Month: March 2017

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Contact Dr. Chen

How to contact Dr. Chen

I found Dr. Chen from a Chinese website (Taobao.com). He speaks Mandarin only. And I have this consultation with him through an online chat programme. I sent him photo of my psoriasis patches and explain how my condition was. He accepted my case and I was able to purchase the medicine from him since my first contact.

There were several occasion that Dr. Chen rejected people I referred to him. The reason were mainly the condition of their psoriasis were too severe. And Dr. Chen told me that most people (especially men) do not follow his instruction – Smear the potion instead of spraying it – Stop eating seafood and hot or spicy food. Since the potion size is very small (20ml), after couple spray, the potion will be used up. And most people will then complain that the medicine doesn’t help him.

I wouldn’t mind to help people to get this medicine to try. But since it is a potion (liquid), I cannot mail the potion to overseas. I’m afraid you will have to come to Hong Kong to get it.

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Illipe Nut Butter

Illipe Nut Butter

Psoriasis Reduction with Illipe Butter

The Dayak people of Borneo have been making a butter from Illipe nuts for countless centuries. It was traditionally used by them for healing and cosmetic purposes, especially to treat skin problems.

My Illipe butter comes to me directly from a Dayak village. It is a rich golden yellow in colour. It is not bleached or double refined. I am confident that no pesticides of fungicides come into contact with the trees. I mainly use it to make my soaps and lip balms from. I am very happy using it and I have never had any type of allergic reaction to it. It is the best moisturizer that I have ever used.

Illipe butter is an exotic butter derived from the nuts of the Shorea stenoptera tree, named by botanist Baron Von Mueller around 1771. It primarily grows in the jungles on the Malaysian side of Borneo. The trees can grow to 15 m in height. A mass flowering is followed by mass fruiting. The 5 cm long nuts are enclosed in a thin shell with wing-like attachments that help them fall clear of the mother tree. The Dayaks collect them from the forest floor. They are dried in the sun until the shells are brittle enough to be separated. They are pounded in rice mortar & pestle setups and the nuts break away from this shell so that they can be winnowed off. The nuts, which are about 50% fat, are then pressed to extract this nourishing emollient.

llipe butter is used to soften, moisturize, nourish and restore skin’s vitality and elasticity. Some say this is the most nourishing of all the butters. When it comes into contact with the skin, it melts. It is absorbed into the epidermis quite readily giving it a coating almost like an SPF.

The butter is creamy white. Unlike Shea Butter, it doesn’t leave a heavy waxy or oily residue on your hair or skin. Illipe possess a faint, sweet scent which is virtually undetectable when blended with other stronger smelling oils and butters. It also delivers the added fragrance of essential oils very well.

It contains oleic, palmitic, stearic and linoleic acid. It parallels cocoa butter and shea butter, but has a higher melting point & a brittle consistency. It can be used in all manner of facial skin care products. It is ideal for use in bar soaps, lip balms, lip sticks, lotion bars and other stick type applications where a higher melting point is desired in order for it to hold its shape. It can also be used in ointments.

 

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Sulphur

Sulphur powder

Psoriasis Reduction with Sulphur – My Personal Experiences

I make my own Sulphur soap. It helps reduce my skin plaques / psoriatic lesions. I seem to have no allergic reaction to the Sulphur in my soap.

When Googling, you can find people talking of their experiences with Sulphur from back as far as the early 1800s.

Excerpts from some of the ‘better’ websites which I have visited – Sulphur – in the US it is called Sulfur.

1) Sulfur – University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC)

Mud baths containing sulfur, often called balneotherapy, can help treat skin disorders and arthritis. Balneotherapy is one of the oldest forms of pain relief for people with arthritis. The term “balneo” comes from the Latin word for bath and means soaking in thermal or mineral waters. Some people claim these baths are useful for allergies and respiratory problems. But there is no scientific evidence for these uses.

People also apply sulfur products to the skin to treat acne and other skin conditions.

Sulfur baths, and other methods for applying sulfur to the skin, may help treat Psoriasis.

2) Psoriasis – The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) 

Mild to moderate skin plaques are traditionally treated with topical formulations containing either dithranol or coal tar and colloidal sulphur.

3) Coal Tar Applications – The Psoriasis Association

Coal tar has anti-inflammatory and anti-scaling properties that are useful in treating plaque psoriasis. Crude coal tar in a soft paraffin base has been traditionally used, and tends to be a smelly, messy treatment which usually has to be made up in a hospital pharmacy.

Coal Tar Shampoos and Scalp Applications

Cocois – Scalp ointment, coal tar solution 12%, salicylic acid 2%, precipitated sulphur 4%, in a coconut oil emollient basis.

Psoriderm – Scalp lotion, coal tar 2.5%, lecithin 0.3%. Sebco – Scalp ointment, coal tar solution 12%, salicylic acid 2%, precipitated sulphur 4%, in a coconut oil emollient basis.

