Green tea could hold promise as a new treatment for skin disorders such as psoriasis and dandruff, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.
Researchers studied an animal model for inflammatory skin diseases, which are often characterized by patches of dry, red, flaky skin caused by the inflammation and overproduction of skin cells. Those treated with green tea showed slower growth of skin cells and the presence of a gene that regulates the cells' life cycles.
Psoriasis Patients Respond to Olive Oil Supplement
An olive oil supplement helped patients with the skin condition psoriasis, researchers found in a small study.
From martinis to salads, the olive has traveled from the Middle East and gradually found its way into the American diet. Incorporating olives and olive oil into the diet can reduce the risk of a number of medical conditions, including heart disease and cancer. Recent medical research suggests that olive oil may also be helpful in the treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis.
Psoriasis is a skin disease that results in red or silvery scaly patches called plaques. These are actually areas of inflammation and overproduction of skin. These plaques frequently occur on the elbows and knees but can also affect any area.
Psoriasis is believed to be linked to an overactive immune system. It's not contagious but does have a genetic component. It is often made worse by a stressful lifestyle, including smoking, fatigue, depression and excessive drinking.
About 90 percent of all cases of psoriasis can be described as mild to moderate. Unfortunately, the therapies for psoriasis have many side effects and are used primarily in those with severe cases. There is no good medical therapy for those with mild to moderate psoriasis. One option, however, may be olive oil.
Several years ago, Dr. Fujio Numano, a Japanese cardiovascular researcher, discovered that a specific preparation of the olive oil supplement Olivenol dramatically improved psoriatic plaques. He was evaluating the heart benefits of olive oil, but discovered, by accident, that it also reduced psoriatic plaques.
One of his patients, a 71-year-old with severe psoriasis who was on medical therapy, had an 80 percent reduction in plaques after only two months. His results were confirmed in a small unpublished clinical trial involving several patients with psoriasis and other inflammatory skin conditions. All had good to excellent improvements within eight months.
Olive oil contains a group of compounds with anti-inflammatory properties called polyphenols. It is probably these polyphenols that give olive oil its remarkable health benefits. Polyphenols have been shown to inhibit compounds in the body that strongly amplify the inflammatory response. In addition, olive oil may contain undiscovered properties that inhibit other steps in the inflammatory pathway that ultimately leads to psoriasis.
There is evidence that an anti-inflammatory diet may also reduce psoriatic plaques. An anti-inflammatory diet is one that emphasizes fruits and vegetables, protein primarily from fish, chicken, beans, nuts and seeds and dramatically reduces red meat intake. This type of diet is rich in omega-3 fats (anti-inflammatory) and limits omega-6 fats (pro-inflammatory). Interestingly, these anti-inflammatory diets also use generous amounts of olive oil.
I believe that many of our illnesses are mediated by our lifestyles. As Americans, we often lack balance in our lives, from sleep deprivation and dietary indiscretions to a lack of "down" time.
Green tea, which is plant-derived, may be an alternative, he says. But scientists must work to overcome some barriers with the treatment.
The chemicals in green tea are so active that they are oxidized too quickly when mixed with other ingredients. They also dissolve in water, which cannot penetrate the skin's barrier.
Researchers are looking for a balanced formula that can dissolve in fats, which can permeate the skin, Dr. Hsu says.
what do they mean, water cannot penetrate the skin barrier. I've seen a lot of studies done on vitamin c dissolved in water, and applied to the skin.. and the changes in collagen. so.. how is the collagen affected if the solution doesn't penetrate the skin?
I think the doctor's statements are overstated. Green tea can penetrate the skin but I think they're looking for ways to get it to go deeper than a standard water-based extract.
They're already doing this for oral green tea supplements. The Italian phyto-pharmaceutical giant, Indena, makes a phytosome-form of green tea. It's basically a chemcially-bound combination of green tea extract and phosholipids (from soy). By rendering the green-tea more fat-soluble ... it can have a longer-lasting and different effect than a standard cup of green tea.
I disagree with the statement that people with Psoriasis have overactive immune systems. They also use this same description about people with Crohn's Disease. I have both currently.
A more accurate statement is that the people with Psoriasis have a disfunctional immune system. The immune system is not over active it responds incorrectly. The over active definition leads to immune suppressing drugs rather than immune modulating drugs or treatments.
I am taking Low Dose Naltrexone with modulates the immune response. If anything it raises the immune response. This would not work if the immune system was already over active.
