ECZEMA - NEWSLETTER #10
Hi Everyone,
I finally put it all together on this newsletter. Give me any feedback.
I’ll be sending it out to subscribers this week sometime.
Hope you are all well.
Sheila
ECZEMA
This newsletter is a compilation of information via the internet, seminars
and research. The origin for many of the newsletters come from requests by
internet correspondents and clients. I have particular interest in eczema
and other skin diseases because over the years in my colon hydrotherapy
practice I have many who come in with them and are suffering miserably.
Eczema can drive people crazy because it ITCHES and people go crazy
scratching or resisting scratching. Some have a pus-like fluid leaking from
their skin with or without the itching. In my years of healing and
cleansing from constipation and eating disorders, I have had a few bouts
with skin rashes and itching and the ‘exudations of serous matter.’ Now I
understand better what has caused them in myself and how I have healed the
skin disorders and naturally, how I can recreate them!
Eczema is an inflammatory disease of the skin attended with itching and the
exudation of serous matter. It comes from the Greek words to boil or
ferment. My view is that the ‘ferment’ begins in the intestines with
dysbiosis or bacterial/fungal imbalance and this percolates to the surface,
the skin, via the blood. Liver, glands and immune get involved because they
are part of the GI tract. And guess what, the nerves get fried from the
burning acids. The skin is the biggest organ of elimination. If we don’t
eliminate via the intestines, the toxins will find a way out the skin.
Dusan lays out an excellent program for eczema and he evens includes a
listserve so that one can talk about it. Bowel cleansing is numero uno.
AYURVEDA: Alternative Medicine from India
Dr Vasant Lad in his book Ayurveda: The Science of Self-Healing writes
about skin diseases and eczema in his description of PANCHAKARMA, the ‘5
actions or processes which are cleansing to the body, mind and emotions.
The 5 basic processes are vomiting, purgatives or laxatives, medicated
enemas, nasal administration of medication and purification of the blood.’
Lad notes that ‘toxins are absorbed into the bloodstream through the
gastrointestinal tract and circulate throughout the body. They may manifest
under the skin or in the joint spaces…’ He feels that in such cases the
‘elimination of toxins and purification of the blood is necessary.’ He
feels ’some substances such as excess sugar, salt, yogurt and sour-tasting
foods are toxic to the blood.
‘Burdock root tea is the best blood-purifier. For blood-carried disorders
such as allergy, rash or acne the patient should take a laxative and the
next evening begin burdock root tea therapy. The tea is make from one
teaspoon of powder in one cup of hot water. If taken every night, the
action of the herb will begin to purify the blood. Other blood-purifying
herbs are saffron, sandalwood powder, turmeric and calamus root powder.
Pomegranate juice, orange juice and asparagus root are also beneficial for
blood ailments.’
My take on this is that Lad is one of the few to acknowledge the intestines
as being the SOURCE of ’skin’ problems and that a thorough intestinal
cleansing is in order. The intestines disperse toxins into the blood. The
toxins are usually a result of bacterial and fungal metabolites of
carbohydrate indigestion and possibly protein putrefaction and slow transit
time of matter through the GI tract.
The author links this syndrome with Crohn’s Disease and other digestive and
auto-immune diseases including eczema. The premise is that toxins can leak
through a permeable intestinal wall and affect the health of the skin.
INTESTINAL HYDROTHERAPIES
Enemas, colemas and colonics can be helpful for eczema along with a deep
cleansing program. I am experimenting with Rich Anderson’s Clean Me Out
Program from his book, Cleanse and Purify Thyself. The intestinal
hydrotherapies are combined with specific herbs and diet to strip the
intestinal walls of ancient built up fecal, mucoid and parasitic matter, to
rebuild the health of the walls and to refoliate with positive bacteria.
After the hydrotherapy of your choice, retention implants can be helpful.
Two of the most important would be that of positive intestinal flora or the
Coffee Retention Implant (CRI).
Gottschall studies the effects of sugars on the GI system. Her research
indicates that the main culprit in inflammatory bowel disease is complex
sugars or di- and poly-saccharides or complex carbohydrates and the
inability to digest them. Many other conditions such as eczema also result
from the results of this indigestion as the notes show below.
