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Scientists have long sought to learn whether and how stress can lead to skin problems. A new study in mice shows that a stress-triggered hormone could worsen or even cause skin disorders like psoriasis and eczema.
The scientists found that blocking the hormone called glucocorticoidwhich increases in stressful timesresulted in better skin.
Understanding how glucocorticoids work could help scientists come up with ways to prevent human skin problems triggered by psychological stress, said lead researcher Kenneth Feingold of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco and the University of California at San Francisco.
"Here you have things going on in your mind that affect what's going on in your skin," Feingold told LiveScience.
Eczema, also called dermatitis, is an inflammation of the skin with many causes and forms. It causes swollen, reddened and itchy skin.
Previous research showed that psychological stress decreases cell growth and inhibits differentiation into skin cells.
While the researchers hope the study will lead to a way to treat people who suffer these skin conditions, there is still a long way to go. Besides needing to test the effect in people, blocking glucocorticoids could have negative side effects that are worse than exacerbations of skin disorders.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20061209/sc_livescience/skindisorderslinkedtostress&printer=1
The scientists found that blocking the hormone called glucocorticoidwhich increases in stressful timesresulted in better skin.
Understanding how glucocorticoids work could help scientists come up with ways to prevent human skin problems triggered by psychological stress, said lead researcher Kenneth Feingold of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco and the University of California at San Francisco.
"Here you have things going on in your mind that affect what's going on in your skin," Feingold told LiveScience.
Eczema, also called dermatitis, is an inflammation of the skin with many causes and forms. It causes swollen, reddened and itchy skin.
Previous research showed that psychological stress decreases cell growth and inhibits differentiation into skin cells.
While the researchers hope the study will lead to a way to treat people who suffer these skin conditions, there is still a long way to go. Besides needing to test the effect in people, blocking glucocorticoids could have negative side effects that are worse than exacerbations of skin disorders.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20061209/sc_livescience/skindisorderslinkedtostress&printer=1