Latest news with #ShariLipner
Toronto Sun
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
Are beards really dirtier than toilet seats?
Published May 14, 2025 • 3 minute read Close-up of young man touching his beard. Photo by Getty Images Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. The question: This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Is it true that beards are dirtier than toilets? – – – The science: No need to reach for the razor just yet. While your facial hair is crawling with microorganisms, it's very unlikely that your mustache or beard is germier than your commode. The notion that beards are potential carriers of disease dates back about six decades. In a 1967 study, microbiologist Manuel S. Barbeito and his colleagues sprayed participants' beards with bacteria and found that the bacteria remained after washing with soap and water. The idea resurfaced years later – but this time, comparing bacteria in beards to those found in toilets – and has remained pervasive online. Human skin is crawling with microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses and fungi. We even have mites living in our eyelashes. 'But not all organisms that we find on the skin are bad,' said Shari Lipner, an associate professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'There are bacteria all over our bodies, so there are bacteria in beards, too,' said Kimberly Davis, an associate professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Microorganisms are not typically a problem unless they are pathogenic and enter the body through cuts, sores or other breaks in the skin. Even then, 'our bodies have a remarkable capability to control and eliminate microbes,' Davis said. Germs in facial hair may be more of a consideration in hospital settings. Surgical masks help protect patients from potential bacteria and other microorganisms from health-care workers' noses and mouths. But in one small study, researchers investigated how bacteria still may be shed from their faces, particularly when moving their masks. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The researchers reported that there was more bacterial shedding among bearded men than among clean-shaven men both when their masks were at rest as well as when their masks were 'wiggled.' A study of more than 400 male health-care workers found, however, that those with facial hair did not carry more bacteria than their clean-shaven colleagues. Certain types of pathogens that can cause skin and other infections were actually more prevalent among those without facial hair. The researchers theorized that the micro-trauma to the skin from shaving may make clean-shaven men more prone to carrying these organisms. As for what this means for your romantic life, you can put your mind at ease. 'I would not expect that a gentleman with a beard or a mustache places anyone, including their amorous partners, at any kind of increased risk of infection,' said William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases and preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. – – – What else you should know: As with hair and skin, it is important to keep beards and mustaches clean, experts said. -Wash facial hair daily. Additionally, consider washing again after exercising or eating a messy meal. -Use a facial cleanser. Cleaners formulated for the face are preferable to ones intended for the hair or body, but choose one that is appropriate for your specific skin type. Consider using antibacterial soap only after working out or playing contact sports, Lipner said. -Condition regularly. Use a beard conditioner for acne-prone skin, beard oil for normal skin and a fragrance-free moisturizer for sensitive skin, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. -Avoid touching your facial hair – or your face. You can transmit germs from your hands to your beard, which can lead to skin issues, the AAD said. – – – The bottom line: While facial hair can harbour various microorganisms, most are not a problem when beards are kept clean. Celebrity Columnists Sunshine Girls NHL Editorials
Medscape
12-05-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Inside Topical Minoxidil's Toxic Threat to Household Pets
SAN DIEGO — New hair, new problems: A pair of reports are shedding light on the growing danger posed to household pets by topical minoxidil (Rogaine), the popular over-the-counter treatment for androgenetic alopecia. One study, presented here at the annual meeting of the Society for Investigative Dermatology (SID), reported a 965% increase in minoxidil poisoning reports to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Animal Poison Control Center from 2013 to 2024, perhaps reflecting a 13-fold increase in Google searches for the drug. And a scoping review of studies describing cases of minoxidil toxicosis in cats and dogs, published on April 4 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology ( JAAD ), found that dogs were often exposed to minoxidil while rummaging through trash or chewing packaging, whereas cats were more likely to be exposed by lying on contaminated bedding or licking human skin. Shari Lipner, MD, PhD 'Minoxidil's increasing popularity poses a preventable but growing threat to pets,' said Shari Lipner, MD, PhD, dermatologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York City, and a co-author of the study presented at SID, in an interview. 