Psoriasis

• Psoriasis -

  Psoriasis (psora is greek for “to itch”) has been diagnosed in both Asia and Europe for over 2000 years. In China it is known under the names Pi Xuan (Ox Skin Dermatitis), Song Bi Xuan (Pine Skin Dermatitis), and Bai Bi (White Dagger Sore/ Whiite Crust), all of the names pointing out the characteristic scaly look of this common skin disorder. The scale itself comes from the over production of skin cells that are regenerating every 3-5 days, instead of the normal 30 days.

• Skin and Fertility-

  A few weeks back Dr. Lorne Brown, the clinical director of Acubalance Wellness Centre, interviewed me on how I use skin to help me diagnosis fertility problems. Have a listen to the podcast.

• Clinical analysis of 47 patients with psoriasis treated by traditional Chinese medicine-

  CONCLUSION: TCM and integrative medicine are effective in treating PA, with lesser side effects.

• Anti-psoriatic effects of indigo naturalis on the proliferation and differentiation of keratinocytes -

  CONCLUSIONS: Together, these findings indicate that the anti-psoriatic effects of indigo naturalis are mediated, at least in part, by modulating the proliferation and differentiation of keratinocytes, with indirubin as the major active component.

• Qinzhu Liangxue Decoction in treatment of blood-heat type psoriasis vulgaris: a randomized controlled trial-

  CONCLUSION: QZLXD is remarkably advantageous in treatment of psoriasis vulgaris of blood-heat syndrome and improvement of patient's quality of life. The mechanism may be related to decrease in serum VEGF level and action against neogenesis of blood vessels.

• Impact of serum epidermal growth factor on progressive psoriasis and regulation of Chinese herbal medicine -

  CONCLUSION: Serum level of EGF might be an important factor related to the progress of psoriasis.

• Meridian three-combined therapy for treatment of ordinary psoriasis: a multi-center randomized controlled study-

  CONCLUSION: The meridian three-combined therapy is effective and safe for treatment of ordinary psoriasis.

• Effect of combined herbal medicine therapy on the expression of psoriasis-associated antigen-Pso p27 in patients with psoriasis -

  CONCLUSION: The combined herbal medicine therapy is effective in treating psoriasis vulgaris in both acute and silent stages, which may be resulted from its inhibition of the expression of Pso p27.

• Psoriasis is a systemic disease-

  Psoriasis has been diagnosed as a disorder for thousands of years in both the east and western worlds. Chinese medicine has always viewed psoriasis as systemic disease that responds very well to the use of internally administered medicinals. Modern western medicine has struggled with it's understanding of psoriasis, in both treatment and diagnosis, and it has only been in the recent past that psoriasis is being viewed as a systemic problem.

• Why I like my job.-

  Yesterday in clinic I had the opportunity to show a series of photographs to a patient that had been taken over the past year and a half, during the treatment of her chronic psoriasis. She had been asking me for them and I was waiting for this brand new macbook (that I just purchased) so that I could edit them easier :-)

• Psoriasis- 3 months after using Chinese herbal medicine- This photo was taken three months after the patient had stopped using any western based creams and was taking internal and external Chinese herbal medicine. The patient had claimed that this was the most stable her lesion had ever been after many decades of having psoriasis.
• Psoriasis- before Chinese meds- was using Western cream- The photo was taken on the first visit. This psoriatic lesion has been suppressed through the use of a non-steroidal vitamin D based western ointment. This patient had been using this cream, and others like it, for the past couple decades without much more clearing than what is seen now.
• Double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy of fish oil and low-dose UVB in the treatment of psoriasis - Since eicosanoids have been implicated in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, less potent eicosanoid mediators derived from fish oil might improve psoriasis. Using a double-blind, randomized, parallel design, 18 patients with stable, plaque psoriasis received capsules of either fish oil or identical-appearing placebo olive oil for 15 weeks, with
• Drug-induced suppression of phosphorylase kinase activity correlates with resolution of psoriasis -

  BACKGROUND: Phosphorylase kinase (PhK), also known as adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-phosphorylase b phosphotransferase, integrates multiple calcium/calmodulin-dependent signalling pathways, including those involved in cell migration and cell proliferation, while coupling these pathways to glycogenolysis and ATP-dependent phosphorylation,

• Review of a treatment for psoriasis using herose, a Chinese botanical formula.-

  This study was undertaken to assess the efficacy of the herose formula as a treatment for psoriasis patients who have been previously treated with immunosuppressants. The study was an open one conducted in one center. Fifteen patients were instructed to take four herose capsules (450 mg per capsule) three times a day for 10 months. At each visit the

• Successful Treatment of Pediatric Psoriasis with Indigo naturalis Composite Ointment -

  The treatment of psoriasis in children is still an intractable problem and demands a long-term therapy with prolonged efficacy that is free from serious adverse events. Many modes of therapy are currently in use but the disease is often resistant to treatment owing to the unacceptable toxicity that leads to poor compliance. Therefore, to

• Traditional Chinese medicine is effective and safe in the treatment of psoriasis-

  Conclusion: Therapy with TCM has several advantages. It is effective and shows excellent safety in most patients with psoriasis. Remission seems to be long lasting. In addition, treatment with TCM is less costly for the patient when compared with narrow-band UVB, psoralen plus UVA (PUVA), retinoids, ciclosporin, alefacept, and other new biologic agents.

• Assessment of Patients With Recalcitrant Psoriasis in a Randomized, Observer-Blind, Vehicle-Controlled Trial Using Indigo.-

   CONCLUSION: Topical indigo naturalis (the Chinese herb Qing Dai) ointment was a novel, safe, and effective therapy for plaque-type psoriasis.

   

• Skin diseases in alcoholics-

  The most common skin manifestations of alcoholism presented in this review article are urticarial reactions, porphyria cutanea tarda, flushing, cutaneous stigmata of cirrhosis, psoriasis, pruritus, seborrheic dermatitis, and rosacea

   

• Relationship between smoking and the clinical severity of psoriasis.-

  CONCLUSION: Smoking is associated with the clinical severity of psoriasis and highlights the importance of smoking cessation in patients with psoriasis.

   

  OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between different components of smoking history and the clinical severity of psoriasis. DESIGN: A hospital-based cross-sectional study.

• Alcohol as a risk factor for plaque-type psoriasis.-

  We recommend that clinicians discourage patients with psoriasis from consuming alcohol, especially during periods of disease exacerbation.

   

• Psoriais is a systemic disease and should be treated as such!-

  Well here is another rant about how psoriasis is truly a sysptemic disease, a fact that Chinese medicine has identified for hundreds of years. A recent article published in the British Journal of Dermatology stated that people with psoriasis have an increased risk of heart disease. The authors stated that traditionally western dermatologists mainly focused on psoriasis in the skin and joint level, but failed to view any correlation to other organ systems.

• Psoriasis: An Opportunity to Identify Cardiovascular Risk-

  Psoriasis is highly prevalent and is associated with skin-associated complaints as well as arthritis, depression and a lower quality of life. Recently, it has been demonstrated that not only do patients with psoriasis have an increased prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, but an increased risk of myocardial infarction, and for those with

• The Chinese herb Jiang Huang, aka Tumeric, found to be twice as effective in relieving psoriasis than western drug calcipotriol.-

  Sometimes it seems that the simpliest and common things are the best for us. Tumeric (Curcumin Longae) the common kitchen spice and Chinese herbal remedy (Jiang Huang), was shown to be very effective at reducing the thick plaques of psoriasis. In fact the researchers who did the study found that Tumeric was twice as effective as the western drug calcipotriol, also known as Dovonex.

• Chinese medicine and the treatment of psoriasis.- [video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83SElJmqRkA]
• Psoriasis-Navel-After
• Psoriasis-Navel-Before
• Psoriasis- leg- After 10 weeks of treatment
• Psoriasis- leg- before
• Sebopsoriasis-before
• sebopsoriasis-after
• psoriasis- trunk, after- This picture was donated by Adina Stanescu from her own clinical practice. Adina trained with one of Europe's best Chinese medical dermatologists, Mazin Al Khafaji. She offers herbal treatments for many conditions dealing with fertility, skin, and other internal medicine issues.
• psoriasis- trunk, before- This picture was donated by Adina Stanescu from her own clinical practice. Adina trained with one of Europe's best Chinese medical dermatologists, Mazin Al Khafaji. She offers herbal treatments for many conditions dealing with fertility, skin, and other internal medicine issues. Adina is my eastern Canada skin connection,
• Psoriasis-back-before- This woman came in with widespread plaque psoriasis covering most of her body. Notice how the lesions look dense, tethered, and well attached. Very typical of the Chinese medicine syndrome of blood stasis. To see her results after just 8 weeks of herbal treatment, click here.
  
• Psoriasis-back- 8 weeks later- This picture was taken after 8 weeks of both internally consumed and externally applied Chinese herbal medicines.
• Radix Angelicae Dahuricae (Bai Zhi) is effecive for the treatment of Psoriasis- The Chinese medicinal, Radix Angelicae Dahuricae (Bai Zhi), is commonly used for the treatment of psoriasis. I commonly add this herb to a herbal formula when a patient complains of a strong itch.
• Psoriasis-7 weeks later
• Psoriasis- before
• Guttate Psoriasis- After
• Guttate Psoriasis- Before- This picture was taken in mid January, 2007, before taking any chinese herbs.
• Psoriasis statistics-

  I recently came across the the following statistics from The Psoriasis Education Program (www.psoriasisinfo.ca):