Tag Archive for "holistic dermatology"

7 Ultimate Tips for Natural Anti-Aging and Skincare

Posted on July 3, 2013 at 9:01 am.

Have dreams of looking youthful well into middle age? Want to age gracefully and naturally? Well, hold onto your hat! The number one cause of premature aging of the skin is sun damage. As a holistic dermatologist, my first approach is always prevention.

From childhood, one should be protecting the skin from excessive sun. Unfortunately, the ozone layer’s natural sun protection has degraded due to an excess of carbon monoxide and chlorofluorocarbons–a sad environmental problem related to the “skin” of the earth.

Fortunately, there are still ways we can enjoy the sun and protect ourselves from wrinkles, skin cancer, and the release of free-radicals into the body.

avoid the sun at its strongest hours, 11 am to 3 pm, by staying indoors
when outside, wear light colored protective clothes covering limbs, wide-brimmed hats, and sunglasses for the eyes
folks who burn easily should use high SPF clothing, specifically made to protect from the sun
apply high-factor sunscreen (I like non-nano zinc oxide and titanium best) to the face, ears, exposed parts of the neck, and chest
re-apply sunscreen every two hours and again after going in the water
never stay in the sun long enough to burn (skin becoming pink is a sure sign)
take ample doses of anti-oxidants A, C, & E, and bioflavinoids, during sun exposure to help the body recover

Do spend up to ten minutes per day in the sun several times a week however to make sure your body makes enough vitamin D, and enjoy the summer!

-Dr. Dattner

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine
New York

As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to diagnose, or treat illness; please see your physician for care.

Natural Anti-Cancer Treatment: Eat This Food!

Posted on July 1, 2013 at 10:00 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

If you’re looking for a way to balance out some of the negative effects of environmental toxins, a good way is to start eating more vegetables in the broccoli family. This includes cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, arugula, and brussels sprouts among others.

Recent studies have demonstrated that broccoli’s chemical composition could help reduce the risk of cancer and, I believe, acne as well, because of the neutralizing effect these chemicals have on acne-triggering estrogen.

Broccoli is rich in vitamin C, carotenoids (vitamin A-like substances), fiber, calcium, and folate as well as phytochemicals that may have anti-cancer properties.
For example, broccoli contains several compounds called isothiocyanates, including sulforaphane and indole-3-carbinol (I3C), which are being explored for possible anti-cancer agents. Some studies have also suggested they
may alter body estrogen levels, which might affect breast cancer risk. Some studies have shown these substances may act as antioxidants and may boost the body’s detoxifying enzymes.

Another chemical in broccoli called indole-3-carbinol (I3C), seems to alter estrogen levels and may also raise levels of protective enzymes in the body. Lab studies have shown it may slow or stop the growth of breast, prostate, and other cancer cell lines.

Some early studies in animals have shown similar results. Small studies in humans have found it may prevent the development of precancerous growths in the cervix, as well as growths (papillomas) in the throat. While more, larger studies need to be done to confirm and expand our knowledge of the benefits, I recommend that people eat more broccoli and foods in the brassicaceae family for good health.

To your health,

-Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

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.

Poison Ivy Comes a Creepin’

Posted on June 26, 2013 at 9:22 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

“Leaves of three, let them be.” If you find yourself out walking as the weather gets warmer, be sure to step out of the way of any plants with clumps of three leaves. Poison ivy can have many different appearances.

The best way to tell if it’s poison ivy is the number of leaves, the reddish color at the point the three stems meet, and the shape of the edge of the leaves. If you are working in the garden or on the lawn pulling up “runners” before the leaves are fully formed, be
sure to wear extra thick gloves, and know the plants in your yard. Some of these runners may be poison ivy, and you may find out the hard way 2 days later.

Remember that the active ingredient, the urishiol, can last on shoes, clothing, garden tools and gloves almost indefinitely (some poison ivy oil has even been found in Egyptian tombs!) Some of the “spreading” of poison ivy is actually caused by contacting smaller amounts of poison ivy from garden items, pets, and furniture, once your sensitivity has been elevated by a big skin reaction to poison ivy.

So always wash off anything coming in contact with poison ivy immediately with detergent and hot water. Holistic
dermatology advocates many treatments for skin disorders, including the best one: prevention.

To your health,

Dr. Dattner

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine
New York

As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to
treat or diagnose an illness; please see your physician for care.

Miracle Success-Story in Natural Acne Skincare: Heal Your Skin, Heal Your Life

Posted on June 26, 2013 at 9:17 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

Want to get rid of acne naturally?

I see acne and other skin disease as a symptom of underlying problems that need to be shifted. This is radically different than how the majority of my colleagues, the medical literature, and the media see acne, so let me illustrate this with a recent experience a patient had being treated with this perspective.

Erin had acne in her late teens, treated with antibiotics and BCP’s, and again recently with stresses including the death of a close friend and the purchasing a new house with her husband. She recalled periodic abdominal pains plagued her since college, and she had bad cramping and pain with her cycle since September.

I focused first on treating her digestive system, which was disturbed by her previous acne treatment in college. She also mentioned that she was a serious runner who trained for Iron Man competitions, so I mentioned that the digestive enzymes I was about to give her might help her performance.

