Driving taxis

In a 1986 editorial, someone predicted the potential demise of dermatology as a specialty, suggesting that dermatologists, because of growing managed care, might be driving taxis after the year 2000.¹ I’m not sure many predictions have been more wrong. Also, back then, there was concern that little research, particularly practical clinical research, was being done in dermatology. That concern didn’t pan out, either; dermatology clinical study centers are hopping!

I specialize in psoriasis. We’ve had a host of advancements addressing the suffering of our patients. Every time I thought, “I’ll never see another quantum leap forward in psoriasis treatment again,” the pharmaceutical industry proved me wrong. New psoriasis treatments—both topical and systemic, both oral and injectable—continue to come to market. Having been anchored on tar and methotrexate, our current treatments seem miraculous to me. The last 20 years have been an incredibly exciting time for psoriasis specialists.

That excitement is now spreading to the rest of medical dermatology, with major advancements in our treatment of atopic dermatitis, hidradenitis suppurativa, vitiligo, and alopecia areata. Psoriasis can be horrible; atopic dermatitis and hidradenitis suppurativa can be much worse. Seeing these new developments across medical dermatology make a wonderful field even more wonderful, being able to change people’s lives so much for the better. Why any medical dermatologist would want to retire now is beyond my comprehension.

The Journal of Dermatological Treatment was created at the right time and has been blessed with the opportunity to publish on the advancements in our field. This issue is no different, with articles like, “Efficacy of Biologics and Oral Small Molecules for Atopic Dermatitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” and so many more. We, and many of our patients, are fortunate to be where we are now.

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