During my dermatology training on natural rash treatment, we had a textbook from Dr. Irwin Braverman called Skin Signs of Systemic Diseases.
This book showed a number of serious diseases that also had a skin manifestation that was a tip-off. This was certainly one of the things that dermatologists learn in their training and one of the important reasons to go to a dermatologist when set of symptoms presents on your skin that doesn’t quite make sense to you or to perhaps your family doctor.
In my practice of holistic dermatology over the years, I found another set of underlying problems that can be related to skin issues. For example, some cases of dry skin and seborrhea are indication that patients are lacking essential fatty acids and those essential fatty acids are important for preventing inflammation elsewhere and also for the proper function of the brain and the nervous system.
It’s really important to look deeper where problem doesn’t go away with a simple attempt to cure, a simple claim or whatever because the various things that present under the skin may well be symptoms of something deeper that needs to be remedy.
There are a number of different disorders that occur with the skin, which can be addressed with functional dermatology. For example, some patients with skin that is more stretchy than normal, hyper-elastic has a defect of the elastic tissue that also can involve the elastic tissue in their arteries. So they can even blow out a great vessel, and checking that out properly can be a way to keep an eye on it and prevent the possible rupture of the aorta which leads to immediate death.
So, if you have a condition on your skin, a rash that doesn’t go away, or something that doesn’t quite make sense, get it checked out by a dermatologist to be sure that it’s not something that is telling us about a condition that could be really detrimental to your health–or your life. Consider getting support with functional dermatology.
It is of note that the author is a pediatrician–but not either a dermatologist or holistic/integrative practitioner. He is still stuck in the "disease model" and seems to have no idea about the conceptual basis for the application of alternative medicine to atopic dermatitis.
Use of alternative therapies and diets must varyaccording to each person, using an understanding of the specific patient, our culture, and the pathophysiologic syndromes understood in alternative and functional medicine. Treatments that work with some people may not work with others. For example, giving probiotics without understanding and addressing the factors in yeast overgrowth will lead to less than desirable results.
As a practitioner of Holistic and Integrative Dermatology, I can attest to the number of variables involved in controlling atopy, and the difficulty in getting patients to co-operate with their protocol and success with patients in a manner that meets their time expectations. It takes time and more exchange of information than conventional care.
Speaking as a health professional, I'll share that from behind-the-scenes, it requires a good understanding of dermatology, immunology, and alternative medicine, in order to avoid one or two omissions or errors that negate the benefits of the rest of the protocol, and to understand the meaning of various responses to exposures and treatments.
For example, it has taken me years to be able to use natural methods to successfully clear patients with severe acne who have seen multiple dermatologists and alternative practitioners. I can't imagine how the author of this article could have the perspective to make any meaningful pronouncement on the effectiveness of alternative medicine in Atopic Dermatitis. I do agree that more studies are necessary. However, they need to be designed with an understanding of the healing systems being applied, beyond the disease model.
__ 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.
Pomegranates are back on the shelves, and hopefully, back in our hearts! I have just spotted Pomegranates on the shelves of my local produce stores at rock bottom prices, meaning they are in season nearby. They contain valuable anti-oxidants that are well known to protect the heart.
What’s news is that they also have been shown to have protective effects on the skin. Dr. Hassan Mukhtar, who I met over 10 years ago when he presented his findings on the anti-oxidant protective effects of green tea extract, EGCG,recently published studies on the protective effects of pomegranate extract against Ultraviolet (UV) radiation damage. His group’s studies, published in 2005 showed that pomegranate extract inhibited UV damage in cultured human skin cells by inhibiting the changes in two molecular pathways associated with cancer (known as NF-kappaB and MAPK).
More recent studies showed that feeding Pomegranate extract to mice protected against a wide variety of biological markers related to UV light induced development of cancer. This information is important because it substantiates the mechanism by which pomegranate protects against skin cancer induced by UV light. Some of those mechanisms of UV damage also contribute to aging of the skin. So data is emerging suggesting that food derived anti-oxidants such as pomegranate may protect against both skin aging and cancer.
