DERMATITIS, ECZEMA, VITILIGO, ROSACEA AND OTHER SKIN
CONDITIONS
by Lawrence Wilson, MD
î January 2010, The Center For
Development
The skin is the largest organ of
the body. It is an insulator,
barrier against infection, eliminative organ, and sense organ. Vitamin D is formed in the skin from
the action of the sun.
Health
conditions affecting the skin are mainly benign, but often unsightly and
annoying. A few, such as melanoma,
are potentially lethal.
Nutritional balancing and hair analysis research offer many insights
into the causes and correction of skin conditions.
OXIDATION TYPES AND
THE SKIN
Slow oxidation. Common symptoms of
sluggish glandular activity (slow oxidation) include dry, rough skin and lack
of sweating. Dry eczema,
psoriasis, itchy skin and many cases of dermatitis and eczema are associated
with slow oxidation. the latter
are often general terms doctors use when they are not sure of the cause of a
skin condition.
Slow oxidizers are often copper
toxic and zinc deficient. Zinc deficiency
is associated with many skin conditions.
Fast oxidizers. Those with excessive adrenal and thyroid activity tend to
sweat profusely and have more oily skin.
They tend more toward moist or weeping eczema. Fast oxidizers often have low zinc levels, contributing to
their eczema, as well as to heat rashes and diaper rashes in babies. Fast oxidizers are also more prone to
severe allergic skin reactions, such as hives, although this can occur in both
metabolic types.
COPPER AND ZINC
Many
skin conditions are related to copper and zinc imbalance. These include acne, psoriasis, eczema, vitiligo and other cases of dermatitis. Copper is needed for melanin
production. Melanin is the pigment
which gives skin its color. Copper
is also involved in collagen synthesis.
Zinc is involved in wound healing, and helps give collagen and other
tissues their elastic quality.
Zinc oxide ointment is a folk remedy for skin disorders.
VITAMIN A, VITAMIN E
AND THE SKIN
Vitamin
A is needed for the integrity of the skin and mucus membranes. It works synergetically
with zinc. Many skin conditions
associated with zinc and copper imbalance respond better to a combination of
zinc and vitamin A.
However, excessive vitamin A
causes dryness and peeling of the skin.
This is exploited in the creams that use Retin-A,
a form of vitamin A, to peel the skin to remove wrinkles.
Vitamin
E promotes healing of the skin, for which reason it is used in many skin
creams. Vitamin E can be used
topically, as well as ingested, for maximum benefit. Aloe vera is another wonderful
skin remedy. One can just apply a
cut leaf to the area or one can buy an aloe vera gel
product in the health food store.
ESSENTIAL FATTY
ACIDS AND THE SKIN
The
American diet is low in the essential fatty acids, also often referred to as
the omega-3 fatty acids. This
deficiency can cause dry skin and conditions resembling eczema and
psoriasis. Adding fish oil, flaxseed
oil, primrose oil, black current seed oil or borage oil to the diet is
important for correction of some skin conditions.
DETOXIFICATION AND
SKIN DISORDERS
The
skin is an organ of elimination.
If other organs of elimination - the kidneys, liver, lungs and colon -
are not functioning well, often excess toxic substances will be eliminated
through the skin. This is a common
cause of some skin symptoms.
Therapies to assist the eliminative organs
often help the skin. These
therapies include additional Dietary Fiber tablets along with the daily use of
a near infrared sauna, coffee enemas, skin brushing, and colonic
irrigation. For some cases of
intractable acne and other conditions, these therapies are extremely beneficial
and will usually clear up most skin conditions.
Products
that assist detoxification through the liver include GB-3 which contains bile
acids and dehydrocholic acid. The lipotropic
factors found in ICMN also assist detoxification
through the liver. Many other
treatments from foot reflexology to yoga can help balance and strengthen the
eliminative organs, indirectly helping the skin.
ROSACEA
This somewhat unsightly condition
may be due to an infection in the intestines or elsewhere. It is not one of the easiest conditions
to eradiate with a nutritional balancing program. One problem with it that I encounter is that sauna therapy,
a method that is so helpful with most skin conditions, can aggravate the
symptoms on the face. In this
case, one may need to not face the lamps of the sauna.
An interesting insight about rosacea is that taking betaine
hydrochloride and pepsin, a common digestive aid, has been found to improve it.
PSORIASIS
Most
cases of psoriasis, an itchy, scaly condition of the skin that may be a fungal
infection of some kind, respond very well to nutritional balancing
programs. Most people report that
the condition goes away after a few months on a nutritional balancing program.
The use of the near infrared lamp sauna and coffee enemas is very helpful for
it.
ECZEMA AND
DERMATITIS
These
are somewhat catch-all diagnostic terms for various kinds of skin irritation. Most often, they go away easily with a
nutritional balancing program.
There is no need for cortisone cream, for example, that dermatologists
often use. It does not cure the
condition, however, but merely controls it.
Many
cases of eczema are due to low zinc and copper excess. Another factor can be a deficiency of
the omega-3 fatty acids or vitamin D.
Other cases are due to minor or sometimes deeper infections somewhere
else in the body. As these are
cleared with a nutritional balancing program, the skin problem disappears.