4) News Article – Newly public sulphur pools in San Carlos attract health seekers By Stephanie Borden

While the therapeutic benefits of sulphur and mineral water have been promoted in Europe for centuries as a therapy for arthritis and psoriasis, American physicians are less enthusiastic, citing a lack of scientific studies proving long-term benefits for the treatment of arthritis or psoriasis, an itchy, scaly skin condition affecting approximately two percent of the U.S. population.

Fort Myers dermatologist and plastic surgeon Dr. Charles Eby, M.D., 75, pulls up his sleeve to expose a ragged patch of psoriasis on his right arm, commenting, “Nothing’s worked on mine. You’ll find lots of anecdotal reports, but very few clinical trials’ on sulphur water’s effect on psoriasis”, he adds.

5) Chinese Herbs Healing – Sulfur Powder (Liu Huang)

……psoriasis is an auto-immune skin disorder and currently there is no cure for it. But sulfur powder seems to be one of promising part in the psoriasis treatment solutions. It is quite interesting to look at its healing properties from the point of view of tradition Chinese medicine, which defines it as the “fire extractive” and it is first mentioned in the beginning of the famous Nineteen Medicaments of Mutual Antagonism. The reason behind this is twofold. First, it has a short-term effect on heating up the body and regaining strength quickly right after the oral administration. No wonder it was once used as the basic ingredient in making pills of immortality by Taoist alchemists of ancient China. And secondly, herbalists consider it as hot in nature, which is really intuitive since it is a volcanic mineral that forms during volcanic eruption. And it deserves that name because in theory it contains the powerful heat of volcano. On the contrary, the psoriatic lesions can be deemed as ice. As a result, the ice of psoriasis can be melted by the fire of sulfur. Of course this is not a scientifically proven theory but at least it provides another perspective…….

 

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Seaweed

Seaweed Powder

Psoriasis Reduction with Seaweed – My Personal Experiences

A definition to start with –

Thalassotherapy – (from the Greek word thalassa, meaning “sea”) is the medical use of seawater as a form of therapy. It is based on the systematic use of seawater, sea products, and shore climate (seaside air & sun).

Applying Seaweed pastes to the body and taking baths in seawater have also long been used to treat psoriasis. Many persons suffering from psoriasis, I included, report that using Seaweed pastes seems to reduce their skin plaques / psoriatic lesions.

I add Seaweed to some of the soaps that I make. It seems to help reduce my skin plaques / psoriatic lesions quite dramatically. It seems to be especially effective on reducing the psoriasis on my scalp; I have much less dandruff when I wash my hair with my Seaweed soaps.

Lebel makes a shampoo with Seaweed which has a high reputation – link – but it is relatively highly priced. I do not use it myself. Most of my soaps also contain Sulphur and Illipe Butter, so I cannot say for sure that it is the Seaweed that is helping me.

I also adore sea bathing. Once again, many persons suffering from psoriasis, myself included, report feeling reduced psoriasis symptoms after swimming in the ocean, but this may also have to do with sun exposure, which has been found to improve psoriasis symptoms.

Regrettably, there seems to be no serious scientific studies on the therapeutic effects of either Seaweed applications, or of sea Bathing. The reason for this is almost definitely that there would be no commercial benefit flowing to any businesses such as drug companies as a result of funding such studies.

Excerpts from some of the ‘better’ websites which I have visited & bookmarked in recent months –

1) There are newspaper articles discussing seaweed treatment – but some I have read sound rather like advertorials – example –

A decade of pain and shame until seaweed therapy finally cured my psoriasis

“……my daughter met someone who offers seaweed therapies and suggested I gave it a go.

It involved mixing up a paste from seaweed powder, placing it on my skin and wrapping it in cling film.

Initially, I was doing this every other day and I was adding the powder to my bath water.

Over two or three months, my skin improved dramatically. Now I only need to use the seaweed occasionally, along with moisturisers.”

The connected site’s page on Psoriasis –

2) A news article about an Irish company which offers Seaweed products.

The beautiful business of Connemara’s seaweed skin care

Ri na Mara, a small, family-owned, Connemara-based company is giving many of the beauty industry bigwigs a run for their money.

“I started out as a staff nurse in a dermatology unit,” director and founder of Ri na Mara Deirdre Ui Chathmhaoil explains. “I was always passionate about natural skincare and natural treatments and applications for skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. So to get a better understanding of natural skincare I studied cosmetic science and when I graduated I became a member of the Society for Cosmetic Scientists. This gave me a better understanding of ingredients and different applications, which were natural, but which really benefit the skin.”

Ri na Mara – I haven’t tried their products myself.

3) And from a surfing website – positive words & lovely imagery – but once again, no scientific proof.

The health benefits of sea water

Sea water can be a natural drug and medicine. It stimulates our body and promotes the feeling of well-being that surfers very well know. If you live by the beach or spend a lot of time in coastal areas, you know how receptive we are to sea-sprayed shores.