You can pick up pomegranates at your local produce store and enjoy them as a snack or desert. I eat them with an old dark sweat shirt or apron on, and not my favorite light colored clothing, as the red juice from the seeds has a tendency to squirt and stain when you cut them open. It may take you a few tries to get used to the slightly tart taste.
The seeds are the size of corn kernels, and have hard seeds inside. The white pulp around them is slightly bitter, but is also loaded with anti-oxidants, so I eat some of that along with the delicious red juice in the seeds. I make sure that the seeds have the rich purple color, and toss away those that have turned brown, in some sections of the fruit.
Pomegranates have been revered for thousands of years in the Middle East. If you travel to those lands, you will notice the familiar round shape with a wide, protruding stem in paintings and jewelry. Perhaps they were revered because of benefits seen in those who ate them over generations. It’s exciting to know studies simply confirm that you now can protect both your skin and your heart by enjoying this tasty fruit.
Other electrical devices have been made which record the body’s energetic responses to various frequencies. For example, the Asyra, is the tenth and latest device built by G Tech, and the culmination of 35 years of experience in this field. It beams frequencies which are energetically related to different specific issues (such as chemical toxins, allergies, digestion, heavy metals.)
The person being tested holds a brass electrode in each hand, and the device registers changes which are recorded by the Asyra. It then automatically selects remedies for any failed tests. It helps correct the energetic imbalances underlying various chemical imbalances, placing an electronic “signature” on a drainage remedy or solution.
I am actively using the Asyra to assess such functional energetic changes which may help restore balance to individuals who I see in my practice. This extends my functional evaluation to assessing and treating the energetic imbalances underlying.
As you may imagine, if helpful subtle energy fields can affect the body in a healing way, there is a possibility that other energy fields can aggravate and interfere with biochemical processes in the body. Cell phones, microwave transmitters and towers, radio and television waves, computers, high voltage power lines and equipment, wireless networks, are just some of the new exposures people are exposed to for the benefits they bring. Only by observing carefully will we be able to identify if any of these exposures are causing any harm.
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.
In Part 1 of this series, I talked about how many kinds of electric devices including mobile phones and wi-fi might be disturbing the important subtle electronic and chemical processes of the body. However, there are new electronic devices that can also help repair these processes.
Electronic medical devices that give off pulsed electrical frequencies have been studied to determine which frequencies activates which enzymes in the process of skin repair. Recent scientific studies of a medical device sending a pulsed electromagnetic field of a particular frequency, have shown several beneficial effects, including increasing the healing wound-strength by 58%.
A device is already being sold commercially to speed wound healing after plastic surgery, using that same frequency. This is exciting news, and in the next part of this series, I’ll share with you an even more exciting set of electronic medical devices that can benefit the skin.
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.
We go about our day using a variety of electronic devices which intercept and send packets of information in the form of energy at various frequencies and power levels, making up what we know as radio, Television, mobile phone, and wi-fi signals. All are composed of specific wavelengths of energy, varied in a sequence to produce what we hear as voice and see as pictures on our screen, etc.
The term “energy” essentially refers to an unseen force or packet of information, and has been used a lot in the fields of medicine and healing recently.
Dr. Robert O. Becker, a researcher and Orthopedic surgeon, who wrote “The Body Electric” and other works on the effects of electric currents on bone healing and other events in the body. He, like others today, was concerned about the effects of strong electric fields on the body.
At the molecular level, smaller than cells, our bodies function with an enormous series of perfectly-timed chemical reactions. Each of the attractions and repulsions and chemical transformations require electrical forces and the addition or release of specific electrical or other forms of energy. And those biological processes occur in a given sequence, so that there are specific patterns with specific types of chemicals. If you could watch these reactions with tiny meters, you could measure these reactions.Electronic medical devices that give off pulsed electrical frequencies have been studied to determine which frequencies activates which enzymes in the process of skin repair. Recent scientific studies of a medical device sending a pulsed electromagnetic field of a particular frequency, have shown several beneficial effects, including increasing the healing wound-strength by 58%. A device is already being sold commercially to speed wound healing after plastic surgery, using that same frequency.
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.
