Is Detoxification Necessary for Healthy Skin?
Natural Skin Care Challenges the Normal American Diet
Autism: Trying Most Things, But Not Everything
I recently read a column in the New York Times by Jane Brody titled “Trying Anything and Everything for Autism.” In it, parents of an autistic child find success with alternative treatments, but are unsure whether the treatment relates to the child’s improvement. The article quotes a physician from England who suggests that alternative treatment for autism like avoiding dairy is like returning to the Dark Ages.
supplements. Yeast overgrowth in the intestines irritates the lining and allows undigested food molecules to leak into the circulation and irritate the immune system. This can be corrected by diet changes and supplements. Since specialized immune cells are involved in the nervous system, it is not hard to imagine that improper dietary stimulation of the immune system could interrupt proper brain development. Far from the Dark Ages, we can begin to understand multifactorial Autism by connecting scientific basis to anecdotal evidence.
My medical colleagues who specialize in autism treatment use the above science-based and other forms of analysis and therapy. It would be a shame if parents, physicians, and researchers don’t vigorously pursue these connections that may lead to effective treatment.
To your health,
Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD
Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York
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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.
Five Tips for Dry Winter Skin
This winter, be sure to protect your skin from the sun, snow, and wind. Here are five tips for your best dry skin protection.
To your health,
Alan M Dattner, MD
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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.
Natural Skincare: Have a Sweet Holiday…
favors overgrowth of yeast in the digestive tract, which leads to leaky gut, absorption of allergens from food, and inflammation of oil glands.
To your health,
Alan M Dattner, MD
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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.
Think you know about chocolate and acne? Think again… More on natural acne treatment.
Natural acne treatment is complex, and there are a number of factors determining what will cure your acne, as compared with someone else’s.
Here’s one issue: there have been a number of studies regarding acne that have confused rather than clarified the understanding of what to recommend for acne problems. One of the biggest confusions comes because acne sufferers differ in what causes their acne: this is not a single condition with a single cause.
Studies on acne and chocolate have been done because there are many people who, over the years, have observed acne outbreaks after eating chocolate. For some of those people, eating chocolate occurs when they also binge on sweets or eat poorly and leave out vegetables from their diets. These factors are often left out of studies.
One key study on the effects of feeding chocolate bars, versus similar-tasting bars without chocolate, was published by Dr. James Fulton in 1969. The study observed no difference in acne in those who ate the chocolate versus the placebo bars, and concluded that chocolate had no effect on acne. Thus, an entire generation of dermatologists was trained to believe that chocolate had no effect on acne based on this and other studies. That study is now considered to be flawed in its methods, and its conclusions not valid.
Clearly, there are some people who break out from eating chocolate, some people who beak out from binging on chocolate, and others who seem to have no outbreak. Some may be additionally aggravated by the milk products, sugars, or oils in milk chocolate, or be eating the chocolate to deal with stress or depression, any of which factors could aggravate acne.
So, the relationship between eating chocolate and acne is not a simple matter, and should not be dismissed with a simple statement, but rather be evaluated in the larger context of the overall habits and responses of the individual. If there is a suspicion of a relationship (between a particular food and an outbreak), and you want to treat acne naturally, without drugs, chocolate should be stopped, and re-added later to see if it causes outbreaks.
To your health,
Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD
9 Beauty Foods for Natural Skin Care: Broccoli!
Here’s an article published by iVillage in which I was quoted:
To your health,
Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD
Holistic Dermatology & Natural Skin Care
New York, New York
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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.
Want Beautiful Hair? Never do these two things.
At a really interesting seminar on hair disorders, speakers covered basic biology, rare disorders, and common conditions affecting the hair. The hair shaft, made up of strands of protein, is covered by a “cuticle” of overlapping scales which protect and hold together the shaft.
Over-Brushing
Activities such as over-brushing removes the scales making up the cuticle and allows the shaft to come apart, making the shaft frizz and become weak. Scratching the scalp or hair has the same effect. The result is broken hairs and the impression that hair is not growing. Some conditioners and combing products are available with special lubricants
which reduce friction and reduce the removal of the cuticle scale.
is too close. The overheated water turns to steam inside of the hair shaft, forming tiny gas bubbles which cause the “cuticle” to burst off. It was really fascinating to see this close up with a scanning electron photograph showing a lot of bulges from the gas bubbles forming in a wet, heated hair. Hair treated this way looks frizzy, smells burned,
and breaks easily.
To your health,
-Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD
Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine
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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.
Got Varicose Veins? This herb could help.
Pressure from standing upright creates pressure in the legs and leads to enlarged leg veins. This pressure makes the valves in the veins ineffective, in effect turning the little systems of blood veins in the body into one long vein. This pushes fluid out into the
tissues, causing swelling of the legs and varicose veins.
Reversing gravity by elevating the legs is a great natural treatment. Another natural treatment is the use of horse chestnut extract, which contains multiple bioflavinoids including a flavinoid called escin. Horse chestnut products are standardized based on escin concentration, as this is considered to be the active ingredient. It has multiple beneficial effects. The other bioflavinoids present in the extract work synergistically with the escin.
As a bioflavinoid, ascin strengthens the capillaries and blood vessels. It prevents leakage of material through the capillary walls by supporting the layer of cells that form the inner lining of the blood vessels. That reduces the amount of leg swelling from leakage of fluid. It also has constrictive effects on the vessels.
Elevation of legs and horse chestnut use are just a few of the ways to support leg varicosities. Since there are other steps to take, possibilities of slowing the process if action is take early, and dangerous consequences if clots form in
these vessels, it is important to get evaluated by your physician when leg vein problems begin.
To your health,
-Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD
Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine
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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.