"Is it an itch that rashes, meaning you are manipulating the skin by scratching and now create visible change, or is a rash that itches a primary skin disease that is pruritic?" Adam Friedman, MD, FAAD, asked attendees of the DERM 2025 NP PA CME Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.1 The answer, he explained, will set the clinician in 2 distinct directions in informing the treatment strategy, he said. With that in mind, Friedman, who is professor and chair of dermatology, and director of translational research at The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, takes an organized approach to determine what is driving the disease. "Think about the big things, the big systems," he said in an interview with Dermatology Times. He recommends starting with a very focused initial lab workup that includes a CBC and comprehensive metabolic panel. Click here to watch the full interview.