A
common skin ailment is eczema in newborns and infants. This can be very unsightly, though it
is not a serious condition otherwise.
It also goes away, usually within a few weeks to a month or two, with a
nutritional balancing program. The
cause is usually fast oxidation and a need for copper and zinc together. A properly performed hair tissue
mineral analysis can guide the correction of the condition very well.
URTICARIA
This
is usually part of an allergic condition in the body. It usually responds very well to a nutritional balancing
regimen.
MELANOMA
This is an aggressive cancer. I do not recommend nutritional
balancing for it at this time.
Instead, please read the article entitled Cancer
And Alternatives, which suggests two methods that are totally natural and
work well for it in most cases.
BURNING SKIN
This is often an early or a later
symptom of a blood sugar imbalance, and perhaps of diabetes. It goes away as the body becomes more
balanced and healthier.
FINGERNAIL AND
TOENAIL FUNGUS
This is an unsightly infection of
the nail bed. It causes the nail
to be discolored, rough and weak.
It can be difficult to correct.
Remedies that may work include those found in the drug store, or
possibly soaking the fingers or toes in a strong solution of hydrogen peroxide,
colloidal silver, or other anti-fungal solutions.
One of our clients placed a red
heat lamp near his feet and moved his toes close to the light for about 15 minutes
once each day. He said that in
time the nail grew out healthy.
However, he must continue the treatment, I believe, or the nail fungus
will tend to come back.
SCARRING
Scars are merely damaged places on
the skin that never healed properly.
They are forms of adhesions, meaning that the body cannot heal the area
properly, so it protects it with layers of hard, connective tissue that we call
a scar. Those who experience bad
scarring after a cut, or after surgery, for example, usually have an imbalance
involving copper and zinc in the body.
They are also usually low in the omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D.
A major cause of
scarring is malnutrition. In my experience, a
nutritional balancing program will definitely reduce many scars, even very old
ones. The daily or twice use of a
near infrared lamp sauna in combination with the nutritional balancing program
is even better and often much better.
Just the sauna alone is not so good. For more on this topic, read Scars
on this website.
VITILIGO
De-pigmented
spots or larger white areas of skin are called vitiligo. In Mexico, this condition was treated
with large doses of valium. The
patients were heavily sedated by the medication.
Nutritional
balancing science is often able to heal this conditions as well, though it may
take longer than using a suppressive drug. In addition to the regular programs, one may need to add
B-complex vitamins and especially PABA or glutathione
in a few cases. Patience is
required for good results.
SUNBATHING
Due
to the threat of skin cancer, medical authorities claim we must avoid the
sun. It is true that ultraviolet
radiation will age the skin.
However, studies show that sunbathers have more skin cancer, but less
internal cancer. In addition,
malignant melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer, is more common among people who
stay out of the sun and usually occurs on parts of the body not directly
exposed to the sun.
Contrary
to environmental propaganda, the ultraviolet levels in America are
falling. The changes from 1974 to
1985 ranged from -1.1% in Minneapolis to -0.4% in Philadelphia, but all cities
showed a decline in ultraviolet
radiation.
Reasons
for increased skin cancer include the southward migration of our population,
poorer overall health, and perhaps tanning lotions. These lotions block ultraviolet B, but allow the ultraviolet
A, which is supposedly harmless.
By blocking the ultraviolet B, people may spend too much time in the
sun, leading to subtle skin damage.
Sunlight
should be considered a nutrient.
Dr. John Ott wrote several books about the
therapeutic value of sunlight. At
many sanitariums, exposure to sunshine was an integral part of the therapy for
tuberculosis and other chronic diseases.
Obviously, overexposure to the sun is not beneficial. But some exposure, especially early or
late in the day, is healthful. For
more information, read The Hole in the
Ozone Scare by Maduro and Schauerhammer,
1992.
How to use the sun for healing. I recommend sunbathing for about
one-half an hour during the hot part of the day, and a little more, up to 45
minutes if you sunbathe in the early morning or later in the afternoon. There are other benefits to sunshine in
the early or later hours of the day.
However, do not spend more time than this in the sun ever! More is definitely toxic and provides
no added benefit!!!
For
much more information about topics related to the sun such as sun tan lotions
and creams, sun glasses, sun tanning, tanning beds, and more, read The Sun And Its Relation To Health on this website.
SAUNA THERAPY FOR
SKIN CONDITIONS
Without
a doubt, one of the finest therapies for skin conditions is a near infrared
light sauna. Also, a single
reddish heat lamp can be used by itself, but it is not nearly as good as
sitting in a near infrared sauna each day for between 30-40 minutes once or
even twice daily.
In
combination with a complete nutritional balancing program, the sauna will
cleanse the skin from the inside, which will help remove skin infections,
toxins that lodge in the skin, and assist with general rejuvenation of the
skin. For more on this, read Sauna Therapy on this website.
EHLERS-DANLOS SYNDROME
A
rather rare condition that affects the skin is called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
The skin sort of shrivels up.
Interestingly, a 30-year-old client developed something that looked very
much like this condition during a nutritional balancing program as he eliminated
certain chemicals from his body.
As the elimination proceeded the conditions changed form and eventually
has lessened.
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