Do You have a YouTube Channel for your MedSpa?

August 26, 2009

IAPAM's Jeff Russell The fact is people love multimedia, according to MediaWeek, rich media ads that featured video excelled in most branding categories, including awareness, brand favorability and purchase intent. It’s easy to see why, since most people have access to high speed internet at home and work, in addition to their iPhones and Blackberry’s. Creating video content is a great way for your prospective medical spa clients to get acquainted with your MedSpa. Read more

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Minimally Invasive Cosmetic Procedures Should Not Be Taken Lightly

August 19, 2009

Dermatologists urge patients to ask questions to ensure safety of procedure

Today, there are more ways than ever before to “get a little work done.” From skin fillers to fat-reduction procedures, the options are endless for those looking to improve their appearance and boost their self-esteem. But with so many physicians and options from which to choose, consumers can be confused about where to start and who to trust to perform a cosmetic procedure.

At the American Academy of Dermatology’s Summer Academy Meeting 2009 in Boston, dermatologist C. William Hanke, MD, MPH, FAAD, clinical professor at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, offered advice to help patients determine if a cosmetic procedure is right for them, including questions to ask the physician to ensure a safe and effective result or outcome. Read more

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Coapt Systems, Inc. Launches Hydrelle(TM) a New, FDA-Approved Dermal Filler with Lidocaine for Significant Wrinkle Correction and Greater Patient Comfort

August 18, 2009

The first FDA-approved injectable dermal filler to combine hyaluronic acid and lidocaine, a local anesthetic that improves patient comfort, and provides physicians with a new alternative for their aesthetic practice. Designed, developed and manufactured by Anika Therapeutics, hydrelle is formulated for durability based on its proprietary cross-linking technology and the highest concentration of hyaluronic acid. hydrelle is exclusively distributed within the U.S. by Coapt Systems. Read more

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Meal Replacements Aid Weight Loss, Study Finds

August 13, 2009

Meal replacements in a medically supervised weight loss program are successful in facilitating weight loss, according to a new study conducted at the University of Kentucky. The study appears in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

The meal replacements are products of Health Management Resources Corporation (HMR), a privately owned national health care company specializing in weight loss and weight management.

The study assessed weight outcomes, behavioral data and side effects for obese patients enrolled in an intensive behavioral weight loss program. Two treatment options were offered, Medically Supervised and Healthy Solutions. Medically Supervised patients restricted food consumption to meal replacements, which consisted of shakes and entrees, and bars.

Patients either consumed five shakes daily or three shakes and two shelf-stable entrees daily. Healthy Solutions patients limited food intake to shakes, entrees, bars, fruit and vegetables. Recommendations were to consume a minimum of three shakes, two entrees and five servings of fruit and vegetables daily. Some patients with diabetes, hypertension or medical problems necessitated the Medically Supervised option. Patients in the Medically Supervised option lost an average of 43.4 pounds in 19 weeks. Patients in the Healthy Solutions option lost an average of 37.5 pounds in 18 weeks. The study also found that patient compliance, accountability and commitment with the support of a structured program increases weight loss success.

The study’s co-author, Dr. James W. Anderson, professor emeritus of internal medicine and clinical nutrition at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, said the gold standard for weight loss by the health community is a 5 to10 percent loss of initial body weight. “This study showed a loss of 16.4 percent of initial body weight in the Medically Supervised group and a loss of 15.8 percent of initial body weight in the Healthy Solutions group, both well above the gold standard the health community considers successful and when health improvements are seen.”

Anderson served as medical director for the Health Management Resources Program for Weight Management at UK for 22 years and actively continues as staff physician at HMR. The program is a partnership between the UK College of Medicine and Health Management Resources Corporation in Boston, Mass.

The Centers for Disease Control reports a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States over the past 20 years. An estimated 66 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese. Some common effects of obesity include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and some kinds of cancer. If you are obese, losing even 5 to10 percent of weight can delay or prevent some of these diseases.

Anderson receives salary support and research funding from Health Management Resources. He also receives active research support from the HCF Nutrition Research Foundation.

Aug. 12, 2009
Science Daily

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Is Allergan’s Latisse Also a Cure for Baldness?

August 12, 2009

Allergan believes it may have a cure for baldness in the form of Latisse/Lumigan, its glaucoma drug-cum-eyelash enhancer. EVP R&D Scott Whitcup told investors on Allergan’s Q2 2009 conference call:

We’re in the midst of looking at a number of [selections] by Bimatoprost [the chemical name for Latisse and Lumigan] for hair growth on the scalp.

