Herpes zoster

Author: Dr Jack Resneck Jr University of California San Francisco 2008-07-28

Herpes Zoster: A Painful Skin Rash (also known as Shingles or Zoster) Caused by the Varicella Zoster Virus.

Introduction:

Herpes Zoster (also known as shingles or zoster) is a painful skin rash caused by the varicella zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox.  This is a different virus than the one that causes genital herpes and fever blisters (herpes simplex).  Zoster was not known to be associated with chickenpox until 1888, and the two diseases were linked to a common virus in the early twentieth century.

Psoriasis

Author: Dr Jack Resneck Jr University of California San Francisco 2009-10-16

Psoriasis: A Common, Chronic Skin Disease with Many Distinctive Clinical Forms
Introduction

Psoriasis is a common, chronic skin disorder present in about 2-3% of the world’s population.  The most typical form is characterized by round, red skin lesions covered by silvery white scales, most commonly occurring on the knees, elbows, and scalp.  There are many distinctive clinical forms of psoriasis, and the severity of the disease varies greatly from patient to patient.  The course is usually chronic, with intermittent remissions.  Descriptions of patients with psoriasis date back over 2,400 years, at which time the disease was confused with leprosy.   Psoriasis is rarely life-threatening, but can profoundly impair the quality of life of affected patients.

 

Basal Cell Carcinoma

Author: Dr Jack Resneck Jr University of California San Francisco 2008-07-28

Introduction:

Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) is the most common cancer in humans worldwide, with more than 800,000 new cases annually in the US alone, where its incidence has been rising at about 10% per year.  It is most common in fair-skinned individuals with a significant lifetime history of intense, intermittent sun exposure.  Most BCCs begin as a pink or translucent bump on the skin.  There are numerous treatments available for BCCs, and the overwhelming majority of patients are cured. If left untreated, BCC can be disfiguring and destroy tissue locally, but metastasis is extremely uncommon. Among those rare patients who develop metastatic disease, fewer than 10% survive more than 5 years. Most deaths from BCC are due to direct extension of the malignancy into a vital structure in patients who remain untreated for several years (rather than metastatic disease).