In the last week, the FDA has approved two devices for home use that perform functions previously found only in doctors offices.

The first device, Tria, is a home laser for hair removal. Spectragenics, the device’s manufacturer claims that the device is just as safe and effective as treatment in a physician’s office but can be done safely at home. This is really somewhat unlikely. Safe, effective laser treatment of any kind, hair removal included, requires a degree of expertise to tune the device for not only the hair but to protect the pigment in the skin from injury.  The most effective hair removal pushes right to the edge of safety but not over. This has been a major issue for states regulating laser clinics, who should perform the service, how much training they need and who deals with problems should they arise? Putting this treatment at home will no doubt trade effectiveness of an added margin of safety. At $1000, it might be better to spend the money on professional laser hair removal rather than a “safe” home device.

The other device GentleWaves, from LightBiosciences, is a home based LED device that is purported to stimulate collagen production. The device provides relatively intense but safe red and infra-red light that the manufacturer specifically claims improves the appearance of fine lines around the eyes. This technology is a little more interesting for home use. LED photomodulation devices have been available for physician use for several years and home GentleWaves can provide that exact same level of treatment. There’s no issue with eye or skin injury that are present with lasers because the LEDs provide a much safer level of light intensity. Whether photomodulation matters is something that the medical literature is still mixed on, but it is definitely not dangerous. If GentleWaves treatment is something that you were considering purchasing, getting your own home device might be money well spent.

I just spotted this new Canadian study that purports to demonstrate that a single drink of alcohol is good for one’s heart while more than one negates that effect. This doesn’t does in fact show that heart rate and blood pressure drop immediately with a single drink and rise with increasing amounts of alcohol. This involved 13 volunteers observed in real time. This is an interesting finding but changes nothing. It’s the kind of story that will get major press coverage and without considering things in context will appear to negate 30 years of medical literature to the contrary. That’s simply not what this study shows. This study demonstrates a single short term metabolic effect of a single component of alcoholic beverages. That’s all this study shows. The choices of alcoholic beverage were made seemingly to confound things on purpose.

The Canadian researchers used Pinot Noir high in resveratrol as on of their experimental beverages. I’ve written here on the merits of resveratrol and those previous statements stand because it represents long term changes to cellular metabolism created by the resveratrol component of wine, not the short term changes to heart rate and blood pressure.

HDL (good cholesterol) has long been demonstrated to rise with moderate alcohol consumption regardless of alcohol source. Moderate alcohol consumption represents one or two drinks per day and according some investigators a little more than that. So, even in the range the Canadians call out, the benefits of alcohol for its own sake are well documents. Mind you people unable to tolerate changes in their heart rate or brief increases in blood pressure are well advised to avoid drinking all together.

So what is the take home message of today’s publication? There’s no change. Moderate consumption of alcohol is still beneficial over the long term regardless of what popular media outlets might portray as they cover this single study.

Just a quick note. Despite giant gyms, the LA influence and some really remarkable outdoor recreation. Las Vegas has been named the fattest city in America by Men’s Fitness magazine. This puts it ahead, apparently, of most of Texas since the remained of the top 5 fattest cities are there.

Why Vegas? “Poor eating habits and an alarmingly sedentary population kept Sin City atop the gluttony charts.” Can’t argue with the eating habits, this city has got some of the most tempting restaurants in the world, couple that with buffets and there’s a recipe for weight disaster. The unwary have more than enough options to consume.

Our Mayor was non-plussed and commented, “I don’t understand how they do this besides being cute.” The reality of it is that Men’s Fitness isn’t necessarily wrong.  Since weight loss is an active part of my practice it’s clear no matter how many lean entertainers there are here that there’s a seemingly limitless supply of people who have let extra weight accumulate. Heck, even some of our more notable entertainers are big.

All is not lost, however. A quick web search for “las vegas fitness” pulls up no shortage of gyms and trainers. There are dedicated diet clinics all over this town ready to help people slim down. It’s all a matter of taking the first step.

Inspired by today’s announcement at the American Academy of Dermatology of the successor product to the highly successful Kinerase, Pyratine-6, it seemed to me that a few words were in order about skin care. Many anti-aging doctors place less emphasis on skin care than I do. I’ve gotten into some heated arguments about the importance of process and product with my peers. The dermatologists, though, almost never disagree with me. Here are my thoughts.

Skin care may not be the most dramatic or sexiest anti-aging intervention that you can make but taking care to prevent environmental damage and maximize the health of your facial skin can go further over time than many other anti-aging choices you might make.

Skin care isn’t hard but it does take time. Be you male or female, using quality product is key. Most body washes and bar soaps are really too harsh to use as face washes and will tend to leave skin too dry. Committing to a good quality, face targeted skin care line is important. I have my biases here, but there are a lot of good product lines. The minimum product level that I’d consider from a major retailer is something like Garnier or the high end of the Olay line, Regenerist. The biggest problem that major retailer products have is a lack of expert advise. Buying from your physician’s office or esthetician should, in theory, help you get products well matched to your skin.

The process is pretty simple and basically 3 steps. Cleanse, tone, moisturize. Some lines have products that shortcut this, but I’m skeptical whether skipping a toning step works as well. Historically toners removed the oily residue of non-waterbased cleansers. Modern toners adjust the pH of the skin and prepare the skin for the third step, moisturizing. There’s a great video demo and explanation of the whole process here. Regardless, the daytime moisturizer that you use should have a sunscreen in it with an SPF of at least 20, higher is probably better but I dial this number down a little to bias toward the products I use.

Additional steps can come in the form of eye creams and specialty products. Whether eye creams matter or not is a subject of debate. As for other specialty products there are many products for anti-oxidant protection like Prevage, reducing wrinkles like Kinerase or skin recovery like TNS Recovery Complex. There are even prescription product lines like Obagi that include actual pharmaceutical products in the skin care routine. Do you need these? Get your skin looked at by a professional. Finding a professional you can trust is hard, but worth it.

I use SkinMedica product, personally. I like it, I know the line and it works well for my skin. What you settle on for skin care will be dependent on your needs and budget, but get serious about skin care. It’s one of the simplest changes you can make to age against the machine.