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The cult of saints in Western Europe developed during the late period of antiquity and the early Middle Ages. Their importance to European society was undeniable; holy medicine was the only hope for people, because there were no doctors. The number of saints had increased over the years, and people sought medical help from them through prayer and other religious practices. Some of the saints became "specialized" in treating various wounds and dermatologic diseases. During our research, we tried to determine whether the cult of saints led to the develop-ment of hospitals that treated skin diseases, as discovered in the Hospital Brother of Saint Anthony. A large number of saints who were patrons of wounds and skin diseases were collected in three studies. In the first report, we presented a great number of saints who were patrons to treat animal bites. The second report presented patron saints of wounds, ulcers, burns, and frostbites; and the third report decsribed saints who treated contagious diseases (such as ergotism, leprosy, and scabies). The phenomenon of holy medicine is part of the history of dermatology and is important due to "specializations," which refer to an understanding of skin diseases and the methods of treating various wounds and dermatologic diseases.

To study about and reflect on the disease is to highlight the ways of seeing and saying what can a body and its power to be affected before fingerprints or traces that degrade it. This article exposes epistemological research on social representations brackets (where register know doctor) disease from the registry of Clinical Dermatology in the second half of the 19th century. This is resorted to an analysis of medical photographs preserved in archives of Colombia and Spain taking as discursive forms of seeing and saying the disease who have disfiguring effects in the body.

Abstract: Felix von Bärensprung was a pioneer of dermatopathology. His monograph of 1848, "Contributions to the Anatomy and Pathology of the Human Skin," was one of the first publications on that subject. Von Bärensprung also described and named erythrasma, elucidated the pathogenesis of herpes zoster, contributed a comprehensive review of the history of dermatology in an unfinished textbook of skin diseases, and was coauthor, together with Ferdinand Hebra of Vienna, of one of the most influential clinical atlases in the history of dermatology. The 200th anniversary of his birthday in 2022 provides an occasion for reminding of one of the leading dermatologists of the mid 19th century., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Occupational skin disease was, and remains, a major cause of morbidity, accounting for many thousands of hours lost from work each year. Investigating the causes, and seeking preventive measures, occupied much of the time of the early Medical Inspectors of Factories. Two of the inspectors, Sydney Henry and Sibyl Horner, became specialists in certain types of skin disease.

Introduction : 'Chronic inflammatory immune-related skin disease' (ISDs) is an umbrella term grouping together heterogeneous entities characterized by chronic inflammation potentially involving the whole skin. We are not covering all ISDs in this review, but take a few as the most representative, including nonbullous and bullous diseases. The question we are aiming to address can be summarized as follows: 'despite the differences, is it possible to define some unifying epidemiologic characteristics and shared progression pathways which can guide the organization of healthcare?' Areas covered : This review covers incidence, prevalence, risk factors and prognosis of psoriasis, atopic dermatitis (AD), pemphigus and pemphigoid. Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched for papers published between January 2005 and December 2019. Expert opinion : ISDs epidemiology varies according to the ISD type, age, sex, climate, and sociodemographic variables. AD and psoriasis pose a considerable public health burden owing to their high prevalence worldwide and morbidity. Their secular trend of increasing incidence points to a role for environmental factors and gene-environment interactions. Bullous diseases are much rarer, with limited data available. Worldwide, the leading cause of skin disease disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) is attributable to AD. Future research should focus on risk factors and prevention at the global level.

This article examines skin and disease in early modern medicine through the writings of the little-known Bohemian physician Jan Jessen (1566-1621). In 1601, Jessen published De cute, et cutaneis affectibus, a set of twenty-one theses dedicated to the question of whether skin disease existed. In considering Jessen and his relationship to a broader world of writing, this article makes three arguments. First, it suggests that, contrary to existing historiography, the question of skin disease was a common sixteenth-century concern. Second, it posits a professional channel for this concern, which arose from surgery and disease, rather than from anatomy and physiology. Finally, rather than positioning Jessen at the forefront of discovery, I suggest his text functions as a representative case study. It allows us to see material change in medicine within a stable Galenic framework.

Jean-Louis Alibert (1768-1837), Pierre-Alphée Cazenave (1802-1877) and Ferdinand von Hebra (1846-1880) are among the most famous names of the XIXth century dermatology. All were interested in hydrotherapy and mineral waters. Alibert was especially fond of sulfurous waters from the Pyrenees, for treating almost every inflammatory disease, like psoriasis, chronic eczema and even hair diseases or cheloids. He mentioned very often the use of mineral waters in his two masterpieces, Description des Maladies de la peau (1806) and Clinique de l'Hôpital Saint-Louis (1833). In case patients were not able to travel and spend times at thermal stations, he recommended artificial waters made by pharmacists in specialized places in Paris, consisting in water plus minerals, in order to obtain a composition close to natural spring waters. Around 1850, Cazenave also used mineral waters and hydrotherapy, mainly sulfurous waters. In Vienna, von Hebra was more reluctant to the use of mineral water, as he believed that the time spent in baths was more important than the composition of the water itself. Adrien Doyon (1827-1907), who translated Hebra's book in French, strongly disagreed with him, as he had a dermatology private practice in Uriage, in the French Alps. Modern hydrotherapy in dermatology is clearly in relation with this XIXth century tradition. © 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits réservés.)

