NRS: 2015 was a banner year for Rosacea

Written by David Pascoe on January 18, 2016 in Is Rosacea Genetic?, National Rosacea Society, What Causes Rosacea? with 0 Comments

According to a recent posting at the NRS blog, 2015 was a banner year for rosacea. This claim was based on ;

demodex research came into sharper focus.
genetic research
sun damage research
links to other diseases found

Genetic Breakthrough

I found the genetic research into rosacea the most encouraging research finding in 2015.

Genetics accounts for half of why we get rosacea

We found that approximately half of the contribution to the NRS score could be accounted for by genetics and the other half by environment.

We identified correlations between rosacea and UV radiation exposure, alcohol, smoking, skin cancer history, cardiac comorbidity,

Researchers were able to find two significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with rosacea – in other words a strong link between a generic marker and the presence of rosacea symptoms.

Genetic link to Rosacea Cause Gets Closer

Only two areas of the genome were associated with having rosacea, and these two areas were located near genes known for their role in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, sarcoidosis and inflammatory bowel disease.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms located near genes can play a role in regulating that gene — for example, regulating whether the gene is expressed.