Empowered Patient Podcast Challenges of Diagnosing and Treating Skin Condition Hidradenitis Suppurativa with Dr. Joslyn Kirby HS Foundation
Dr. Joslyn Kirby is the President of the HS Foundation, which focuses on improving the lives of those who suffer from Hidradenitis Suppurativa, a skin condition caused by an overactive immune system. Generally people with this condition are misdiagnosed with skin infections and treated with ineffective antibiotics. As a member of the DermTech Scientific Board, Joslyn sees the promise of this non-invasive technology to make a diagnosis for someone with the disease or help make a precise therapeutic selection.
Joslyn explains, "This condition is not new. It's just that we've gotten better at giving it a name. It's gotten a lot more attention, which it deserves because it's so devastating to some patients but mildly annoying to others. Still, either way, it's impactful to people's quality of life. So being able to find it is number one. Number two, give it a name. And then, number three, really pursue treatments that are going to be more effective than just antibiotic courses now and again."
"The nice thing about the DermTech technology is that it is non-invasive, and people with HS are already going through so much discomfort because of the inflammation of this condition. I really like a technology like this where I can promise them I don't have to hurt you to help you, but to be able to get clues from what's happening in the skin cells to help. We can either make the diagnosis for somebody who's been struggling or, to help make a therapeutic selection, to take an injection that deals with one part of the immune system rather than a pill that might affect a different part of the immune system. To be able to look at what is happening within these cells at a molecular level, I think, would really help both patients and physicians. So I'm looking forward to what we can do with this technology."
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