Johann Heinrich Rille, also characterized as a renowned nestor of German-speaking dermatovenereology, was named as extraordinary professor for syphilis and skin diseases in Leipzig in 1902, the second oldest university in Germany. Although the chair of dermatology was promised this was postponed for many years, not only because of World War I but also due to an ongoing struggle for dermatology to be accepted as an independent specialty in Germany. Finally, in 1919, the long overdue promotion to full professor was granted. Rille commented on this as "successful partial coping with the ordeal of German dermatology in Leipzig".

Competing Interests: None

During the Second World War, thousands of captured British and Commonwealth troops were interned in prisoner-of-war (POW) camps in the Far East. Imprisonment was extremely harsh, and prisoners developed multiple pathologies induced by physical hardship, tropical infections and starvation. Immediately after the war, several POW doctors published their clinical experiences, including reports of skin disease caused by malnutrition. The most notable deficiency dermatoses seen in Far East POWs were ariboflavinosis (vitamin B2 or riboflavin deficiency) and pellagra (vitamin B3 or niacin deficiency). A lack of vitamin B2 produces a striking inflammatory disorder of scrotal skin. Reports of pellagra in POWs documented a novel widespread eruption, developing into exfoliative dermatitis, in addition to the usual photosensitive dermatosis. A review of the literature from 70 years ago provides a reminder of the skin's response to malnutrition., (© 2018 British Association of Dermatologists.)

In 1866, Alphonse Devergie, physician supported by Armand Husson, manager of the Assistance publique created a permanent exhibition of teaching images of skin diseases at the Hôpital Saint-Louis (Paris). Twenty-five years later the initiative was made concrete by the inauguration of a building housing a museum, a medical library and rooms for outpatients. Enriched by the works of dermatologists, moulageurs - mainly Jules Baretta -, painters and photographs the museum became worldwide renown exhibiting the largest wax moulages collection of the world. Today the didactic value of the moulages is no longer used. The collection illustrates several aspects of hospital dermatology during a century. Listed as an Historical Monument in 1992, the museum has been recently renewed thanks to the support of private and public actors attracted by its patrimonial value. © 2018 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits réservés., (© 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits réservés.)

The aim of this article is to introduce the museum we have at the Pathology Department, School of Medicine of the National University of Rosario, Argentina. The origin dates from to 1922 when Dermatology Professor Dr. Enrique P. Fidanza bought moulages at L'Hôpital Saint-Louis in Paris for the purpose of teaching. The collection included around 100 moulages and was worth approximately 1000 dollars. These pieces were exhibited at the Dermatology Department for many years and later moved to the Pathology Department where some pieces started being repaired, whereas others have deteriorated. The collection is composed of 100 moulages done by a French craftsman by the name of Niclet and 258 made by Argentine craftsmen including Alba Ramirez and G. Rouzaut, among others. The pieces are classified according to different dermatological diseases such as: the different stages of syphilis, lupus, benign and malignant neoplasm, infectious diseases, etc.

The earliest record between sun exposure and skin disease goes back five millennia to the ancient Egyptians. The modern scientific era of medical light therapy and skin diseases started in 1877 when Downs and Blunt reported that exposure to light inhibited fungal growth in test tubes. Continuing research generated a growing medical interest in the potential the effects of light to treat and cure skin diseases considered as parasitic. This culminated in the awarding of the 1903 Nobel Prize in Medicine to Niels Finsen for his pioneering work showing that light could successfully treat cutaneous mycobacterium tuberculosis (lupus vulgaris), a disfiguring disorder common at the time. Cod liver oil was used as a folk remedy to treat rickets prior to 1789 in Manchester, UK and sunlight was published as the cure for this disease in 1921. The work by Hess and Weinstock in 1925 showed that food irradiated with ultraviolet (UV) light prevented rickets in rats, which paved the way for the discovery of vitamin D. The range of skin diseases treated by light therapy increased in the following years, to the point where a 1932 review by the American Medical Association on the use of UV therapy in dermatology listed 34 skin conditions for which UV radiation may be useful. This period coincided with the development of sanatoria in Europe and North America which used heliotherapy for the treatment of tuberculosis. UV therapy and vitamin D continued to be used successfully for the treatment of tuberculosis up to the 1950s when it was superseded by more effective antibiotics. Modern phototherapy developed in the 1980s with the discovery of the action spectrum for psoriasis leading to the development of narrow band UVB. Subsequently a biological mechanism by which UV light and vitamin D treated tuberculosis was identified in 2006. This involves activation of human macrophages via toll-like receptors to upregulate the vitamin D receptor gene resulting in induction of the antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin. The role of UV light and vitamin D in the treatment of skin diseases is currently an active area of research.

The use of ultraviolet (UV) light, for the treatment of skin conditions, dates back to the early 1900s. It is well known that sunlight can be of therapeutic value, but it can also lead to deleterious effects such as burning and carcinogenesis. Extensive research has expanded our understanding of UV radiation and its effects in human systems and has led to the development of man-made UV sources that are more precise, safer, and more effective for the treatment of wide variety of dermatologic conditions.

Avene thermal spring water is recognized for more than two centuries for its benefits on skin diseases. Since 1975, the Pierre Fabre Group has modernized the facilities, and developed the brand « Eau Thermal Avène », allowing more than 2,500 patients/year to be treated by this therapeutic water. The regulation requires high standards on origin, bacteriological purity and physico-chemical stability. Many works have allowed us to understand its origin, its underground path and identify its specific physico-chemical profile. Finally, thanks to its therapeutic properties verified in various clinical studies, the « Eau Thermal Avène » is the first active ingredient of a variety of products for sensitive skin., (© 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits réservés.)