Growing evidence now confirms that rhinophyma, the excess growth of tissue on the nose that represents the most advanced stage of rosacea, is a result of the chronic lymphedema (swelling) that often appears in rosacea, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.¹

The National Rosacea Society announced that the first research proposals have been selected for funding by its medical advisory board as part of the Society's new research grants program to encourage and support the advancement of scientific knowledge of rosacea and how to control it.

A recent controlled study of laser therapy for rosacea found that the procedure substantially reduced visible blood vessels (telangiectasia) and also helped reduce redness (erythema) and flushing after an average of three treatments, according to results presented by Dr. S. M. Clark and colleagues of the Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Wales, at the American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

In rosacea, are visible dilated blood vessels -- called telangiectasia -- the result of damaged connective tissue, or is it the damaged blood vessels themselves that have a degrading effect on the connective tissue? Experts have discussed both possibilities.

Women with rosacea may be more likely to experience migraine headaches than those without rosacea, according to findings reported in the medical journal Dermatology.¹

In a study of 809 randomly selected workers, Drs. M. Berg and S. Liden of the Department of Dermatology at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden reported that 14 percent had experienced migraine, and that it was significantly more common in women.

Long-term treatment with topical medication alone was found to effectively keep rosacea at bay in a multicenter clinical study reported at the recent annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.

In the study, after being successfully treated with a combination of oral and topical antibiotics to bring their rosacea under initial control, 88 rosacea sufferers were randomly assigned to use alone either a topical antibiotic or the same topical gel without the antibiotic (placebo) twice daily for six months.

Ocular rosacea may be more common than widely believed, according to Dr. Guy Webster, professor of dermatology at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, who spoke at the recent American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting in San Francisco.

Dr. Webster, whose practice is located near an eye hospital, said about half of his rosacea patients have eye symptoms. The ocular symptoms are often subtle, however, and many patients do not even know they have a problem. "It's only after being treated that they realize rosacea had affected their eyes," he said.

Limited studies have suggested that a bacterium commonly associated with peptic ulcers and other gastric disorders, called Helicobacter pylori, may play a role in triggering rosacea in some patients.

Evidence of H. pylori was found in 19 of 20 rosacea patients in one study and in 26 of 31 rosacea patients in another, according to Dr. Richard B. Odom, chairman of dermatology at the University of California at San Francisco.