How is Holistic Dermatology Different from Conventional Dermatology? ~ Healthy Frontiers

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How is Holistic Dermatology Different from Conventional Dermatology ~ Healthy Frontiers

Interviewer:   So how do you look at skin disease differently from your colleagues in dermatology? How is holistic dermatology different?

Dr. Dattner:   Well if you pick up a text book in dermatology, you look at it and then you read about this disorder and they say this might be related to kicks, it might be related to this, but we don’t know the answer.

Interviewer:   Right.

Dr. Dattner:   Well, that’s what got me asking. I want to know the answer, what’s causing it and when I finished my work at the dermatology branch, we had done work on what was known as a immune recognition. How the white cells, not the antibodies but the white cells see one thing and have it look like another. They see this flower and say, “oh, that looks like that one,” and if they are sensitive to this, they attack the other one.

Interviewer:  Yeah

Dr. Dattner:   And that turns out to be an equation that requires not only the flower, but the hand that’s holding the flower if you will.

Interviewer:   Sure

Dr. Dattner:   It’s the transplantation antigens and we show that and actually later two people won Nobel prizes on work related to that.

Interviewer:   Wow, for that research, that’s terrific.

Dr. Dattner:   So that made me understand that we are very unique equations that went on. So it wasn’t one like the corn caused eczema. It was corn in a certain persons’ system that would cause a crust reaction to their own skin and maybe even at certain times. So I began to see that these kinds of things really existed and it let me know that the kinds of things I was hearing from the alternative world made sense.

Interviewer:   So would you have that allergy and I don’t….

Dr. Dattner:   Right, exactly.

Interviewer:   Suppose that’s sometimes, it’s like let’s find out why this guy has it and this guy doesn’t.

Dr. Dattner:   Yeah and it’s because of this additional piece for the recognition plus the exposure. There are a lot of different variables and a lot of this had gotten thrown out because they said that well if X amount is caused by corn then all eczema should be cause by corn but it isn’t and not even in the same individual. So they threw out the food thing because it didn’t make sense. It’s only with this new perspective that it makes sense. So as I saw that and as I began to do it I began to find solutions for people who hadn’t found solutions before and I became very excited, not just that I wanted to help those people, but I wanted to bring this knowledge into medicine. Not just for skin because of course it’s important for skin but for inflammation in general.

Interviewer:   Sure, makes so much sense.

Radiant Skin from the Inside Out ~ Holistic Skincare ~ Healthy Frontiers TV

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Radiant Skin from the Inside Out ~ Holistic Skincare ~ Healthy Frontiers TV

Dr. Dattner:   So it helps people find the pathway that’s most exactly useful for them.

Interviewer:   Perfect, and so who might best benefit from the book?

Dr. Dattner:   Well anybody with a skin disorder is going to benefit, if they are interested in finding other ways of solving the problem.

Interviewer:   Right

Dr. Dattner:   Or of getting better control in using something in addition to what their dermatologist is giving them.

Interviewer:   Right

Dr. Dattner:   And people who are going to benefit most are the ones also who want to use natural methods and are willing to make the changes necessary to do that.

Interviewer:   That’s great.

What does the FDA now say about Tanning Beds?

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modern solarium bedFor some, a combination of good sense, protective genetics, and good luck protect them from skin cancer–even with an outdoor lifestyle.

I was on the beach in Sarasota recently, and I stopped by a group of kite surfers to inquire about what wetsuit I might need for a swim. They were adamant about protecting their skin with wetsuits and rashguards so that they don’t get any more (squamous cell) skin cancers.

Damage leading to skin cancer (and skin wrinkling) is often done by sunlamps to those who are too young to think about long term effects, or those who are mis-informed by the industry selling the lights or the tanning. While light exposure does lead to vitamin D production, and a little exposure can increase melanin production, I agree that legislation should be passed to better inform of the dangers and protect those under age from causing long term damage to their skin.

As a physician, I support of Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposed rule titled, “General and Plastic Surgery Devices: Restricted Sale, Distribution, and Use of Sunlamp Products.”

I commend the FDA on its leadership in regulating sunlamps and for taking this important step to protect the public health. It is estimated that indoor tanning causes upwards of 400,000 cases of skin cancer in the U.S. each year. In fact, using indoor tanning beds before age 35 can increase your risk of melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer – by 59% and the risk increases with each use.

Be sensible about the sun, and protect yourself and your fellow Americans.

To your health,

Dr. Dattner

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

Asparagus: Great Food for Your Skin ~ Best Natural Skincare Diet

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Another great food for your natural skincare diet!

Asparagus is another great food to eat when you’re looking to care for your skin naturally. Those spears of asparagus help your body in many different ways. They contain an amino acid called asparagine, which you probably have noticed, has an distinctive… smell. And if you have the right genetic capability, you will also excrete that in your urine and be able to smell it! It’s a very valuable food to eat, and it should be enjoyed when it’s in season, as fresh as possible.

Heartbreak of Psoriasis: Natural Healing ~ Integrative Dermatology

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Heartbreak of Psoriasis: Natural Healing

Let’s talk a little bit about a condition known as Psoriasis or sometimes the Heartbreak of Psoriasis. Psoriasis involves thick red patches of skin often in the pressure areas or elsewhere throughout the body on the skin. It can be very mild and barely visible or it can be extremely widespread and for some people very disturbing.