‘In my experience leaky gut and skin problems are connected. I’ve been a
sufferer of eczema since I was ten years old. Since being on the diet for
approximately two months now, it has gradually gone away…’
‘This is major news for me because being on the SCD for almost five months,
I’ve used the cheese as a major source of protein and now I am realizing it
is what has contributed to many of my lingering health issues. Those being,
eczema, fatigue and a wired feeling that has resulted in quite a bit of
insomnia for me over the years. Since stopping the cheese, my face is
distinctively less red and flaky and I am sleeping SO well.’
‘I too had very bad eczema. Since being on the SCD it has cleared up.
However, I had to keep off of certain allowed foods for a while as these
caused my eczema to be worse. I had problems with such things as pineapple,
persimmons, yogurt, citrus, parmesan cheese and coconut. Any of these would
immediately give me a sore throat. I can now eat most of these without any
eczema flare ups. But I try not to over eat any of them so as not to cause
any irritation.’
‘I have read before, that the colon is really like an inward part of the
epiderm or skin and that itchy flaky scalp or anywhere on the skin is a
sign of what’s going on inside the colon. Stop eating the things that
irritate the colon and the eczema will diminish.’
‘…I recently had all my amalgams taken out and the tooth and jaw pain
(TMJ) was awful. I had to take lots of Ibuprofen and it really did me in.
My intestines flared and my eczema came back. I’m on the road to recovery,
but it was not fun.’
NATUROPATHIC APPROACH
Lisa Alschuler, a naturopathic physician from Phoenix AZ, gave an excellent
lecture and outline on ECZEMA at the SW Conference for Botanical Medicine
held at the SW Naturopathic College in Tempe AZ in 1996. She can be
contacted at 1.602.990.7424. I’m including some of her outline and my notes.
A. TREATMENT GOALS OF ECZEMA
1. CLEAR THE BODY OF TOXINS
a. eliminate food allergens
b. reduce environmental toxic exposures
c. reduce emotional stress-induced toxins
d. improve digestive functioning
e. improve hepatic functioning
f. improve lymphatic functioning
g. improve immune system functioning
h. improve skin waste elimination
2. TONIFY THE SKIN, LIVER, NERVOUS AND DIGESTIVE SYSTEMS
a. nutrients
b. botanicals
3. PROVIDE SYMPTOMATIC RELIEF
a. reduce secondary infections
b. reduce inflammation and itching
B. BOTANICAL TREATMENT OF ECZEMA
1. Try to use herbs with multi-systemic actions. Classification that
follows is somewhat arbitrary.
2. Reduce allergic potential and environmental sensitivity while providing
nutrition to the skin.
Nettles, Skullcap, Rose Hips
3. Improve digestive functioning with bitters, demulcents, laxatives.
Gentian, Peppermint, Goldenseal, Licorice, Slippery elm, Cascara Sagrada
4. Improve liver function with choleretics and cholagogues.
Yellow Dock, Durdock Root, Oregon Grape Root, Blue Flag, Dandelion, Celendine
5. Improve waste elimination through lymphatic system and skin with
alteratives (blood cleansers).
Red Clover, Burdock, Elder, Echinacea, Cleavers, Sarsaparilla
6. Address stress with nervines.
Skullcap, Camomile (ala Peter Rabbit), Oats, Lemon Balm
7. Provide symptomatic relief to skin.
Marigold, Chickweed, Comfrey, Goldenseal
C. ADDITIONAL THERAPEUTIC CONSIDERATIONS
1. When one system of elimination is stressed such as the skin, the burden
on the other systems of elimination [the lungs, kidneys, liver, colon]
increases. Therefore, tonifying these systems of elimination while treating
the skin will allow the skin to heal.
[I make the case that the origin of the problem is the intestines. Leaky
gut and permeability of walls lead ultimately to inflammation. The source
is carbohydrate indigestion. Toxins are absorbed into the blood and
eliminated through skin. Histamine response or auto-immune response are
created. Heal the gut via diet, cleansing, refoliating. Begin with the
source.]
2. Consider adding a circulatory stimulant to your formulas. Cayenne, Lobelia.
3. Include supplementation: Essential Fatty Acids such as Evening Primrose,
Borage, Black Current, Flax, Fish, Hemp oils; zinc; Vitamins B, E, A and C.
Bioflavonoids need to be in adequate amounts in the person’s diet and may
need to be supplemented.
RAW FOODS AND DAIRY
Numerous books have been written in the past decade about the dangers of
dairy products. The most influential is by Frank Oski, MD, the current
chairman of Pediatrics of Johns Hopkins University and an influential
pediatrician in the US. It’s called ‘Don’t Drink Your Milk’. Oski
attributes many health problem in children to the consumption of milk from
acute and chronic ear infections, constipation and asthma to eczema.
