Psoriasis
Do You Suffer "The Heartbreak Of Psoriasis"?
Once thought to
be little more than an annoying and unsightly skin condition, research now shows
psoriasis to be a symptom of much more serious problems.
What is Psoriasis?
Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease with abnormally fast production of skin
cells (up to 1,000 times normal) accompanied by inflammation.
Rapidly-multiplying skin cells pile up, creating a silvery scale. Skin
underneath this scale is typically inflamed, itchy and painful. The condition is
not contagious.
Psoriasis, once considered a "skin disease," is now recognized as a
systemic (body-wide) autoimmune condition highly associated with:
Other conditions associated with psoriasis include depression,
insomnia/sleep difficulties, COPD, GERD and arthritis.
What Causes Psoriasis?
The precise cause of psoriasis is not known but a number of factors and have
been identified:
-
genetic. About one-third of people with psoriasis have a family
member who also has the disease, suggesting a genetic component in some
sufferers.
-
high cGMP to cAMP ratios
-
excess inflammation
-
high inflammatory cytokines (immune-regulating communication molecules)
-
auto-immune
In holistic medicine we also consider:
-
incomplete digestion (especially protein digestion).
-
bowel dysbiosis
-
impaired liver function
-
food allergies
-
nutritional deficiencies
-
stress appears to worsen the condition, and stress-reducing practices
have shown to be helpful in these cases.
Each individual case of psoriasis should be considered as some combination
of these factors.
Conventional medical treatment:
Topical treatments such as steroid cream can greatly help or even "cure"
psoriasis. Unfortunately, steroid cream can cause skin atrophy, stretch marks,
spider veins and easy bruising when used long-term. The effects can also become
systemic and disrupt hormone levels, contributing to osteoporosis and even
psychosis.
Steroid creams don't work for everyone, and there is often a decreasing effect
of treatment with continual use. There can also be serious rebound effects with
sudden discontinuance.
Immune-suppressive drugs such as cyclosporin and methotrexate are used, but
liver, kidney and blood values must be monitored regularly because of the
toxicity of these drugs.
Dr. Myatt's Holistic Self-Help Recommendations*
DIET AND LIFESTYLE
PRIMARY SUPPORT
Maxi Multi: 3 caps, 3 times per day with meals. Maxi Multi
contains optimal (not minimal) doses of all essential vitamins,
minerals, and trace minerals, including those often deficient in
psoriasis. The most
important deficiencies in psoriasis are:
vitamin A, vitamin E, chromium, selenium, zinc, and vitamin D.
Omega 3 fatty acids:
especially EPA and DHA as found in fish oil. Target dose
is 1.8grams EPA and 1.2 grams DHA. This can be obtained from:
Max EPA: 10 caps per day with meals
OR
Maxi Marine O-3: 4 caps per day with meals
Maxi-Flavone: 1-2 caps per day with meals. This ultra-potent
formula contains herbs which decrease inflammatory cytokines.
Vitamin D: additional vitamin D as needed to obtain
optimal blood levels. Learn about
vitamin D
testing here. Optimal vitamin D levels are very important for
psoriasis success.
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
-
Forskolin: 1 cap, 2 times per day. This herb help
normalize
the cAMP /cGMP ratio which is imbalanced in psoriasis.
- Treat GI Dysbiosis if present (highly likely), best done with
the results of a
Comprehensive GI Health Profile. Treatment may include
goldenseal (hydrastis), milk thistle, probiotics, and other gut
treatments.
LIFESTYLE / TOPICAL TREATMENTS
TESTS
DR. MYATT’S COMMENTS
ALL psoriasis patients, whether symptomatic or not, should pay
special attention to cardiovascular and metabolic risks. I recommend
looking at
cardio risk factors including the "other" risk factors at a regular
interval.
Psoriasis can be challenging, but starting with the basics (good gut,
adequate nutrients) often corrects or at least greatly improves symptoms. When
natural, corrective treatment is used, improvement in skin lesions can be
expected to include improvement associated risks such as heart disease and
diabetes.
Topical treatments alone, even when they decrease skin lesions, do not
correct systemic risks. Psoriasis should therefore be treated as a systemic
disease, not a skin disease.
