Efudix, a cream used to treat actinic keratoses, a precancerous condition on sun-exposed areas, can be used to erase wrinkles and brown spots, according to a recent study.June 18, 2009, (Sawf News) - A study released in the New England journal of medicine, revealed that the "off-label" use of medicines accounted for about one-fifth of all prescriptions.
One such medicine, Efudix, from Valeant Pharmaceuticals’ cream is used to treat actinic keratoses, a precancerous form of squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer which generally appears on sun-exposed areas such as face, neck, forearm or lips. Efudix can also be used to erase wrinkles and brown spots, thereby improving the appearance of the skin and its color.
According to Dr. Dana Sachs, "The cream appears to be causing a wound healing response that leads to an increase in Collagen production, which improves the appearance of wrinkles".
However, treatment with this cream can be very painful as it leads to reddening and inflammation of skin on application.
"Patients look very bad," says Dr. Sachs. "Their skin is red. I’ve heard some people describe it as looking like raw hamburger meat." Although the side effects can be really bad, the cream does come handy in making the skin softer and younger.
In order to confirm these findings, doctors conducted experiment on 21 patients aged 56 to 85 who had actinic keratoses and sun damage. The volunteers used the cream twice daily on the face for 2 weeks and the doctors measured the changes in their skin after this period, taking facial biopsies over a six-month period.
Dr. Dana Sachs confirmed that the cream had significant effect on the skin of the patients.
"People’s skin was much softer, the texture was improved. There were fewer wrinkles around upper cheek and eyes."
These results might encourage the use of this cream for cosmetic treatment as it is relatively cheaper (around $30 pounds for a 20 grams tube) than laser surgeries.
Though many doctors might recommend the use of this cream for cosmetic treatment, there are some dermatologists who disapprove of such use.
Dr. Nick Lowe, a leading consultant dermatologist, said that the side effects outweighed the benefits of using the cream for wrinkles. He emphasized that the use of the cream caused uncontrolled irritancy and worked only on the lines which were produced due to sun damage. It had no effect on wrinkles which were caused due to any other reason.
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