EDITORIAL
85 years: continuous changes in the pathway to excellence
Eighty-five years ago, the Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia became the definitive official journal of Brazilian dermatologists. To celebrate this, we have designed a commemorative stamp that will be printed on the cover of issue 85.
A lengthy excursion through its many pages published over these years reveals that nothing of the progress achieved in Brazil in this speciality has been omitted from this journal.
It is with pride that this current issue is dedicated to the very first edition published in the first year of publication of the ANNAES BRASILEIROS DE DERMATOLOGIA E SYPHILOGRAPHIA in January, 1925.
That first edition contained articles covering topics such as acanthosis nigricans, leishmaniasis, yaws, pemphigus and epidermoid cysts, multiple idiopathic hemorrhagic sarcoma of Kaposi, xeroderma pigmentosum, bismuth in the treatment of syphilis and the history of syphilis in Brazil.1
Despite the advances achieved in scientific knowledge and the general improvement in public health conditions compared to 1925, the Brazilian sanitary authorities today continue to be highly concerned with ... syphilis and leishmaniasis, among other secular and reemerging dermatoses! However, to the already existing concerns, other more recent ones have been added; therefore, dermatology in Brazil has to be ready to respond to new challenges and go beyond "appropriately applying knowledge acquired abroad in Brazil". The discipline should reflect, interact, investigate, suggest hypotheses and make proposals that must always be ethically correct and focussed primarily on the patient, the Brazilian citizens.
In this respect, I would like to draw readers' attention to the contents of the present issue of this journal (No. 1, v. 85), particularly the literature review prepared by Gozzoni ML and Pires SL of the Department of Clinical Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Santa Casa de São Paulo. Based on an analysis of 110 papers, these authors have prepared an article entitled "Is there any scientific evidence supporting antiaging medicine?" Having identified only one randomized, double-blind study on this topic, the authors go on to demonstrate the lack of any scientific foundation on which to base many of the therapeutic approaches defended by certain segments. Is getting old a "disease" to be treated perennially? Is dermatology a hostage of this perception induced in society by the convincing powers of suggestion?
The quality of the current Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia is also reflected in the other articles included in this number, such as those in the "Communications" section: "Is Malassezia furfur the principal agent in pityriasis versicolor?" (Framil VMS et al., p. ) and "Can preventive strategies be developed to reduce the risks of complications in dermatological surgeries and to follow a flowchart of conduct if they occur?" (Timoner FR et al., p...).
Within the scope of the always indispensable partnership between dermatology and clinical medicine, I would recommend paying particular attention to the paper on the investigation of a possible association between the presence of skin-tags and insulin resistance (Tamega AA et al., p...).
In one of the new sections of the journal, Images in Dermatology, a study on the dermatoscopic features of nail psoriasis may be of great practical importance in everyday clinical practice (Farias AC et al., p...).
I would like to end this editorial by reminding readers of the new spaces available to authors: Images in Tropical Dermatology and Images in Dermatology, and to call their attention to the new guidelines for the publication of articles (including the substitution of a character count for a word count in quantifying the space occupied by papers).
Many happy returns, Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia, and congratulations to all the dermatologists who have contributed towards consolidating the prestige of this journal.
REFERENCES
- 1. Annaes Brasileiros de Dermatologia e Syphilographia. 1925;1(1):1-82.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
06 May 2010 -
Date of issue
Feb 2010
