? Why isn’t it selected against?”

One possible explanation is that having lower odds for a successful pregnancy may have promoted long-term bonding between ancient men and women, increasing their investment in the health and safety of each child. These children would also be more likely to survive and have their own children, the researchers said.

A nearby gene may also hold clues that could help scientists determine what causes aneuploidy. The study authors suspect PLK4, which governs the distribution of chromosomes as cells divide, may be involved.

“It would be great if we could positively identify the gene, the causal variant, and the molecular mechanism that the variant affects,” McCoy said in the news release.

The researchers plan to investigate PLK4’s role in development and why this gene variant linked to chromosome errors and early pregnancy loss remains common today.

The findings were to be presented Thursday at the American Society of Human Genetics annual meeting in Baltimore. Research presented at meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more on genetics.

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The Golden Rule for Buying Running Shoes

Shopping for running shoes can be a real pain in the butt. There, I said it. Do you want a minimal style or one with tons of cushioning? Do you have high arches or flat feet? Do you want a funky print, pops of color, or a neutral hue? And most importantly, we’ve been taught, do you pronate or supinate? How does your foot hit the ground?

Seriously, I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

But color choices aside, it looks like you may now be able to streamline your decision-making process on your next purchase. According to a recent study from the British Journal of Sports Medicine, all you really need to do to pick up the right pair is find running shoes that feel comfortable to you.

Yep, that’s it. After analyzing decades of research on running injuries, how the foot hits the ground, pronation, and what role shoes play in said injuries, the researchers concluded that “a runner intuitively selects a comfortable product using their own comfort filter that allows them to remain in the preferred movement path. This may automatically reduce the injury risk.” This may also explain why studies on running injuries and shoes have been conflicting throughout the years.

RELATED: 15 Running Tips You Need to Know

“As a species we’ve evolved, improved, and protected ourselves to the point of diminishing returns. And so it is with shoes,” adds Lisa Halbower–Feton, an industrial designer and the former director of product development and design at Reebok International. “The first minimalist shoes to hit the market reminded us that we used to run just fine, thank you, in our PF Flyers. The minimalist movement exposed that we may have become too dependent on extraneous, shoe-geek ‘technologies’ that not only didn’t improve our performance, but may have dumbed down our body’s ability to function properly.”

For example, Halbower-Fenton says: “We’ve ‘protected’ ourselves right out of one of our natural, survival instincts, proprioception, that instant reaction to buckle at the knee when you’re about to turn your ankle. Further, the resilience of our muscles, ligaments, tendons and our healing abilities have been compromised by years of over built shoes.”

The problem with getting back to basics, though, is that after all this time, it’s hard to quantify and qualify exactly what “comfortable” means. Fortunately, there are  Halbower-Fenton has some guidance. Here are five tips for feeling out your next pair of ultra-comfy running shoes.

RELATED: Running With Your Dog: 17 Dos and Don’ts

Say no to slippage

Your foot should be securely locked into your shoe (think snug, not tight)

Beware pinches or pressure points

While consistent contact pressure throughout the shoe is good, you don’t want any pinching points in the forefoot or instep when flexed. And any rubbing you feel now, will only be amplified during your miles.

Watch for flex appeal

Shoes should move with you; if they don’t bend along the same line that your foot flexes, toss ‘em.

Watch for incorrectly placed arch support

How do you know if this is the case? You’ll feel a bump, like something is out of place, or uncomfortable pressure under your arch; this undo stress on the foot, as you may have guessed, is a no-no.

Seek out structure

Those fatty pads under your foot are a natural way of providing cushioning; a shoe with a molded footbed actually keeps the fat pads under your feet while you run so they can do their job.

RELATED: Just 5 Minutes of Running Per Day Could Add Years to Your Life

Now, to narrow the search…

We’ve tried out (and loved) these new fall kicks. We can’t promise one of these is your perfect fit of course, but we can say that each is super cute and high-quality. Here’s hoping one of these cool shoes will be your very own glass slipper.

Photo: Courtesy of Nike

Out kick your competition with the Nike Air Zoom Odyssey ($150, nike.com); the extra bounce you get with every supported step will help you fly to the finish.

Your speed days just got a whole lot faster thanks to the light-as-a-feather New Balance Vazee Rush ($90, amazon.com) And you can’t beat the price.

