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Globe and Mail
11 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Codex Labs to Exhibit at The Society for Pediatric Dermatology's 50th Annual Meeting
Seattle, Wash. - July 22nd, 2025 - Codex Labs, a biotech skincare company focused on microbiome-friendly solutions, is honored to participate in The Society for Pediatric Dermatology's (SPD) 50th Annual Meeting. Taking place from July 23rd to 26th at The Westin Seattle, the event will celebrate five decades of advancing pediatric dermatology through education, research, and collaboration. "Codex Labs is delighted to be attending The Society for Pediatric Dermatology's 50th Annual Meeting and presenting a novel plant-based biotech eczema lotion and cleanser for children as young as 3 weeks old,' says founder and CEO Dr. Barbara Paldus. 'We believe that these new topicals, when combined and targeted with pre- and probiotics, will usher in a future of highly effective, steroid-free alternatives for the management of pediatric atopic dermatitis." The SPD comprises over 1,800 members worldwide, including pediatricians, dermatologists, pediatric dermatologists, and other healthcare professionals. At this year's milestone 50th SPD Annual Meeting, Codex Labs will be one of many organizations gathering to support the advancement of pediatric dermatology. The SPD's 50th Annual Meeting will take place over four days and feature networking opportunities, support group discussions, lecture sessions, companies and exhibitors showcasing their products, and organizations dedicated to pediatric dermatology research and advancement. Some key topics highlighted at this year's meeting include infections, medications and therapies, psoriasis and inflammatory skin conditions, tumors and neoplasms, vascular lesions, and more. Codex Labs will be attending this year's 50th Annual Meeting and sponsoring the Early Career Networking Reception on Wednesday, July 23rd at 6:00 pm. This event is for medical doctors completing a fellowship or those out of training for five years or less, where they can share experiences and connect with other young dermatologists. Dr. Jessica Maloh, Naturopathic Doctor and Head of Naturopathic Medicine at Codex Labs, will be attending the event and presenting a research poster that highlights the use of oral probiotics as adjunctive interventions for acne. 'Acne is one of the most common skin conditions affecting adolescents, often impacting not only the skin, but also self-esteem and quality of life,' says Dr. Maloh. 'At the SPD, I'm excited to share a summary of the research on the adjunctive use of oral probiotics in acne management- an intervention that may complement conventional dermatologic treatments like antibiotics and oral isotretinoin. Integrative strategies like this have been found to enhance acne treatment efficacy while also supporting the gut microbiome.' Codex Labs is honored to participate in the 50th Annual Meeting and looks forward to showcasing its products and findings. Dr. Maloh invites guests to the Networking Reception and to visit her team's presentation to learn more about their skincare breakthroughs and the latest in integrative dermatology research. Event Details: Location: The Westin Seattle, located at 1900 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101. For more information about Codex Labs and its products, please visit If you are interested in learning more about Codex Labs' participation in The SPD's 50th Annual Meeting, please contact About Codex Labs: Based in Silicon Valley and led by scientist Dr. Barb Paldus, Codex Labs is committed to creating highly effective, clinically proven, microbiome-supporting skin-gut-brain-biome solutions that contain potent, biotech-derived plant-based actives. Codex Labs' products focus on restoring/protecting the skin barrier, managing inflammation, and addressing skin conditions associated with aging, acne, eczema, and psoriasis. The brand has been heralded by integrative dermatologists and naturopathic doctors for creating the next generation of effective, vegan, cruelty-free, and sustainable plant-based solutions.
CBC
12 hours ago
- CBC
My baby nearly didn't survive her birth. Her presence has made me a grateful mom
This First Person article is the experience of Lauren Helstrom, who lives in Saskatoon with her daughter Evee. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ. Right from the moment of her delivery, my daughter's life hung by a thread. I'd gone into labour 17 weeks before my due date, and something in my bones screamed danger. After getting admitted at the hospital, I was rushed onto a stretcher and wheeled through double doors, past people too afraid to meet my gaze. It felt like the room itself was holding its breath. I was supposed to say goodbye. A labour and delivery nurse kneeled beside me, gripped my hand and whispered, "I'm not leaving you." I didn't know how badly I needed those words until they reached me. Motherhood didn't begin the way I dreamed. But strangers in masks and gowns gave me the chance to be the mother I dreamed I could be. My daughter, Evee, was born at 23 weeks and four days gestation, weighing 561 grams — just the size of a bag of candy. She emerged still wrapped in her amniotic sac — skin like wet rose petals, lungs too tiny to rise and fall. She was silent. No heartbeat. Not breathing. But the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) team was there and ready, not to mourn, but to fight. A resident stepped in to resuscitate her. I will never forget his face — the tears in his eyes as he fought for her life with both hands. They brought her back. They saved her. They saved us both. A ghost of a mother The NICU was like another planet. Foreign. Unforgiving. Sacred. I wasn't handed my baby. I wasn't even allowed to touch her. She lay inside a glass box, her chest flickering with effort, tangled in wires and