Unlike Lumigan for glaucoma, we don’t have the eight years plus of clinical trials data so we’re sort of starting from scratch.

It’s a little too early to give you the final timeline but we are working as quickly as we can to get a formulation, get the pre-clinical work done and into the clinic and we’ll update you as soon as we have more from timeline. Read more

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Topical toxin appears to be promising in phase II data

August 11, 2009

NEW YORK – A topical, noninjectable form of botulinum toxin asserted its ability to effectively treat crow’s feet through impressive data from a recently completed phase II clinical trial released here.

Seventy-five patients at four study sites were treated with the novel topical toxin or placebo to the crow’s feet area. On a four-point static scale, a significant number of participants showed two point moves, according to Michael Kane, M.D., a principal investigator in the trial who released aggregate data from the study at the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery annual meeting.

“As one of the study centers, I was not unblinded as to which of my patients had toxin and which were [treated with] placebo. But, clearly, by looking at the patients, there were those whose crow’s feet got a lot better and some whose didn’t,” Dr. Kane, a plastic surgeon in private practice in New York City, tells Cosmetic Surgery Times. “The difference was night and day, both at rest and smiling. The people who showed significant difference, unsurprisingly, had lateral brow elevation, as well. Obviously, the toxin was working on the muscle.”

TRANSDUCTION TRANSFORMATION

The concept of simply applying a topical to eliminate wrinkles is not new, but proving the theory has yet to be conclusively accomplished. Yet, researchers involved with the development of the topical form of botulinum toxin think they are close. Its developers at Revance Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held company based in Mountain View, Calif., claim that the topical allows large macromolecules to cross the skin and other barrier membranes enabling local, targeted delivery. Delivered through the firm’s proprietary TransMTS™ (Macromolecule Transport Technology), the neurotoxin is based on a single, straight-chain, peptide that allows skin to be a gateway for drug delivery, rather than a barrier.

“Adding a peptide as a separate component within the [toxin] formulation allows the toxin to cross the skin,” explains Jacob Waugh, M.D., co-founder & chief scientific officer, Revance. “The peptide forms an ionic bond with the toxin and the peptide also has a Protein Transduction Domain (PTD), which is responsible for transcutaneous flux. It is essentially a quite broad and powerful transduction.”

Although the topical toxin’s technology is fairly obscure and complex, the use of two pathways on both the dead and living layers of the skin allows for a significant result, according to Dr. Waugh. Currently, there have been 600 crow’s feet areas treated via the TransMTS™ technology, with a fairly low local irritation rate and no evidence of adjacent paralysis above placebo grade, say the developers.

“TransMTS technology relies on the fluidity of the dead skin, that essentially is the equivalency of the typical topical that loads the stratum corneum, but more interesting is the second pathway that [also] happens on the living cells,” Dr. Waugh details.

“Basically, it’s a variation the cell uses to take a drink, then it dumps the drink back out on the other side of the cell.”

The key to TransMTS technology, say its developers, is a protein carrier featuring protein transduction domains that hold on to the cell membrane and allow larger molecules to pass through it undisturbed. The transport technology is also currently being studied for early applications of new cardiovascular disease drugs. Additionally, three different cancer drug trials are being investigated based on the system’s ability to transport molecules, according to the firm.

ADVANTAGE: EYE

While TransMTS technology may benefit additional medical innovations including insulin and other compounds, a phase III trial is underway to establish the neurotoxin adjunct’s effectiveness and advantages when treating crow’s feet. An area greatly sensitive to injections, a topical toxin may be a relief to most patients.

“I don’t think there’s much question regarding [the topical toxin’s] clinical effect for lateral crow’s feet,” says Richard Glogau, M.D., clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California and participant in the phase II clinical trial. “Yet, they [will need to] keep continuing to improve the formulation due to a delivery problem with the gel vehicle,” he adds.

The gel that allows the combination of the peptide and the toxin to get through the skin and the mechanics of using the gel present challenges in terms of getting it to stay where it is applied, according to Dr. Glogau, who completed a recent study for primary axillary hyperhidrosis with the topical form of botulinum toxin type A.

In that study, researchers used the topical agent to treat 12 patients in a randomized, blinded, vehicle-controlled study that also showed promising results: A 65 percent mean reduction of sweating on 10 axillae treated with the BTX-A (200 U) was observed after four weeks of treatment, compared with a 25 percent mean reduction in sweating on the vehicle controlled axillae. Although the topical toxin displayed its ability to reach the bottom of the dermis when treating hyperhidrosis, the one-time dosage upon which the crow’s feet trials’ results are based may be problematic says one investigator.

