Skin Diseases
Skin disease, any of the diseases or disorders that affect the human skin. They have a wide range of causes. Although most diseases affecting the skin originate in the layers of the skin, such abnormalities are also important factors in the diagnosis of a variety of internal diseases. There is some truth in the belief that the skin mirrors a person’s internal health. Often, the visibility and accessibility of skin make it the first organ of the body to show detectable signs of underlying disease.
Skin Diseases Encyclopedia Articles
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keratosis
Keratosis, any protuberance on the skin resulting from the overdevelopment of the horny outermost covering of the skin, or epidermis, the main constituent of which is the protein keratin, which is synthesized...
melanoma
Melanoma, a spreading and frequently recurring cancer of specialized skin cells (melanocytes) that produce the protective skin-darkening pigment melanin. An estimated 132,000 new melanoma cases are diagnosed...
acne
Acne, any inflammatory disease of the sebaceous, or oil, glands of the skin. There are some 50 different types of acne. In common usage, the term acne is frequently used alone to designate acne vulgaris,...
dermatitis
Dermatitis, an inflammation of the skin usually characterized by redness, swelling, blister formation, and oozing and almost always by itching. The term eczema, which formerly referred to the blistered,...
hives
Hives, a hypersensitive skin reaction characterized by the sudden appearance of very itchy, slightly raised, smooth, flat-topped wheals and plaques that are usually redder or paler than the surrounding...