Don’t let those miles spook you; the eighth version of the Brooks Ghost 8 ($120, zappos.com) can totally take the pavement pounding.

RELATED: 7 Tips for Running Your First Race

After exposure to UV light, the knitted APL TechLoom Pro ($140, athleticpropulsionlabs.com) gives off a glow; perfect for night runs!

With a wider toe box that’s shaped like your actual foot, the Altra Torin 2.0 ($125, amazon.com) allows toes to splay and maneuver in their natural movement pattern. Translation: No more cramped feet.

With lots of padding underfoot, the Hoka Clifton 2 ($130, amazon.com) is a favorite of endurance racers, but any runner can benefit from these beef up kicks. Bonus: strategically placed rubber sole pods add extra durability.

This version of the Asics Gel-Quantum ($170, footlocker.com) gives a nod to the New York City Marathon, of which Asics is a sponsor, through it’s graffiti upper. More importantly, it has tiny individual gel sections that surround the midsole for a cushier ride.

RELATED: 5 Big Running Challenges, Solved

Remember the original pump from 1988? Well the new Reebok ZPump Fusion PU ($100, ladyfootlocker.com) offers that same great feature– just squeeze the side node to fill it with air– in a much more streamlined package, giving you extra cushion when you need it (think long runs!).

You’ll feel like the Under Armour Charge Bandit ($100, underarmour.com) was made specifically for you, thanks to the foam cushioned footbed which molds to fit your tooties. Plus the no-sew upper puts the kibosh on rubbing from seams.

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Worse Psoriasis, Less Healthy Arteries, Study Finds

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Oct. 8, 2015 (HealthDay News) — The skin disorder psoriasis appears linked with artery inflammation, raising the odds for heart disease, a new study says.

“As the amount of psoriasis increases, the amount of blood vessel inflammation increases,” said senior investigator Dr. Nehal Mehta, a clinical investigator with the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

His team also found that even mild psoriasis may indicate an increased risk for heart attack and stroke.

Just one psoriasis skin patch, or plaque, “might be biologically active, causing low-grade inflammation and starting a cascade, speeding up their blood vessel disease,” Mehta said.

“People really should know that psoriasis is not just a cosmetic disease,” he added.

However, these study findings only show an association between psoriasis and blood vessel inflammation, not a direct cause-and-effect relationship, Mehta said. His team is now conducting a study to see if treating psoriasis lowers blood vessel inflammation.

Psoriasis is a chronic disease that affects about 3 percent of U.S. adults. It occurs when skin cells grow too quickly, causing thick, white or red patches of skin.

Blood vessel, or vascular, inflammation is most likely the direct result of psoriasis, not treatment, Mehta said.

Treating psoriasis may lower the risk for heart attack and stroke, he said.

Previous research has found that psoriasis may be linked with a greater risk of heart attack and stroke and heart disease-related death. This new study may be the first to examine if psoriasis severity affects inflammation in the blood vessels, Mehta said.

Inflammation can cause blood vessels, including arteries, to narrow, which limits blood flow, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Mehta advises people with psoriasis to lower their risk of heart disease by controlling traditional risk factors.

“Avoid smoking, try to maintain a healthy lifestyle, including moderate exercise and a balanced diet,” he said. “You should also have your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar checked. Try to do that, because psoriasis itself might be a risk factor.”

For the study, published online Oct. 8 in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, researchers compared 60 adults with psoriasis to 20 people without the condition. All participants were in their 40s on average and at low risk for heart disease.

Some had mild psoriasis — a few patches on less than 3 percent of their skin. Severe cases involved patches covering more than 10 percent of the skin.

Despite severity, PET scans revealed that all participants with psoriasis had increased levels of inflammation in their blood vessels, the researchers said.

The worst psoriasis was associated with a 41 percent increase in blood vessel inflammation, compared with participants without psoriasis. The relationship between psoriasis and increased blood vessel inflammation didn’t change much after accounting for other heart disease risk factors, such as blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, weight and smoking, the study authors said.

Michael Siegel, director of research programs at the National Psoriasis Foundation, said patients should take psoriasis seriously and treat it appropriately.

“Even mild psoriasis carries a risk for heart problems,” he said. Although it is not yet proven that treating psoriasis reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke, there is enough evidence to suggest that patients should have their disease treated, Siegel said.

“There are systemic consequences to psoriasis and people with severe disease need to seek the most effective treatment possible,” he said.

