KARS and Galderma to run first rosacea campaign in Korea

Rosacea diagnosis checklist for patient and dermatologist distributed to treat the disease early

Korean Acne and Rosacea Society (KARS) and Galderma Korea are conducting a campaign to raise awareness in early symptoms and diagnosis of rosacea.

 

From May 6, Galderma Korea has been disseminating rosacea diagnostic checklist, developed with the board of KARS, to private dermatology clinics for the visiting patients and doctors to use.

 

As rosacea usually relapses and needs differential diagnosis, it is crucial for patients to quickly notice the symptoms of the disease and see a specialist.

 

However, a report by Korean Dermatological Association found most of the patients have not heard of the disease name ‘rosacea,’ and most of the survey participants did not recognized the disease to require early attention.

 

Moreover, it is integral for the patients to receive accurate diagnosis from a dermatologist and treatment as the disease show ambiguous symptoms similar to that of acne, perioral dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, demodicidosis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

 

In fact, surveying 554 patients and 710 doctors in six countries, 29 percent of patients felt even their doctors does not consider the disease to be serious, and 37 percent of them said their family and friends were not familiar with the disease.

 

The findings showed the patients need understanding and support from doctors and surrounding people.

 

And one third of the survey participants said rosacea has impacted their quality of life either significantly or extremely.

 

The rosacea checklist for the patient provides information on the disease and a list of symptoms to review by themselves.

 

Early symptoms of rosacea includes regularly expressed severe erythema in the center of face, dilated capillaries, itching, hot flush, dried skin, irritated swollen and red eyes, piercing pain and acne-like pimples.

 

People finding these symptoms should seek for dermatologist’s attention.

 

The checklist for doctors provides the latest rosacea treatment standard, factors worsening the disease, and early symptoms for the doctors to refer when accurately diagnosing and treating the patients.

 

According to the latest rosacea diagnosis standard, a person with a symptom either regularly expressed severe erythema in the center of face or rhinophyma-like change in nose can be diagnosed as a patient with rosacea.

 

President Lee Jee-bum of KARS commented, “After missing the time for early treatment, a rosacea patient is most likely to fail to recover completely.

 

But so many of patients not recognizing or ignoring the early symptoms as a disease, but they rely on folk remedy.

 

Because fast and accurate diagnosis and treatment are the most important steps of rosacea treatment, people seeing red spots in the center of face with itching and dried sensation should visit a dermatologist for more details.” CEO Rene Wipperich of Galderma Korea explained, “We anticipate the campaign to better inform specialists and patients visiting dermatologists about rosacea and provide an opportunity to treat it from early stage.”