So, what does sea water contain? On average, sea water has 3.5 percent of salt (sodium chloride). In other words, for one liter of water, you get 35 grams of salts. And then, small parts of magnesium, sulfate and calcium.

Although still not scientifically proven, thalassotherapy uses sea water and sea-based products made from algae, marine salt, mud, seaweed, and ocean water to eliminates skin problems.

But salt water has many other surprising benefits:

Sea water cleans your skin
The mineral salts team up with the sun to regenerate your skin. As a result, ulcers, lupus, acne, and psoriasis are some of the diseases that can be easily cured with sea water.

Sea water strengthens the immune system
The number of red blood cells increases between five to 20 percent after a swim or bath in the sea. The number of white blood cells increases even more. Sea water is a fantastic medicine for people with a weakened immune system, anemia, and high blood sugar levels.

Sea water slows down the development of rheumatism
Ocean water combined with exercise is a great medication for bone and muscle pain, arthritis, circulatory, and postsurgical issues.

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Marigold / Calendula

Marigold flower

Psoriasis Reduction with Marigold / Calendula

Marigold – or – Calendula officinalis Linnaeus – in China it is called, 金盏菊 jin zhan ju.

I am very comfortable with Calendula. It has been used in traditional medicine for many hundreds of years. I infuse it and drink it as a tea. I also apply the filtered liquid infusion to my skin and hair. It seems to reduce my skin plaques / psoriatic lesions. I seem to have no allergic reaction to Calendula. I vary the strength of the infusions according to my mood

There is abundant good science available about Calendula online – I will quote from 4 websites which I especially like & have bookmarked.

1) Wikipedia Excerpts

a) Calendula is a genus of about 15–20 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the daisy family Asteraceae that are often known as Marigolds.

b) Plant pharmacological studies have suggested that Calendula extracts have antiviral, antigenotoxic, and anti-inflammatory properties in vitro. In herbalism, Calendula in suspension or in tincture is used topically for treating acne, reducing inflammation, controlling bleeding, and soothing irritated tissue. Limited evidence indicates Calendula cream or ointment is effective in treating radiation dermatitis. Topical application of C. officinalis ointment has helped to prevent dermatitis and pain; thus reducing the incidence rate of skipped radiation treatments in randomized trials.

c) Calendula ointments are skin products used to treat minor cuts, burns, and skin irritation.

d) During the American Civil War, calendula flowers were used on the battlefields in open wounds as antihemorrhagic and antiseptic, and they were used in dressing wounds to promote healing. Calendula also was used in this way during World War I. Calendula has been historically significant in medicine in many cultures, and it is still important in alternative medicine today.

2) University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) – they also mention many scientific studies.

The flower petals of the calendula plant (Calendula officinalis), or pot marigold, have been used for medicinal purposes since at least the 12th century. Calendula is native to Mediterranean countries but is now grown as an ornamental plant throughout the world. However, it is not the same as the annual marigold plant that is often grown in gardens.
Calendula has high amounts of flavonoids, plant-based antioxidants that protect cells from being damaged by unstable molecules called free radicals. Calendula appears to fight inflammation, viruses, and bacteria.
Traditionally, calendula has been used to treat stomach upset and ulcers, as well as relieve menstrual cramps, but there is no scientific evidence that calendula works for these problems. Today, calendula is often used topically, meaning it is applied to the skin.
Calendula has been shown to help wounds heal faster, possibly by increasing blood flow and oxygen to the affected area, which helps the body grow new tissue. It is also used to improve skin hydration and firmness. The dried petals of the calendula plant are used in tinctures, ointments, and washes to treat burns, bruises, and cuts, as well as the minor infections they cause. Calendula also has been shown to help prevent dermatitis or skin inflammation in people with breast cancer during radiation therapy.

3) Rodale’s Organic Life

Use the freshly dried flower heads to make creams, salves, liniments, teas, tinctures, and oils, or add the flower heads directly to your bath to soothe irritated skin. For internal conditions, take one to three dropperfuls of tincture in a little water several times daily (though be sure to check with your healthcare professional first).

4) Science on Calendula 

~ Calendula officinalis extract can aid in wound healing by promoting epithelial growth and by enhancing immune responses (Duran, V., Matic, M., Jovanovc, M., Mimica, N., Gajinov, Z., Poljacki, M., and Boza, P. Results of the clinical examination of an ointment with marigold (Calendula officinalis) extract in the treatment of venous leg ulcers. Int J Tissue React  2005;27(3):101-106)

~ Calendula gel applied for two weeks to patients with burns or scalds provided very good results – the Calendula was compared against a proteolytic gel and had a similar level of efficacy but was better tolerated (Baranov AP: Dtsch Apoth Ztg 139;61-66, 1999)

~ In Germany the Commission E supports Calendula to treat oral and pharyngeal mucosa internally and topically. Externally, Calendula is recommended for poorly healing wounds and leg ulcers (Blumenthal M et al, editors: Commission E monographs, Austin, 1998)