Now, eczema is a much milder condition. But Psoriasis tends to be thick it can be itchy or painful and it is caused by the type of inflammation that enlarges the blood vessels in the skin. This causes the skin cells to reproduce and turn over much faster, that is like 4 to 6 days instead of 28 days before they get to the top.

And that over production of the skin cells causes the thickening and the scaling that occurs. So we need to cut down the inflammation that causes that. That is a lymphocytic delayed hypersensitivity celli or immune response causing it. And we know that partly by the new drugs that poison that response and we know that if we can take away what is setting off that inflammation, we can also calm it down. And we can do that through diet as well as through the modern drugs. If you need help with the heartbreak of psoriasis, contact my office for an appointment.

Yellow & Orange Vegetables: Best Natural Skincare Diet

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Yellow and orange vegetables like squash, carrots, or even fruits, like cantaloupe, or orange and red peppers have antioxidant capabilities that protect your body. The family of antioxidants in those foods are called carotenoids. Now, I know there’s been some bad press about beta carotene. But that was an isolated compound. Plants don’t have pure beta carotene. They have a whole variety of caratonoids in them, and if you eat a wide variety of foods, you get an even wider variety of caratonoids, and that network of caratonoids is what the plant is using to protect itself from oxidative damage (which causes aging), so doesn’t it make sense to use not just the most active ingredient, but also the whole broad spectrum that’s present in those plants? So eating those things has a wonderful protective activity in your body, and of course they protect your skin.

Now, a caution, if you eat too much of these, like you’re juicing them every day in large quantities, you may find that you get a slight yellow tint to your skin! That’s not necessarily harmful, but a lot of people find it somewhat objectionable to start turning yellow or orange on the palms and other parts of your skin. So, within reason, these are very important plants to add to your diet.

What Really Causes Acne? ~ Holistic Acne Treatment

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WHAT REALLY CAUSE ACNE? ~ Holistic Acne Treatment

A long time ago, we used to think everything had one cause. Now we know there’s a whole network of different causes and those come together push the body so it begins to mis-fire. We know that hormones cause acne in many different people because it develops at the time of puberty and gets worse with, say, a menstrual cycle in women.

We also know that some people break out from various foods and there are many different mechanisms by which this happens. It’s not just one thing. One of those reasons is hypersensitivity reaction which is going on in the follicles.  Another reason is that it disturbs sugar metabolism and insulin metabolism.

There are also various kinds of oils and improper oils that come in through the diet and those seem to be contributors to acne in some people as well. So there are many different factors there, different in different people, and as we look at somebody’s story, we begin to understand which ones are most involved.

Fish: Great Food for Your Skin ~ Best Natural Skincare Mediterranean Diet

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Let’s talk about some great foods for your skin! One of the best foods for your skin, if you are not a vegetarian, is northern fish. Fish that comes from cold water and grows in cold water and basically is living off the food chain that starts with the krill in the cold water. These fish contain a number of beneficial things, one of which is Omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids, and they will help the membranes of your body both be healthy and be less inflammatory.

What to Do if Your Eczema Cream Stops Working ~ Holistic Treatment

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What to Do if Your Eczema Cream Stops Working ~ Holistic Skincare

It’s possible that you became allergic to one of the components of your eczema cream. It’s important to realize that there are certain kinds of things like preservatives in the creams that are very limited in the types that can exist.

So even if you go to another cream you might find that you’re still going to break out. If that’s the case, you really need to go to somebody who has a great background in chemistry or in dermatology who understands what these things are and can help you figure out what things you need to avoid.  It could be either the preserve system or it could be the actual emollient, the oil part of the cream.

Remember that many components of creams are required as opposed to an ointment or an oil which doesn’t need any kind of emulsifier or preservative, but certainly is not as elegant, as it stains your clothing. It’s important to vary what you’re using, but to do it in a way that avoids the things that have cause problems before. This is the beginning of holistic skincare.

Natural Skin Care Success Stories

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“When you think about some of the patients you’ve treated over the years, are there any in particular that stand out as particularly remarkable?”

“Yeah there are, I can think of one patient who I have seen in my previous practice in Connecticut who came down to visit me and had a lump on his back and the lump was when I biopsied it was loaded with white blood cells now look like it was a lymphoma. Interestingly enough he had been exposed in his work to a very potent solvent for many years for over 20 year to a very potent solvent for many years for over 20 years as a typewriter repair man. It was a former trichloroethylene as I immediately suspected that there was a connection and I did some things such as gave him some different supplements that helped him remove that material from his body as well as giving him some supplements which have been known to be effective in various kinds of cancer. The next time he came back there was no lump to be found.”

“Wow!”
“Have you noticed that you’ve treated people who have certain mental block or mental hang ups and give a talk to them about what those are and then when they resolve their skin conditions go away?”

“There are definitely people who I’ve use techniques on to release various kinds and anxieties and stresses in conflicts. One of those techniques is new modulation technique which involves tapping on acupuncture points along with a series of suggestions to release things. I had a patient with herpes aster which was I’m threatening to involve the eye and possibly even threatening to cause blindness because of its location on the nose. That patient didn’t want to take the medications that would have easily worked, so I used this technique and the next phone call I got was it’s all better so that was a great relief for me as well as for her. I’m there are a number of other techniques and I had the privilege in the past six months of meeting John Sarno who does a lot of work with psychosomatic issues where they are or hidden underlying problems leading to the cause disorders in some of my work is leading people to that kind of release.”