slosh down the pepper!

Telangiectasia Macularis Eruptive Perstans

Drinking alcohol is fun; I love the burning sensation when the liquor slips down the throat, producing thereafter a short almost-sweet aftertaste. This is something wines cannot provide. Whatever! Be it spirit, wine or liquor, unfortunately, this is one luxury that I cannot afford. Monetary terms and vomits aside, I contracted a rather rare skin disease known as urticaria pigmentosa, of which alcohol is one of the many stimuli that triggers mast cell degranulation, releasing an itch-causing agent: histamines. Simply said, it causes itch and rashes (i.e. a slightly brownish/salmon colored skin lesion, aka a concentration of mast cells, which turns darker when scratched or rub against).

"Skin punch biopsy shows an unremarkable epidermis with basket-weaved horny layer. The upper dermis shows few prominent blood vessels with slight increase of mast cells. They are not in dense sheets or masses. The increased mast cells are confirmed with Toludin blue and Giemsa staining. This form of lesion is known as telangiectasia macularis eruptive perstans." -- Extract, Histopathology Report, 01/09/05

Doctor said he sees only one to two cases every year, and I was his second patient in 2005. This is a chronic condition which can be controlled but not eliminated. He fed me with oral antihistamines which come with fancy names such as xyzal, ranitidine and atarax. He also issued me with two bottles of steriodal creams, one for the face, and the other for the rest of the body. After a few visits and several hundred dollars, my condition did change for the better. I hate to admit that it was more from the creams than the oral medications that led to the improvement. This meant the condition is still around and uncontrollable, only the itch is temporarily relieved!

Speaking of stimuli, I am advised by Doctor not to enter any surgical rooms or see any other doctors without that piece of paper, a page of Chapter 47: Urticaria and Mastocytosis of dunno-what thick book. Table 47.9 states the potential stimuli - alcohol, physical triggers (especially rubbing), insect/snake venoms, plasma expanders, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin *gasp* and so on and so forth.

Now I am suffering the after-effects of the indulgence and disregard. Scratches... scratches...

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How I love scientific names.. so long.. so latin-like.. so pretty...so nice-sounding... so hard to remember.. so difficult to spell... bacteriohodopsin, proteoliposome, adenosine triphosphate, benzylisoquinolinium, immunoglobulin...

posted by slingwoof @ 1/26/2006 10:17:00 PM