tubes. Machines surrounded her — blinking, hissing, screaming a language I didn't understand. I sat at her bedside, afraid to breathe too loud and overwhelmed by alarms that wouldn't stop. They pierced my eardrums and stabbed my heart. The first time I sang You Are My Sunshine, I didn't make it past the line, "Please don't take my sunshine away." I wept into my hands. Was I a mother? I couldn't cradle my baby or feed her. I needed permission just to place my fingertip on her paper-thin skin. I felt like a ghost of a mother. Invisible. Useless. Failing. I was haunted by the feeling: "You're saying goodbye." Evee spent 130 days in the NICU. She battled retinopathy of prematurity, chronic lung disease, seizures, an open duct in her heart and the worst yet — a grade 4 brain bleed and hydrocephalus. Through it all, the NICU staff were the hands that held me when I collapsed. And yet, within that grief, there was devotion. If you're a parent - you'll remember what it was like to be in a hospital delivery room. That memory is still fresh for Lauren Helstrom, whose daughter was born 17 weeks prematurely and spent the first months of her life at the neonatal intensive care unit in Saskatoon. Lauren has written a First Person piece for CBC on that experience, and shares her insights with host Shauna Powers. I changed her micro-sized diapers with trembling hands. I started to feel like her mother not in dramatic moments, but in small sacred ones — when she grasped my finger, or when a nurse said, "She knows your voice." When another NICU parent passed me in the hallway and gave a nod like we shared something unspoken. We were part of a club no one wanted to join. Even after we came home, we faced a new chapter filled with medical complexity, with several continued check-ups that continue for Evee today. And the shadows continued to visit. Post-traumatic stress after the NICU is not rare. It is real. It is silent. And it can destroy you if you carry it alone. The wounds don't close just because you've been discharged. But slowly, we've emerged from that dark time in NICU. My daughter didn't walk or talk until after the age of two. But once she started — she ran, she talked, she laughed. Now, at age three, Evee is vibrant and full of life. She dances barefoot in the kitchen and sings with her whole chest. She calls me "Mommy" like it's the most natural word in the world. I became a mother in a room where I once felt I had to say goodbye. I became a mother beside ventilators, signing forms, praying silently. I became a mother when I learned to hold hope and fear in the same breath. I became a mother the moment I refused to stop asking for help. I became a mother when I stayed by her side while others left the room. I became a mother when I looked at her — impossibly small, impossibly alive — and whispered: "Stay with me, my girl." And she did.
CBC
13 hours ago
- CBC
What is swimmer's itch? And how can you treat it?
For many, it's not summer until you've taken a dip in one of B.C.'s glistening lakes, a welcome reprieve from those hot July days. But sometimes, you end up with something not so welcome: itchy red bumps on your skin. Some call it swimmer's itch, some call it duck itch, and for others, it's simply the itch. But what is it, exactly? University of Northern British Columbia zoologist Dezene Huber said that itch — whatever you call it — is caused by a parasitic flatworm. "It's really quite tiny," he told CBC's Daybreak North guest host Bill Fee. "You're not able to really see it very well with your naked eye." That worm begins as an egg in the water, Huber said, and when it hatches, the little larvae swim using little hairs on the sides of their bodies in search of a snail. Once they get into the snail, they reproduce asexually in "vast numbers." From there, the new larvae leave the snail, in search of something larger — any sort of water bird, but usually a duck, Huber said. Once they find a duck, they burrow into the bird's feet and get into its circulatory system en route to its gut. That's where they lay the eggs that are then returned to the water when the duck poops. You may notice humans aren't involved in that life cycle at all. But humans, like ducks, are warm in the water, so sometimes, those little parasites mistake people for ducks. "They're really well adapted to survive in a duck, but they're not well adapted to survive in a human, so as soon as they burrow into the skin of a human, they die just underneath the skin of the human and that causes an allergic reaction," Huber said. "It's basically parasites making mistakes in a fairly complex life cycle." Those itchy red bumps you get are an immune response as your body rejects a parasite trying to get inside you, Huber said. Treatment While these parasites aren't causing long-term harm to humans, that itch can be pretty uncomfortable. According to the province, scratching those bumps can lead to pain and even infection. Fort St. James, B.C., pharmacist Ankur Pipaliya said the best tip for avoiding the itch is to avoid swimming in areas known to be a problem for swimmer's itch.. But, if you do, he said, towel dry or shower immediately after you get out of the water. Showers should be with cold water, Pipaliya said. And then, he said, apply moisturizer. "Dry skin, it promotes that allergic reaction. So if your skin is moist, it kind of helps you from having any irritations." If it's too late and you've already got red, itchy bumps from swimming in the lake, Pipaliya said he usually suggests mild corticosteroid creams to reduce discomfort, along with cold showers and cold compresses on the bumps. He said Epsom salts and baking soda also help, as well as over-the-counter allergy medications like Benadryl. The province also suggests calamine lotion and colloidal oatmeal baths for relief from swimmer's itch. It said symptoms can develop within 12 hours after infection, and can last anywhere from two days to two weeks.