_____________
References:
1.) Abou-Raya A, Abou-Raya S. Inflammation: a pivotal link between autoimmune
diseases and atherosclerosis. Autoimmun Rev. 2006 May;5(5):331-7. Epub 2006 Feb
3. [## autoimmune/CVD risk association; immune modulating therapies should be
used ; monitor hs-CRP ##]
2.) Boehncke WH, Boehncke S. Research in practice: the systemic aspects of
psoriasis. J Dtsch Dermatol Ges. 2008 Aug;6(8):622-5. Epub 2008 Jun 16.{##
inflammatory dz.; endothelial dysfxn.; assoc. with higher CVD and stroke ##]
3.) Gottlieb AB, Chao C, Dann F. Psoriasis comorbidities.J Dermatolog Treat.
2008;19(1):5-21.[## inflammatory ddz.; CVD and metabolic syndrome; increased
inflam. cytokines ##]
4.) Kaplan MJ. Cardiometabolic risk in psoriasis: differential effects of
biologic agents. Vasc Health Risk Manag. 2008;4(6):1229-35. [## increased
inflammation; increased CVD ##]
5.) Ludwig RJ, Herzog C, Rostock A, Ochsendorf FR, Zollner TM, Thaci D, Kaufmann
R, Vogl TJ, Boehncke WH.Psoriasis: a possible risk factor for development of
coronary artery calcification. Br J Dermatol. 2007 Feb;156(2):271-6.[## P. is
systemic; acssoc. with increased
CVD; chronic inflammation ##]
6.) Wakkee M, Thio HB, Prens EP, Sijbrands EJ, Neumann HA. Unfavorable
cardiovascular risk profiles in untreated and treated psoriasis patients.
Atherosclerosis. 2007 Jan;190(1):1-9. Epub 2006 Aug 30.[## psoriasis is systemic
inflammatory disease; increased cytokines ; increased CVD risk ##]
7.) Wu Y, Mills D, Bala M. Psoriasis: cardiovascular risk factors and other
disease comorbidities.J Drugs Dermatol. 2008 Apr;7(4):373-7. [## P. assoc. with
increased CVD, HPTN, high chol., DM, Other comorbidities significantly
associated with psoriasis were arthritis, depression, sleep disorder/insomnia,
COPD, GERD ##]
8.) Kourosh AS, Miner A, Menter A. Psoriasis as the marker of
underlying systemic disease. Skin Therapy Lett. 2008 Feb;13(1):1-5.[## CVD;
metabolic syndroms; increase inflam. ##]
9.) Gottlieb AB, Dann F, Menter A. Psoriasis and the metabolic syndrome. J
Drugs Dermatol. 2008 Jun;7(6):563-72. [## immune-inflammatory cond.; insulin
resistance, obesity, dyslipidemia, and hypertension; pro-inflammatory cytokines
##]
10.) Sommer DM, Jenisch S, Suchan M, Christophers E, Weichenthal M. Increased
prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in patients with moderate to severe
psoriasis. Arch Dermatol Res. 2006 Dec;298(7):321-8. Epub 2006 Sep 22. [##
proinflammatory cytokines; atherogenesis, peripheral insulin resistance, and the
development of hypertension and type II diabetes ##]
11.) Puig-Sanz L. [Psoriasis, a systemic disease?] Actas Dermosifiliogr. 2007
Jul-Aug;98(6):396-402. [article in Spanish] [## systemic disease; TNF-alpha :
increased, dyslipemia, adult diabetes mellitus, alcohol abuse and tobacco habit
which contribute to the increased risk of mortality associated with
atherosclerosis; pro-inflam state; ##]
12.) Azfar RS, Gelfand JM. Psoriasis and metabolic disease: epidemiology and
pathophysiology. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2008 Jul;20(4):416-22.[## metabolic and
CVD; screen for ##]
13.) Gisondi P, Girolomoni G. Psoriasis and atherothrombotic diseases:
disease-specific and non-disease-specific risk factors. Semin Thromb Hemost.
2009 Apr;35(3):313-24. Epub 2009 May 18. [## CVD; DM/metabolic syn.; [## hs-CRP
; inflam. cytokines; screening and Tx. ##]
14.) Shapiro J, Cohen AD, David M, Hodak E, Chodik G, Viner A, Kremer E,
Heymann A. The association between psoriasis, diabetes mellitus, and
atherosclerosis in Israel: a case-control study.J Am Acad Dermatol. 2007
Apr;56(4):629-34. Epub 2006 Dec 8. [## DM, CVD ##]
15.) Cohen AD, Sherf M, Vidavsky L, Vardy DA, Shapiro J, Meyerovitch J.
Association between psoriasis and the metabolic syndrome. A cross-sectional
study. Dermatology. 2008;216(2):152-5. Epub 2008 Jan 23. [## metabolic
syndrome##]
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