My Psoriasis is ever so slowly going away. There are other using LDN who have had their Psoriasis completely resolved.
Q: I've suffered from psoriasis for nearly 20 years now. The skin on my arms and hands looks so scaly that I'm humiliated to go out in public. None of the treatments my doctors have prescribed over the years have worked. Is there any natural treatment that can help?
Dr. Wright: Long term natural psoriasis therapy requires allergy testing, elimination, and desensitization, and in many cases, improvement of digestive function with hydrochloric acid/pepsin and digestive enzymes.
It also requires eliminating all sugar, refined food, and alcohol. I know cutting these things from your diet isn't easy, but having seen some of the devastating social effects psoriasis can have, I'm inclined to believe that giving up that occasional nightcap (or whatever you might be sensitive to) is well worth the sacrifice, considering the trouble it can cause.
There's also a natural formula called Psoriazide Forte that can help ease your symptoms while you're working on your diet and allergies. Psoriazide Forte is a combination of nickel, bromide, and fumaric acid. One 600-milligram tablet per day helps alleviate psoriasis symptoms in the majority of people who try it (although, like nearly any other treatment, it doesn't work for everyone).
You can get Psoriazide Forte from some natural food stores as well as through compoundingpharmacies.
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Indigo naturalis, a dark blue plant used in traditional Chinese medicine, appears to be effective in treating psoriasis, a study in Taiwan has found.
Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease for which no cure is known, though some therapies bring about a remission. It causes red scaly patches, or plaques, which take on a silvery-white appearance and often occur on the arms, elbows, knees and legs.
A study of the findings of a clinical trial involving 42 patients who had had the condition for at least two years was published in the latest issue of Archives of Dermatology.
The researchers found that indigo naturalis in the form of an ointment was safe and effective in treating psoriasis.
"Current steroid-based medication may cause side effects like thinning of the skin, but this (indigo naturalis) has much less side effects," lead researcher Yin-Ku Lin of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University in Taoyuan, Taiwan, told Reuters by telephone.
None of the patients in the trial had serious adverse effects, though some experienced a mild skin allergy.
They applied indigo naturalis ointment on one side of their bodies and a placebo, or non-medicated, ointment on the other.
Doctors checked on their condition at the start of the treatment and after two, four, six, eight, 10 and 12 weeks.
"The indigo naturalis ointment-treated lesions showed an 81 percent improvement, the (non-medicated) ointment-treated lesions showed a 26 percent improvement," the authors wrote.
For 25 of the patients, plaques that were treated with the indigo were completely or nearly completely cleared.
My son just brought his new girl up here from New Orleans last week to stay. She's 18 and an abolute doll. She is plagued with psoriasis. I put her on cocnut oil both IN and OUT immediately and her skin right now is better thrn she can ever remember it being. The rash is almost gone and she is thrilled. Maybe some things just work with some peoples chemistry that others will not?
I also put her on Vitamin C and Vitamin D.
__________________ The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible......
I have some good quality coconut oil sitting on a back shelf that I'll have to bring out again. I love it, but hadn't tried it for psoriasis. How much coconut oil, Vitamin C and D did the girl take? I have some 1,000, 5,000 and 50,000 IU capsuls of Vitamin D3 and have been taking 5,000 D3 lately, but was thinking of trying 50,000 IU again.
I've got her on 3 tablespoons internally, and using the oil as a lotion on the skin. I've got her on 2000 Vit. C 2x day, and 1000 iu of Vit D 2x day. She's such a tiny little thing. But these doses appear to be making great headway with her. I hope it can help you.
I'm really interested in the indigo naturalis ointment. I searched on Google for a long time last night and only found one place that sold it, but I was a little afraid that it might not be a safe site. If you hear of a source I would appreciate your letting me know. They may make a prescription drug out of it.
I'm having a terrible time with my hands which have been slowly getting worse for about two years. Just when I think something is helping it flairs up again. Right now both hands are inflamed with thin, hard, cracked paper-cut type slits all over my finger tips, which makes it hard to even type this. The top of my hands to just above my wrists are red, inflamed and scaley, as the Reuters article describes. I've tried three different prescription ointments which have probably only caused the skin to be thin and easily cracked, also I've used homemade colloidal silver, Lugol's iodine, Vaseline (the only thing that helps to soften the skin for a while) and now have started ozonated olive oil. I use Cetaphil and Aveno ointments for moisture too. I keep switching because it seems that nothing helps for long.
