All women treated with radiation therapy for breast cancer are at risk of developing dermatitis—a sometimes-painful skin condition caused by radiation as it makes its way through the skin to the tumor area and tissue within the breast.

Skin patch screening test for allergy to fragrances - second only to nickel as the most common cause of contact dermatitis in the Western world - may not detect some cases of allergy to a widely used fragrance chemical, Swedish scientists are reporting.

Environmental health scientists at the University of Cincinnati (UC) say they have confirmed what other scientists have only suspected: early-life exposure to certain indoor fungal components (molecules) can help build stronger immune systems, and may protect against future allergies.

Individuals who are allergic to some things that their skin comes in contact with (a condition called contact dermatitis), such as metals or poison ivy, are treated with glucocorticoids, which can be applied to the skin as a cream or taken orally. Glucocorticoids work by dampening the inflammatory response to the allergen, but precisely which cells they affect and in what way have not been determined for contact dermatitis.