Epidermal Lipids

Epidermal lipids are naturally occuring in the skin. They help retain moisture and fight bacteria infections.

The following is from the website: http://www.pharmaceutical-business-review.com/article_news.asp?guid=8AFEFD28-...
It explains a new product called Epiceram which replaces the epidermal lipid barrier in skin areas where the barrier has been defective. It's meant for eczema, but its use seems to be identical in our condition.

From the website:

The study demonstrated that Epiceram accelerated skin barrier recovery in treated vs untreated eczema sites. This objective measurement in the improvement of skin barrier function correlated to a 100% reduction in reported symptoms of itch at three and six hours of treatment. Furthermore, a reduction of over 50% in dry skin, 45% in scaliness and an over 37% reduction in irritation was also observed.

In this small but statistically significant study five people with moderate-to-severe eczema applied a single application of Epiceram barrier repair cream. Their reactions to the treatment were then objectively monitored.

The skin's barrier is composed of a thin sheet of epidermal lipids about half the thickness of a piece of notebook paper. This thin, flexible combination of oily components is remarkably strong and forms a mechanical defense against skin irritants and bacterial infections while also helping to retain skin moisture.

Persons who suffer from eczema have a defective skin barrier that allows higher levels of moisture to evaporate through their skin. This results in dry, cracked skin which sets off an inflammatory cascade leading to an itchy, scaly rash. The "scratch-itch" cycle leads to additional degradation of the skin's barrier, further exacerbating the disease. Epiceram contains a specific combination of oily ingredients which has been shown to form a barrier which replicates that found naturally in the skin.

------------------------------

The product is still in testing and isn't expected to be out until 2007. If you think about the mechanism of action here, it might help our lips. Perhaps our epidermal lipid barrier is broken, and moisture is being evaporated from our lips, which explains the drying and cracking. Very similar, if not identical, to eczema.

The idea of replacing the epidermal lipid barrier is very different from moisturizing. Skin becomes dependent on moisturizers, and moisturizers still arent able to reform that protected lipid barrier. This product, according to the study, apparently does that trick.

This will be a prescription product I think. There are other products like it out on the market which are non prescription, but there are relatively few because this concept is new. Remember that this idea is not the same as moisturizing lips, its much more effective.

Also, its possible that this barrier naturally replaces itself, although very slowly, when people stop rubbing the affected area. This might explain why some people's lips have improved after they left them alone. This idea might be a substitute for having to walk around with scabs on our lips for 3 years before seeing improvement. It also explains why some people developed our condition after using Accutane. The Accutane dried the skin to such an extent that it destroyed the epidermal lipid layer, thus causing any moisture in peoples lips to evaporate. It ALSO explains how people got this by picking at healthy lips. Simply, the picking destroyed the protective lipid barrier. End of story. And for people who got this condition spontaneously for no reason, it can be explained also because eczema can occur without reason.

This whole concept seems very logical to me. It supports the whole eczema theory. Cheilitis means "eczema of the lips". Even if it isn't eczema, this theory may still work since its evident that our lips are excessively dry.

Just something to keep in mind in the near future.