2nd Dubai Pediatric Dermatology Conference opens.

United Arab Emirates, Dubai, November 17, 2013: The two-day 2nd Dubai Pediatric Dermatology Conference began on Thursday at the Address Hotel, near Dubai mall.

More than 300 dermatologists, pediatricians with a special interest in skin problems and medical students keen to learn about skin issues facing children attended the conference.

Dr Anwar Al Hammadi, Chairperson of the congress and director of Dubai Health Authority's  Dubai Dermatology Centre said: “ There is a need for awareness about skin problems facing children such as psoriasis, eczema etc. which can be managed with timely treatment and diet modifications. The aim of this conference is to discuss the latest advances in treatment of skin problems facing children.”

Dr. David Paige, Consultant dermatologist at the London Hospital discussed the problem of Eczema among children which can begin a few months after birth and carry on throughout childhood. “ Parents need to be aware that eczema can be managed through medication and diet modifications. Not all topical creams are steroids and it is very important for parents to approach a dermatologist early on. Treatment and management of eczema requires parents to be patient because of the nature of the skin disease.”

He said one third of eczema cases are triggered by eating certain foods like cow's milk and eggs and therefore very often diet modifications are essential to combat this problem.

Several other topics were discussed at the conference including birth marks.

Dr Sue Lewis – Jones, Honorary Consultant and Senior lecturer, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Scotland UK, spoke about the problems of vascular birth marks especially those which get bigger as the child grows and ways to tackle this problem.

Vascular birthmarks (also called red birthmarks) are caused by increased blood vessels and include macular stains (salmon patches), hemangiomas, and Port-wine stains. A little over 1 in 10 babies have a vascular birthmark present by age of one.

Dr Jones discussed ways to prevent and manage the growth of birthmarks especially those which appear on the face and grow bigger with age.

The conference also discussed several other topics including psoriasis, neonatal skin problems, skin tumor syndromes in children, drug reactions etc.