Ok, I'm excited. No, I didn't find a cure. But I ran across some studies that might give clues to a possible cause of PUPPPs. And I'm a bit of a research geek, so this stuff gets me going.
I've heard websites suggests that the rash could be our skin's response to the father or baby's DNA before, but I hadn't found the research to back it up! Today, I found 2 articles that shed some light on the subject.
In the first article, reported in a 1992 journal of Dermatology, there was a case of a mom who developed PUPPPs for the first time in her 5th pregnancy. Not only was it weird for it to be her first time, but it was noteworthy that her 5th pregnancy resulted from a different father than the previous 4 pregnancies! The major change was the father of the baby! Fascinating! Here's the article if you'd like to read it in its entirety.
The next article from the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology is also from 1992. I couldn't read the full text without paying $35 bucks, but the summary was fascinating enough! The article was an analysis of 4 cases of PUPPPs. The first two were twin sisters married to twin brothers! First of all, how crazy is that?? Secondly, both women got PUPPPs! The other two cases were two women married to brothers. They also both got PUPPPs! So their theory is that the rash is a response to "circulating paternal factors." In other words, something about the father seems to play a role! Here's a link to the article summary.
Both articles suggest strong links to something about Daddy bringing about this rash. My husband wasn't too pleased to hear that. I don't blame him. But I can't help but be excited to gain more insight!
Is that not fascinating stuff? I know, it doesn't really help us at all with the itching, but there's something therapeutic about learning more about this crazy rash.
That is really interesting! :) I have read about DNA from the baby moving into the mothers brain.... If it goes to the mothers brain it makes sense it could go into her skin. Here is a link to an article I read: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-discover-childrens-cells-living-in-mothers-brain/
ReplyDeleteI read this somewhere else through my PUPPPS googling as well. Yes, it's great info to have and I wonder if it really does play a part. I wish they would do more studies on this rash and get some more research going.
ReplyDeleteI agree! There is a serious lack of current research! I actually discussed doing a study with my primary care doc. He sympathized but basically said there's not enough money in it for people in the research world to care.
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