After reading that green tea might help last night, I steeped two tea bags with both green and black tea (the only kind I had in the house) in a half cup of boiling water. When it cooled, I rubbed the tea bags over my hands before adding lotion, and then drank the tea. I saved the other tea bag for future use, but I sure wish it had been the indigo kind!
I have a lot of respect for Dr. Wright, but I am surprised that he would recomend a supplement for a skin condition that has nickle in it. I have metal alergies and a lot of other people do too. Nickel is usually the worst offender, although I am also alergic to aluminum.
nightowl
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P.S. On my second visit to the site with an ointment containing indigo naturalis, I couldn't resist the temptation to order a jar. It has the indigo ingredient listed first, but does have other ingredients in it. I used PayPal and it seemed secure, very quick and easy to order. Here is the link:
I'm not sure if I already relayed this information, on this or another thread. But, if so, it wouldn't be the first time I've repeated myself.
Earlier this year, I had a severe bout of psoriasis/eczema. I know the two conditions are not the same but, according to two doctors, I seemed to have both conditions at once! I guess I just hit the skin-disorder jackpot.
I'd had issues with eczema in the past but I never recall having had psoriasis. Also, the severity of my skin condition was literally debilitating. I actually had to take some time off of work because of the pain/discomfort and because my skin looked so bad.
To make a longer story shorter ... I was prescribed oral steroids. Even the holistic doc I was seeing recommended that I take them for the short term. He also laid-out an expensive, laborious and expensive protocol that he wanted me to follow. But, by that time, I was already experimenting on myself. I was trying anything that I thought/read might have a reasonable chance at success.
I was using green tea extract internally. I was taking high-dosages of fish oil and black currant seed oil. I started taking milk thistle extract. I upped my dosage of probiotics and tried to clean up my diet. And finally, I started taking a standardized, concentrated mangosteen extract.
My skin, slowly but surely, got better. So much so, in fact, that when I went back to the dermatologist and my holistic doc ... they assumed that I had taken the course of steroids. They were stunned at the speed and degree of improvement that I'd achieved.
Now, I feel the need to mention something that may conflict with a previous post in this thread. Please understand that this is just a possible theory on my part. Just one of many possibilities.
Prior to this extreme skin agitation, I had started using substantial dosages of organic coconut oil - several tablespoons a day. I don't know if it could have possibly triggered my skin's reaction. Maybe I developed an allergy to the coconut oil. Maybe the coconut oil caused a massive die-off of bad microbes residing in my body. Or, maybe my taking coconut oil and having the skin problems was just a coincidence. I honestly don't know. Still, since it's a possibility, I thought I'd at least mention it.
BTW, the only skin cream that seemed to calm my breakouts and truly moisturize my dry, cracked skin was a product by Aubrey Organics called Vegecol. It's not cheap but it does, IMO, moisturize and soothe well.
Now that my skin is doing better, I've started using a less expensive Aubrey product. It's not quite as good or intensively moisturizing but it's good for maintenance, IMO.
The last thing I wanted to mention is this: My skin does a lot better if I'm following a low-sugar, nutrient dense diet. I know this may just be common sense but I thought I should mention it anyway.
PS - Those Aubrey Organics products are available at other stores as well. I just link to IHerb because of pure laziness.
I hope you find relief very soon, Nightowl. Best of luck.
Both of the Aubry products have a coconut fatty acid cream base so you must not be very alergic. I have never tried them. Do they have much fragrance? I'm sensative to perfumes and even some strong natural fragrances. I love the feel of coconut oil on the skin, and never thought I could eat a Tablespoon of oil but learned to love Tropical Traditions brand. I first tried it orally when I was icy cold from my hypothyroid condition because it really did help to warm my body. That is under controle since my doctor added T3 to the T4.
One real problem is the extreme dryness of my hands and it's hard to do anything with gooey oil on them, so I'm constantly having to wash it off and replace it. I need to get cotton gloves that can be washed.
I'm sure that one of my big triggers is sugar...I have a hard time staying away from sweets.
Thanks for all your pointers. I'll let you know if anything works. I have an appointment with a dermatologist on Dec 22nd. I hope I can clear it up before then, but when I saw him a few years ago, he was very reluctant about giving me prednisone, and only had me take it for four days, so I know he is cautious.
Green Tea May Combat Psoriasis
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