'Dermatologists must educate patients about risks, advocate for clearer product warnings, and emphasize immediate veterinary care if exposure occurs. Even small doses can be lethal, particularly for cats.' Minoxidil, a vasodilator, was initially developed as an antihypertensive, and the topical formulation became a treatment for androgenetic alopecia in the 1980s. The first reported poisoning of a pet — a dog — came in 2018, Lipner said, and more than 200 cases were documented by 2021. However, 'we suspected that most dermatologists and their patients were unaware of the risk,' Lipner said. 'Our study is the first to examine whether the increasing popularity of topical minoxidil has led to more pet poisonings.' Lipner and colleagues examined reports of minoxidil poisoning from the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center and found that the number grew from 20 in 2013 to 213 in 2024. The study authors also examined Google Trends data and found that searches for minoxidil consistently rose from 2013 to 2024, reaching their highest level in 2024. Why are pets so vulnerable to minoxidil? Cats don't have crucial liver enzymes needed for their bodies to process toxins in a process known as glucuronidation, 'making them unable to safely metabolize chemicals like minoxidil,' said Eric McMullen, MD, a dermatology resident at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and a co-author of the journal study. 'In cats and dogs, the potent cardiovascular effects of topical minoxidil pose serious risks to a pet's heart and lungs,' he told Medscape Medical News . Sharon Gwaltney-Brant, DVM, PhD, a veterinary toxicologist and adjunct professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's College of Veterinary Medicine, told Medscape Medical News that their smaller body sizes also make cats more susceptible, 'which means it takes less total amount of drug to have an effect compared with larger species such as dogs and humans.' Gwaltney-Brant, co-author of a landmark 2021 study on minoxidil toxicity in dogs and cats, added that 'the grooming behavior of cats may increase exposure to minoxidil that gets on their coats via spills, pillowcase residue, etc. Several cases of cats licking their owner's scalps following minoxidil application have been reported.' For her part, Lipner noted that pets may also be exposed by licking contaminated sinks or chewing discarded bottles. 'While rare, we discovered cases where pet owners intentionally applied minoxidil to animals, likely trying to help with pet hair growth.' Specifically, the scoping review published in JAAD found that dogs were more likely to have been exposed through 'exploratory' behavior like rummaging through trash or eating packaging (88% of the cases), while cats were mostly exposed indirectly through methods like licking human skin or lying on contaminated bedding (96% of cases). For that review, McMullen and co-authors examined four single-incident reports and two case series of minoxidil poisoning in pets (68 cats; 26 dogs; average age, 3.6 years; mean weight, 5.5 kg). In more than half of the reported cases, the pets had no symptoms, but 97.8% of the pets had to be hospitalized. The pets were exposed orally (70.2%), dermally (9.6%), or both (20.2%). The most common symptoms were hypotension (43.6%), lethargy (33.3%), tachycardia (27.7%), and tachypnea (21.3%). All dogs survived, but 10 (14.7%) cats died. The study presented at SID examined 267 cases in dogs and 434 in cats from 2013 to 2024: 77% of pets were exposed orally, 4.9% dermally, and 15.8% both orally and dermally. Six pets were exposed by inhalation, one aurally, and one ocularly. The exposure method was unknown in eight pets. In 54% of cases, the pets had no symptoms, and three cats died. With regard to prevention, Lipner said, 'dermatologists should warn pet owners to store minoxidil securely (eg, locked cabinets), wash hands immediately after applying it, keep pets away from treated areas (eg, do not let cats lick your skin or sleep on your pillow after use), and dispose of bottles in sealed trash bins that pets will not be able to open,' Lipner said. For his part, McMullen emphasized the importance of discarding any used tissues, cotton pads, or gloves in a sealed bin, and he said pets should be limited from sleeping on beds. 'Switching to oral minoxidil is also a reasonable option when the above measures are not possible,' he said. Moving forward, 'ideally, these risks to pets would be explicitly listed in product labelling and monographs, which is currently not the case,' said journal study co-author Jeffrey Donovan, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Dermatology and Skin Science at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in an interview. 'As awareness grows, we hope that fewer and fewer pets will be harmed by toxic drug interactions.'
