Something to Blush About

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The 14 million Americans suffering from rosacea -- a skin condition effecting the middle third of the face causing persistent redness in the cheeks and nose -- will tell you it’s nothing to “blush off.” Little has been known about the cause of the disease, but new research reveals a little mite may be behind the blushing disease.

Demodex folliculorum, microscopic mites, are normal inhabitants of human skin. Previous studies have established that the mites occur in great numbers on the faces of people with rosacea, but doctors weren’t sure whether they played a role in the development of the disease.

“In other words, which came first: the mites or the rosacea?” study author Frank Powell, M.D., consultant dermatologist at Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, was quoted as saying. “And now there is evidence that it might be the mites.”

Researchers identified a distinct bacteria associated with the Demodex mites. This bacteria stimulated an immune response, resulting in inflammation, in 79 percent of patients with rosacea, compared with only 29 percent of patients without the disorder.

“This suggests that these bacteria found in the mites could be responsible for the inflammation associated with the condition,” Dr. Powell said.

Dr. Powell said when searching for treatment for the condition, doctors need to look at antibiotics to affect microorganisms like this one and other follicular or mite-related bacteria.

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SOURCE: British Journal of Dermatology, 2007;157:474-481