History of Occupational Dermatology

Bernardino Ramazzini (1633–1714) is undoubtedly the father of modern occupational medicine. De morbis artificum diatriba is the first treatise dedicated to occupational medicine, but cases of occupational dermatology are poorly described. A major discovery in the eighteenth century was the cancer of the scrotum among chimney sweepers. The birth of dermatology during the nineteenth century had a limited impact on occupational dermatology. Josef Jadassohn is the father of patch testing (1895–1896). A breakthrough in occupational dermatology: Poul Bonnevie’s pioneering work. Many books have been dedicated recently to occupational dermatology

Obesity, longevity, quality of life: Alteration by dietary 2-mercaptoethanol

Previous investigations demonstrated that optimization of murine immunological reactivity in tissue culture required a sulfhydryl compound; the most effective being 2-mercaptoethanol (2-Me). Since these reports, 2-Me was found beneficial for both growth/function of other cell-types in vitro, including those of other species, and when fed orally, it impeded and/or reversed some in situ physiological changes associated with aging. More recently, thiol-containing compounds possessing oxidation-reduction potentials weaker than 2-Me were found to impart beneficial effects for many other, including human, diseases. Based on these effects, the research herein addressed the question: What consequences might dietary 2-Me impart on health and disease of mice other than those associated with aging? The main parameters monitored over the lifetime of individual animals exposed to dietary 10−3 M 2-Me in their drinking water were: quality of life (obesity and development of recumbent, emaciated and/or cachectic health, longevity, and appearance of tumors. Instead of anticipated toxic attributes, the following unique benefits were found: mean survival of a moderately-lived strain (A/J) was increased 40.8%, high-fat-diet obesity was curtailed in C57BL/10 mice, and a goal of aging intervention protocols, namely preventing loss of quality of life during aging (recumbent, emaciated and/or cachectic) was achieved. Various mechanisms are discussed as they pertain to these findings