“It’s a very artificial situation, and I think that anything in dermatology ends up being a serial treatment — patients are looking for long-term effect,” Dr. Glogau says. “Yet, I think the neurotoxin is realistic in its abilities.”

“My one concern is that the topical toxin will be thought of as just the same as an injectable toxin, but in reality it’s another tool,” Dr. Waugh says. “Yet, it can be used to do some of the things that injectables can’t do.”

REFERENCE

Glogau RG. Topically applied botulinum toxin type A for the treatment of primary axillary hyperhidrosis: results of a randomized, blinded, vehicle-controlled study. Dermatol Surg. 2007;33(1 Spec No.):S76-S80.

DISCLOSURE

Dr. Kane is a paid consultant to Revance Therapeutics with an ownership equity interest comprising stock options whose value is less than $50,000 during the time of the study and for one year following completion of the study. Dr. Kane does not have a proprietary or financial interest in a product, patent, trademark, copyright, or licensing agreement, and has not received significant payments from Revance exclusive of the costs of conducting the clinical study or any financial arrangements whereby the value of the compensation could be influenced by the outcome of the study or tied to sales of the product.

Aug 1, 2009
By: Beth Kapes
Cosmetic Surgery Times

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Facial surgery: Anatomy demands constant attention

August 11, 2009

La Jolla, Calif. — To paraphrase English surgeon and anatomist Sir Ashley Paston Cooper, the best surgeon is the one who makes the fewest mistakes.

For dermatologic surgeons, minimizing mistakes means always being aware of underlying facial anatomy, says Hugh T. Greenway, M.D., chairman, Division of Procedural Dermatology, Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, Calif.

“The rest of our surgical colleagues in most specialties tend to identify things before operating. That’s probably something we as dermatologic surgeons need to pick up, rather than perhaps identifying structures after the fact,” Dr. Greenway explains.

To that end, he says, the facial region contains “a tremendous amount of material, located both superficially and deep. When you look at anatomy, it’s important to group things in terms of muscle groups or locations, such as the scalp, as well as nerve, sensory and motor vessels, and specialized structures such as the parotid and parotid gland.” Read more

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Popularity of the peel: Chemical ablation retains place in derm armamentarium

August 11, 2009

Atlanta — Despite an explosion of skin-resurfacing options, including devices highly promoted to consumers by manufacturers, the tried-and-true chemical peel remains one of the most performed cosmetic surgeries on women.

The rate of popularity growth for the chemical peel is not what it was in the 1990s, but unrivaled dramatic results and a good safety profile keep peels on dermatologists’ and patients’ radars, explains Harold J. Brody, M.D., clinical professor of dermatology, Emory University, Atlanta. Read more

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Information for Healthcare Professionals: Botox/Botox Cosmetic, Dysport and Myobloc

August 5, 2009

FDA ALERT [08/2009]: As announced on April 30, 2009, based on a safety evaluation of the botulinum toxin products, FDA has concluded that the prescribing information for OnabotulinumtoxinA (marketed as Botox/Botox Cosmetic) and RimabotulinumtoxinB (marketed as Myobloc) must be updated to ensure their continued safe use. On July 31, 2009, FDA, under the authorities granted by the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act (FDAAA) of 2007, approved the following revisions to the prescribing information of Botox/Botox Cosmetic and Myobloc:

A Boxed Warning highlighting the possibility of experiencing potentially life-threatening distant spread of toxin effect from the injection site after local injection.

A Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) that includes a Medication Guide to help patients understand the risks and benefits of botulinum toxin products.

Changes to the established drug names to reinforce individual potencies and prevent medication errors. The potency units are specific to each botulinum toxin product, and the doses or units of biological activity cannot be compared or converted from one product to any other botulinum toxin product. The new established names reinforce these differences and the lack of interchangeability among products. Read more

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Noninvasive Approaches Target Fat

August 4, 2009

When it comes to noninvasive fat removal, a plethora of technologies promise to trim fat from pesky problem areas, such as the hips, thighs and buttocks. But questions loom large, as many noninvasive technologies await regulatory approvals.

“Noninvasive fat removal is now a reality,” says Matthew Avram, MD, who presented on New Frontiers in Noninvasive Fat Removal during the Plenary Session on July 31, 2009, at the American Academy of Dermatology Summer Meeting. “We can remove fat without breaking the stratum corneum.” Read more

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