Sleep Scratcher? Nestlé Skin Health’s Got an App for That

Nestlé Skin Health’s latest app tracks skin scratching, even when the scratcher isn’t aware he or she is doing it. That could be during sleep or with cognitively impaired patients, as it’s being used in a current Nestlé Skin Health study of Alzheimer’s patients.

Called Itch Tracker, the app works with the Apple Watch and measures both the number of scratching incidents and the duration. The app is free to download on the App Store, and Nestlé Skin Health is using the collected de-identified data in an ongoing general population study about itch. The app is also being used in a specific study of patients with Alzehimer’s disease to document itch frequency and severity.

The app was first launched in Japan, but it more recently bowed in North America and Europe, Didier Leclerg, managing director of the SHIELD skin health innovation network for NestléSkin Health, said in an interview. Already, it’s had more than 1,000 downloads, with a greater response expected soon from the added countries. Study results are expected to be published by the end of the year.

The app can be used all the time, but Nestlé has “a specific interest in sleep time because one of the main problems with itch is sleep disruption,” Leclerg said. “…There is a need to objectively measure the severity, frequency and occurrence of itch.”

“We want to investigate potential factors that might affect, or be correlated with, scratching time during sleep,” Nestlé Skin Health spokesman added in an email. “We aim at making the knowledge obtained by this survey serve for developing a better method to evaluate itch severity, which could help develop better treatments for itch in the future.”

While sales reps for Nestlé Skin Health’s Galderma medical dermatology will not actively push the app to healthcare providers, some doctors and dermatologists are using it to track patient symptoms and treatment effectiveness. Initial feedback from physicians in Japan has been enthusiastic and positive, Leclerg said.

Nestlé and L’Oréal founded Galderma as a joint venture in 1981, but the company was fully acquired by Nestlé in 2014. It is now the medical dermatology arm of Nestlé Skin Health, which also includes consumer skin brands Cetaphil and Proactiv. Galderma drugs include acne treatment Epiduo, Miravaso and Soolantra for rosacea and dermal filler Restylane. Nestlé Skin Health recently named Stuart Raetzman, the former CEO of Galderma, as the new CEO of the overall Nestlé Skin Health.

Source: Fierce Pharma

Latest Developments

We keep our members and partners in touch with the most recent updates and opinions in the worldwide dialogue on population longevity and related issues.

Brazil Must Fight Antibiotic Resistance

The threat posed by antimicrobial resistance is urgent and spares no country - including Brazil. According to The Lancet, 63 deaths per 100,000 are associated with AMR in Brazil and Paraguay, a rate that exceeds the average for Latin America and the Caribbean. AMR-associated deaths in Brazil are second only to cardiovascular diseases and cancers.

We Missed 100 Million Adult Vaccines – Here’s How We Get Back on Track

Like other pandemics throughout human history, COVID-19 has caused profound changes that are still rippling through our societies, even as people are understandably eager to move on. In fact, these impacts are all the more dangerous when they are largely ignored or effectively invisible. The decline in adult vaccination may be one of the most significant, as a new report finds that ~100 million doses were missed in 2021 and 2022 alone – reversing global progress towards widespread adult immunisation as a new standard of care in a world of more old than young.

New Analysis Shows Lost Ground on Adult Immunisation During the Pandemic with 100 Million Doses Potentially Missed

New data shared today by GSK, in collaboration with the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science and the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA), estimate approximately 100 million fewer doses of some adult vaccines (excluding Covid-19 vaccines) were administered in 2021 and 2022 than anticipated, based on the global vaccination adoption trends observed from 2013 to 2020, compounding already low adoption rates pre-pandemic.

Going Beyond Applause: The Potential of Caregiving to Unlock Job Opportunities of the Future

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of caregivers – staff and family who provide care for older and dependent people to carry out activities such as eating or moving - catapulted to the front of our collective conscience. The daily applause for front-line care workers showed a high level of recognition for their incredible work and provided insight into how our health systems must change as our society ages. We need to continue to recognise caregivers as essential to our ageing society.

High-Level Forum on the Silver Economy 2023

Join us for the High-Level Forum on the Silver Economy 2023. Now in its fourth year, the Silver Economy Forum 2023, December 6 and 7, will explore aging at every stage of life, looking at the growing global Silver Economy through a multigenerational lens. Linking to the goals and aspirations of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing, SEF 2023 will highlight key themes at the intersection of aging at every age, and the Silver Economy.

Global Coalition on Aging Workshop Calls on G7 Countries to Fund Pull Incentives to Spur Antibiotic Innovation

The Global Coalition on Aging, in partnership with JPMA, today announced the release of its workshop report on the AMR crisis facing G7 countries and the world, “The Value of Pull Incentives in Japan to Encourage Investment in Antibiotic Innovation to Solve the AMR Crisis.” If strong action is not taken to address AMR, we will lose the antibiotics we need to cure infections, which is likely to outpace cancer as a major cause of death, killing an estimated 10 million by 2050.