More information

For more on psoriasis, visit the National Psoriasis Foundation.

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Scientists Get Closer to Genetics of Homosexuality in Men

By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Oct. 8, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Scientists are reporting that they’ve linked the way genes in certain regions of the human genome work to influence sexual orientation in males.

The findings don’t explain how such variations in the workings of these genetic regions might affect sexuality in one or both genders. But the authors of the new study say they’ve been able to use this information to successfully predict the sexual orientation of male identical twins 70 percent of the time, compared to the 50 percent that would be expected by chance.

Twins have the same genes, so something else — such as the way genes operate — may explain those who don’t have the same sexual orientation, the authors suggested.

“Sexual orientation seems to be determined very early in life,” said study lead author Tuck Ngun, a postdoctoral researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine of the University of California, Los Angeles. “Based on these findings, we can say that environmental factors might play a role in sexual orientation.”

But he doesn’t mean the social environment in which we grow up, such as how we’re treated by our parents.

“Instead, we are referring to differences that the twins could have experienced in the womb,” Ngun explained.

Several past studies have linked sexual orientation to specific genetic regions, “but what’s still a mystery is the specific genes that are involved,” Ngun said. “Sexual attraction is a fundamental drive across all species but it is something that is poorly understood on the genetic level, particularly in humans.”

In the new study, researchers sought to better understand the links between how genes work — not just the existence of certain genes or genetic variations — and sexual orientation.

The investigators looked at identical twins because they share the same DNA. However, genes are also affected by the environment each twin experiences, so they’re not clones of each other in terms of how their bodies work, according to the researchers.

The researchers began with information on 140,000 genetic regions and narrowed them down to five regions that appear to have the ability to predict — 70 percent of the time — whether an identical male twin is gay or straight based on how genes in those regions work or “express” themselves.

The researchers reached that level of accuracy by seeing if they could predict sexual orientation in 10 pairs of male gay twins and 37 male pairs in which one twin is gay and the other is straight, the study said.

“We weren’t expecting 100 percent since we are only looking at a small part of the overall picture,” Ngun said.

The genetic regions in question play various roles in the body, Ngun explained, including affecting sexual attraction.

Qazi Rahman, a senior lecturer in cognitive neuropsychology at King’s College London in the United Kingdom, who studies sexual orientation, praised the study. While it’s small, the study’s design is strong, he said.

Rahman added that the study “tells us something about possible environmental differences — albeit biological differences in the environment — which might explain the sexual orientation of men who share the same genome.”

Some people in the LGBT community have expressed concern about research into the biological roots of sexual orientation because they fear it could be used to target gays and even abort fetuses who seem likely to not be heterosexual. “I am gay, so these questions have a lot of resonance with me on a personal level,” study lead author Ngun said.

“I do think we have to tread carefully because the potential for abuse is there. Although I think it’s highly unlikely that the findings of this particular research study would lead to a genetic test, future research could ultimately lead to something like that,” he added.

Society is going to have to work together, Ngun suggested, “to ensure research on sexual orientation is not misused.”

The study is scheduled to be presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics in Baltimore. Research presented at meetings hasn’t yet undergone peer review, and is generally considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

For more about sexual orientation, visit the American Psychological Association.

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Bio-Oil Is Doing Something Beautiful For Burn Survivors

If you’ve ever set out to reduce the appearance of a scar or those pesky stretch marks, there’s a solid chance you’ve added Bio-Oil to your daily beauty routine (they are number one in that treatment category, after all). But the folks behind the product want to do more than boost the physical appearance of their consumers, they want to nourish the inside as well.

As this week marks Fire Prevention Week, Bio-Oil released their documentary featuring four incredible burn survivors who each share their personal, heartbreaking and inspiring stories. For every view the documentary receives, one dollar will go to The Phoenix Society, a national nonprofit supporting burn survivors. It takes a lot of guts to share such a traumatic part of your history, and all of the participants should be lauded for their bravery.

Don’t be surprised if you find yourself particularly moved by Duane S. Wright, a burn survivor who actually met his wife while they were volunteering at a children’s hospital working with pediatric burn victims.

Healing and compassion? Now that’s beautiful.

This article originally appeared on MIMIchatter.com.

MIMI Chatter is an endless stream of beauty content. We bring together the must-knows and the how-tos from your favorite sites, beauty influencers, our editors, and YOU.

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