Pandemics and Epidemiology (COVID-19, monkeypox, etc.)

There’s no evidence that adult skincare products are harmful to children. [1] There’s honestly very little evidence that most skincare products do much of anything, but that’s a different topic.

There are conflicting reports on adult skin care products relating to use by the youth [1][2][3]. Some dermatologists and pediatric dermatologists do warn against use of adult skin care products with active ingredients such as retinols, AHA, BHA, and topical steroids in high amounts as they're usually meant for specific ailments and skin types found in adults that wouldn't be found in children as well as have very specific directions and dosage that need to be followed. Improper use and use by skins without the ailments the ingredients are targeted towards can lead to irritation, inflammation, dermatitis or early acne, or make the skin more susceptible to sun damage.

Two of those links are local news channels offering unsourced op-ed style commentary. The final link’s only source is a dermatologist who says they have occasionally seen teens coming in with contact dermatitis related to skincare application - something that woukd equally affect adults allergic to the same products.

Please don’t fall victim to headline hysteria.

The first two news sources are not unsourced. The first news source references Dr. Shelley Fox from Maitland, Florida, a dermatology nurse practitioner who graduated from Columbia University. The second one references Dr. Tiffany Jow Libby from Brown Dermatology and serves as their director of Mohs Micrographic and Dermatologic Surgery. The third source is an interview with two doctors from UCLA Health, both board certified dermatologists and pediatric dermatologists. Their response specifically stated as such:

The three sources say that there are issues with using adult skincare products which are heavy on active ingredients due to concerns with developing skins as well as them being kids who are more likely to not follow the full directions, as well as requesting products not meant for them. It also go against you saying there is no evidence when 4 dermatologists have recommendations against, and your source about their safety is a chemistry and chemistry biology associate professor, whose specializes in Bioanalytical and Materials Chemistry. And her statement that these products are harmless is that most of these products are primarily moisturizers plus extra, but some of these products have strong dosages of active medicinal ingredients, which the dermatologists are warning against, not just standard moisturizer plus. Prof. Deravi's statements do differentiate between medicinal ingredients like retinols and non-medicinal moisturizers.

Edited by HeyMikey on May 3rd 2024 at 5:53:59 AM

We still don’t understand how one human apparently got bird flu from a cow: A genetic analysis and case report reveal new insights and big gaps in our knowledge.

Another strain of bird flu seems to be hopping around largely undetected among US cow herds, and could well be about to jump over to humans, with one case confirmed and potentially more undetected ones.