She followed the diet and supplement regimen carefully and came back with a a definite improvement in her acne, decrease in abdominal bloating, and dramatic reduction in the pain that used to cause her to spend three days with a heating pad on her belly during her menses.

What was most remarkable to me was that she experienced an improvement in her running times during the month of diet changes and supplements. She had been training since December 1st this year, and seemed to be doing much better in this past month. Admittedly, she was training harder, but that did not seem to be enough reason alone to account for her running times per mile on a 12 mile run to decrease from 9 minutes and 30-35 seconds (last year and initially) to 8 minutes and 20 seconds per mile recently!

Fixing her underlying digestive and hormonal issues not only improved her acne, and abdominal symptoms, but also enabled her to perform to her full capacity.

If you are experiencing any of these issues, and wonder if this kind of treatment might help you, please contact me here.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD
Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

New York

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. – See more at: http://blog.holisticdermatology.com/#sthash.t5joqS3D.dpuf

Want Beautiful Skin? Look inside…

Posted on June 24, 2013 at 10:06 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

Frequently, people come to me wanting to know how to make their skin beautiful. What I tell them is that the skin is a direct reflection of what is occurring, both inside you and in the world around you. Among other functions, the skin is an organ of excretion, which takes over when your other organs of excretion are overwhelmed.

Your skin reflects when you are “toxic,” excreting what the rest of the body cannot. What I want you to really get from this book is that the best way to maintain a healthy, youthful exterior is to care for the whole person. This is what I help people learn to do as a holistic dermatologist.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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.

How Electricity Can Hurt or Heal Your Skin, Part 3

Posted on May 21, 2012 at 10:25 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

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.

If you are interested in having work done with the Asyra, please contact my office to set up an appointment. The Asyra can also be used remotely, in the case that you’re not near New York.

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.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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.

How Electricity Can Hurt or Heal Your Skin, Part 2

Posted on May 18, 2012 at 10:18 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

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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.

To your health,Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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.

How Electricity Can Hurt or Heal Your Skin, Part 1

Posted on May 17, 2012 at 10:14 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

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.

Stay tuned for parts two and three.

To your health,Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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.

Integrative Dermatology & Holistic Medicine: What is it?

Posted on April 27, 2012 at 8:12 pm.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

In this newly posted video, Dr. Dattner discusses the differences between traditional dermatology and natural, holistic treatment of the skin.

Speaking about Holistic Dermatology in India

Posted on February 4, 2012 at 11:04 pm.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

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It is the beginning of the New Year, so I want to wish the best to all of you and to our world.

I would like to share some very exciting news with you. I was invited to go to India to be a featured speaker for an International Symposium on Integrative and Holistic Dermatology. To my knowledge, this was the first Symposium on Holistic and Integrative Dermatology sponsored by an academic Dermatology department, ever on the planet. On December 4, I gave three lectures on various aspects of holistic dermatology, and participated in a panel wrapping up the session at the Dermatology Department of Kasturba Medical College in Manipal University in Manipal, located in South West India. It was quite an experience to be honored by having the opportunity to teach about the approach to treating skin disease, and to do so to eager listeners halfway around the world. I have already heard from Dr. Shenoi, the head of the department, that what I presented was well received, and has given rise to new ways to treat difficult cases at the hospital there. In addition, my listeners were awakened to the neglected aspect of nutrition in Dermatology.

My knowledge was also enhanced by hearing the two other speakers, one of whom I had met when she was just entering this field of study.
I had a chance in Manipal to see the Ayurvedic department and the Yoga department at the medical center, which represents an integration of traditional care with conventional medical care that is rare in India as it is throughout the world. We spent a morning at a naturopathic hospital, which focused on diet and physical modalities for healing. Cleansing diet, simplicity, spirituality, and beauty of the surroundings, and yoga, were mainstays of the healing program there beyond the diet and other cleansing processes.

One of the other Integrative Dermatology speakers, Dr. S. I. Narahari, was having anopening of his new clinic for Applied Dermatology, and invited me to participate in the dedication and speak at his 5th annual National symposium. The physicians from all over India, honored mentor dermatologist Dr. Terrence Ryan from England,the press, and many people from the local government were present. More than 15 patients with elephantiasis were presented to a group of over 25 dermatologists and other physicians. Between presentations, I was asked by Dr. Narahari and a government minister to help design studies on nutrition and skin disease as, it relates to rural India. I am excited about being able to help those who might otherwise not receive care, and about extending studies in nutritional dermatology that can have a more widespread benefit.

To recover from jet lag on arriving in India, I spent the first 4 days in an Ayurvedic Spa, where I experienced the famous medicinal oil massages and hot herbal applications. We were treated to a visit to the associated third-generation manufacturing plant, which used age-old processes to manufacture Ayurvedic remedies. It has taken time for me to recover from the travels during flu season, so I finally writing to you now.

What has been most amazing to me are the similarities between several thousand-year old Ayurvedic concepts and what I am now doing, incorporating what is now being called functional medicine into my practice of dermatology. This will be thesubject of some of my letters and blogs in the future.

Board Certified Dermatologist

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine