DISEASES OF SKIN WITH HOMOEOPATHIC MANAGEMENT

DISEASES OF SKIN WITH HOMOEOPATHIC MANAGEMENT

Author- Dr. K. S Gopi

Professor ( Rtd. )

Govt. Homoeopathic Medical College

Kozhikode , Kerala

INDIA

Salient features

• A practical guide for practitioners and students
• Color photographs for proper identification of disease condition
• Easy selection of homoeopathic remedy

This book is a practical guide for practitioners and medical students. It includes detailed description of all common dermatological and cosmetological conditions with photographs and homoeopathic management.  The special arrangement of therapeutic section will helps in the easy selection of remedy including most suitable potency in various skin complaints.

Separate chapters on

1.    Homoeopathic approach in dermatological disorders

2.    Structure and functions of skin

3.    Case taking, history and examinations in skin disorders 

Division of each chapter

• Definition
• Causes
• Symptoms
• Medical Advice
• Homoeopathic Treatment with potency
• Biochemic medicies  and external applications

Price : Rs . 450/- $ 30

AIY Publications

Beypore P. O

Kozhikode- 673015

Kerala, India

Email- plantmedicines@yahoo.com

Mob. 9388829808

HOMOEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR DRY SKIN

Dry skin is an uncomfortable condition marked by scaling, itching, and cracking. It can occur for a variety of reasons. You might have naturally dry skin. But even if your skin tends to be oily, you can develop dry skin from time to time.       

Dry skin is most common in your lower legs, arms, flanks- sides of the abdomen- and thighs . . It happens most often in the winter when cold air outside and heated air inside cause low humidity. Forced air furnaces make skin even drier. The skin loses moisture and may crack and peel or become irritated and inflamed. Bathing too frequently , especially with harsh soaps, may contribute to dry skin. Eczema may cause dry skin.

Causes

Dry skin (xerosis) often has an environmental cause. Certain diseases also can significantly affect your skin. Potential causes of dry skin include:

·         Weather. Skin tends to be driest in winter, when temperatures and humidity levels plummet. But the season may not matter as much if you live in desert regions.

·         Heat. Central heating, wood-burning stoves, space heaters and fireplaces all reduce humidity and dry your skin.

·         Hot baths and showers. Taking long, hot showers or baths can dry your skin. So can frequent swimming, particularly in heavily chlorinated pools.

·         Harsh soaps and detergents. Many popular soaps, detergents and shampoos strip moisture from your skin as they are formulated to remove oil.

·         Other skin conditions. People with skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis (eczema) or psoriasis are prone to dry skin.

Symptoms

Dry skin is often temporary — you get it only in winter, for example — but it may be a lifelong condition. Signs and symptoms of dry skin depend on your age, your health, where you live, time spent outdoors and the cause of the problem. Dry skin is likely to cause one or more of the following:

·         A feeling of skin tightness, especially after showering, bathing or swimming

·         Skin that feels and looks rough

·         Itching (pruritus)

·         Slight to severe flaking, scaling or peeling

·         Fine lines or cracks

·         Gray, ashy skin

·         Redness

·         Deep cracks that may bleed

Risk factors

Anyone can develop dry skin. But you may be more likely to develop the condition if you:

·         Are in your 40s or older. The risk increases with age — more than 50 percent of older adults have dry skin.

·         Live in dry, cold or low-humidity climates.

·         Have a job that requires you to immerse your skin in water, such as nursing and hairstyling.

·         Swim frequently in chlorinated pools.

Complications

Dry skin is usually harmless. But when it's not cared for, dry skin may lead to:

·         Atopic dermatitis (eczema). If you're prone to develop this condition, excessive dryness can lead to activation of the disease, causing redness, cracking and inflammation.

·         Infections. Dry skin may crack, allowing bacteria to enter, causing infections.

These complications are most likely to occur when your skin's normal protective mechanisms are severely compromised. For example, severely dry skin can cause deep cracks or fissures, which can open and bleed, providing an avenue for invading bacteria

HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICINES

Homoeopathic medicines are effective for dry skin and its associated symptoms. They are safe, no side effects and cure the condition permanently .Some of the important remedies are given below.

SULPHUR 200-Sulphur is one of  the top remedies  for dry, itchy skin. Sulphur is effective for both itching and dryness of skin. Sulphur is prescribed   where the skin is excessively dry and itchy. Itching leads to scratching and itching usually worsens at night Sulphur is effective  for  a burning sensation in skin. The skin also looks very dirty and is very unhealthy. An aversion to bathing may be noticed in people needing Sulphur. This Homeopathic medicine will help to get rid of itching as well as dryness of skin.

ALUMINIA 200- Aluminia is another effective remedy for dry skin where the skin is chapped and dry tottery. There is intolerable itching when getting warm in bed. The patient scratch until it bleeds, then it becomes painful.Brittle skin on fingers.

PETROLEUM 200-Petroleum is the best medicine  to deal with dry skin occurring in winter. The main symptoms for the use of this  remedy are dry, rough and cracked skin. The skin feels harsh to touch. Petroleum, thus, is the ideal Homeopathic remedy for dry skin in winter   season and is of great help in restoring the normal texture of skin. Petroleum also gives excellent results in persons who have cracks on hands due to extremely dry skin. The skin is sensitive and rough to touch. The cracks can be deep enough to cause even bleeding.

ARSENIC ALBUM 200-Arsenic alb is prescribed for dry skin with itching , burning and swelling. The skin is dry, rough and scaly which is worse from cold and scratching. The patient have great anxiety and restlessness. There is a thirst for small quantities of water at short intervals.

BRYONIA ALB 30-Bryonia alb is effective for dry and chapped lips.  Cracks appear on lips and  Bryonia heals the chapped lips and restores them to their normal state.Another leading symptom excessive thirst for cold water in large quantites is characteristic .

SARSAPARILLA 30-Sarasaparilla is best for dry skin when dry skin with wrinkles is present. Here the  skin is dry to a great extent with a shrunken and shriveled appearance. The skin is hard and rough to touch. The skin also seems to be present in folds with wrinkles

MALANDRINUM 200-The nosode Malandrinum is effective for treatment of skin with cracks on hands and feet.  The cracks appearing in winter season respond very well to this medicine. Malandrium, thus, is the best  remedy for all the patients who have dry, cracked skin on feet and hands. Itching may also be an accompanying feature

NUX MOSCHATA 200- Nux moschata is effective for extreme dryness on mucous membrane and skin. The tongue adheres to roof of mouth but no desire for water.

GENERAL MANAGEMENT-  Keep baths or showers short. Use warm , not hot water. Use a little soap as possible. Limit its sue to face, armpits, and genitals. Dry your skin throughly but gently. Take baths or showers not often. Use bath oils and moisturizers at least daily. Thick , greasy moisturizers work best. Avoid products with alcohol. Apply just after a bath or shower, when your skin is still damp. Drink plenty of water through out the day. Apply cool compresses to itching areas

Can Skin Signals Cause Neuropathic Pain

Not the easiest article to understand but one that gives a fascinating alternative to the idea that neuropathic pain is caused by damaged nerves. It comes from esciencenews.com (see link below) and suggests that the pain signals are produced by the skin itself. The science is fairly complex but further Googling will provide further information. This one may surprise your neurologist when you next visit him or her.

Researchers discover potential cause of chronic painful skin
Published: Wednesday, June 8, 2011

A new study may explain why only 50% of patients experiencing chronic nerve pain achieve even partial relief from existing therapeutics. The study, published in the June 6 online version of the international research journal PAIN, reveals that certain types of chronic pain may be caused by signals from the skin itself, rather than damage to nerves within the skin, as previously thought.

A Medical Mystery
For years, researchers have known that increased amounts of a molecule called Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) is found in the skin of chronic pain patients. The source of the increased CGRP was thought to be certain types of sensory nerve fibers in the skin that normally make and release a type or "isoform" called CGRP-alpha. Curiously, however, the authors of the current study found that nerve fibers containing CGRP-alpha are actually reduced under painful conditions – leading them to investigate where the increased CGRP in the skin came from.

The answer, surprisingly, was that the skin cells themselves generate increased amounts of a lesser-known "beta" isoform of CGRP. This skin cell-derived CGRP-beta is increased in painful conditions and may be sending pain signals to remaining sensory nerve fibers in the skin. The discovery of CGRP-beta as a therapeutic target presents a potentially important new treatment approach.

"Since CGRP-alpha normally plays an important role in both the regulation of blood flow and normal inflammatory responses, targeting this molecule as a treatment for chronic pain could cause undesired side-effects on circulation," said the paper's corresponding author, Phillip J. Albrecht, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at Albany Medical College and Vice President at Integrated Tissue Dynamics, LLC, whose team conducted the research. "However, since we know that these two forms of CGRP are derived from separate genes, we may be able to selectively manipulate the beta isoform without affecting the alpha, and dramatically reduce unwanted toxicities -- a common problem limiting the successful development of novel pain therapeutics. This is really a two-for-one discovery: a novel mechanism we can specifically target in a novel skin location."

The discovery that CGRP-beta from keratinocyte cells of skin may be causing pain has profound implications for the treatment and study of a host of chronic neuropathic pain conditions such as shingles, diabetic neuropathy, and physical injury, which altogether affect approximately 30 million people in the U.S. who collectively spend more than $4.5 billion each year to treat chronic nerve pain.

A New Translational Research Platform

The present study was a comprehensive translational research project that integrated results from cell culture, animal models of chronic pain and human pain condition tissues to confirm that CRGP is generated in keratinocytes in each of those systems. The study also demonstrates how a translational research platform can be utilized to discover novel targets and provide drug companies with better predictive data that can be used to make time- and cost-reducing decisions early in the drug discovery process.

To observe differences between CGRP in healthy and inflamed or painful skin, the researchers used an imaging methodology called chemomorphometric analysis (CMA), a technique they use to observe, quantify, and characterize molecules like CGRP in the microscopic structure of skin samples half the size of a pencil eraser. A commercially expanded version of the technique, pioneered by Integrated Tissue Dynamics, LLC, interpreted those results and integrated them with assessments of the genetic activity for each CGRP isoform, which led to the discovery that the beta molecule, not the alpha, predominated in keratinocytes.

"We are especially excited by our translational research results because the identification of beta CGRP in keratinocytes will have immediate value in the clinical setting, and also demonstrates how our CMA technology can deliver on the promise of translational medicine," said Frank L. Rice, Ph.D., Professor of Neuroscience at Albany Medical College and CEO at Integrated Tissue Dynamics, LLC. "Furthermore, the identification of beta CGRP in skin keratinocytes may become a useful independent biomarker for the therapeutic effectiveness of chronic neuropathic pain treatments."

The initial discovery stems from the Ph.D. dissertation research of Albany Medical College graduate student Quanzhi Hou, M.D., who is being co-mentored by Drs. Albrecht and Rice, in conjunction with research by Travis Barr, Ph.D., a former graduate student in the lab. Dr. Hou's research was made possible with the support of an international network of researchers and clinicians from Albany Medical College, the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University, Boston College, the University at Albany, the University of Brescia (Italy), the Israel Institute of Technology, and companies Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Integrated Tissue Dynamics. Dr. Rice noted that "As a co-discovery in the labs of Albany Medical College and Integrated Tissue Dynamics, we are filing a patent to develop our research and commercialization options."

About the Study

The present study found CGRP levels increased in keratinocytes of painful skin from humans with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) and complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS). Elevated CGRP levels were also found in skin keratinocytes from monkeys infected with the equivalent of HIV, and in rats with nerve injury and inflammatory pain conditions similar to those caused by accidents and shingles. CGRP was also found in human keratinocyte cell cultures, and the beta isoform predominated.

Previous research has documented abnormally increased levels of CGRP in the skin, blood, and cerebral spinal fluid under a variety of human and animal chronic pain conditions, and CGRP has consequently become a leading target for chronic pain therapeutics. However, prior research has largely not distinguished between the two isoforms and it has been assumed that the increased CGRP seen in previous studies was the alpha isoform generated by nerves that supply sensory innervation to the skin.

Recently, members of the Intidyn and the Medical College group also published a pioneering study demonstrating that CGRP (likely alpha) innervation to the blood vessels plays a previously unknown role in normal skin sensation. The current findings now add to that story, the role of a second (beta) isoform produced in a unique location (keratinocytes) - which likely also plays a critical role in both normal sensation and chronic painful conditions.

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2011/06/08/researchers.discover.potential.cause.chronic.painful.skin