However, RAW milk has been used in therapy in folk medicine for centuries
and even in the Mayo Clinic . It has been used in the pre-insulin days to
treat diabetes, eczema, intestinal worms, allergies and arthritis. Raw pure
milk contains a cortisone-like factor for allergies and eczema. If you
choose to use raw milk, check with your blood type diet and make sure you
do not have inflammatory bowel disease or candida. Read Breaking the
Vicious Cycle for diet and recipe for homemade yogurt as an alternative.
For those on the SCD, Specific Carbohydrate Diet, lactose is a complex
sugar molecule and not allowed on the diet unless fermented into a yogurt.
Many who have had acne and other skin problems, including eczema, rosacia,
and psoriasis, have benefited from using Clark’s parasite cleansing
program. The program includes herbs and an electronic device called the
Zapper. Clark, a noted biochemical doctor, feels that all disease is from
parasites or pollutants.
The thinking priority is to distinguish between the fats that heal and
those that harm. Udo Erasmus does this is his book, Fats That Heal, Fats
That Kill.
Therapeutic oils are important for the short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) that
help create and sustain the integrity of the intestinal cell walls. Leaky
gut or overly permeable gut membranes can be a result of a deficiency of
these fatty acids. Raw butter is considered the highest in the most
important SCFA, butyric acid. Prescription for and taken in enemas, butyric
acid are helpful for intestinal cell wall integrity.
Story from a correspondent:
‘I suffer from acne and eczema. Tired of eating so many almonds, I began to
eat pecans. When I did, I began to experience tremendous energy bursts. I
started to look into the cause. I considered the possibility that pecans
had higher levels of Omega-3 oils than almonds. They do. I remember how
good I felt in Mexico eating large quantities of fish. Fish also have high
levels of Omega-3 oils. While I was in Mexico, my skin healed dramatically.
I started to do some reading and discovered information about how omega-3
oils, found in fish, flaxseed and a variety of other oils like soybean and
walnut, have anti-inflammatory effects. In general, they are missing from
our modern diets.
I began to take fish-oil supplements and immediately and dramatically,
like, the next day, began to have the best bowel movements I’ve ever
experienced in my life. Solid, formed and coiled. Previously, my normal
stool was still sticky and often ‘ribbon-like.’ My energy remains high and
my skin has become smoother. I was amazed to notice my skin was actually
healing within one day. Usually if I get an acne breakout, it stays with me
for weeks. My new breakouts heal within two days. The eczema goes away
completely. It comes back if I miss taking the fish-oil or flaxseed oil.
Also, I just had a menstrual period and didn’t have any of the fatigue I
usually have. I believe it’s due to the increase of beneficial
prostaglandin’s from the oil.’
ATOPIC ECZEMA AND GRAPEFRUIT SEED EXTRACT
Ionescu and his colleagues have studied fecal and duodenal flora in
patients with atopic eczema and found evidence of small bowel dysbiosis
(bacterial/fungal imbalance) and subtle malabsorption phenomena in the
majority (21, 22). Treatment with antibiotics or with a natural antibiotic
derived from grapefruit seeds, produced major improvement in the
gastro-intestinal symptoms of eczema patients and moderate improvement in
severity of eczema (23).One advantage in the use of grapefruit seed extract
over conventional antibiotics lies in its anti-fungal activity. This agent
adds a second therapeutic dimension and eliminates the possibility of
secondary candidiasis. The minimum effective dose of grapefruit seed
extract for bacterial dysbiosis is 600 mg a day.
COLLOIDAL SILVER
Satisfied users have taken one tablespoon daily, for four days, to
establish a level, then one teaspoon daily for maintenance (proportional to
body weight for children). Also, colloidal silver can be applied directly
to cuts, scrapes, open sores, and on a bandage for warts. It can be applied
on eczema, itches, acne or bug bites. To purify water, add one tablespoon
per gallon, shake well and wait six minutes. Mixed this way, it’s
tasteless. It is not an allopathic poison.
HYDROCHLORIC ACID
I recently found out I was lacking hydrochloric acid in the stomach.
Consequently, I was having trouble digesting fats and protein, with
resulting eczema in the extremities. The skin conditions have improved
significantly since taking supplemental beta-pepsin (betaine HCL with
pepsin). intest_health
ALOE GEL
The thick mucilaginous gel is an ideal home first aid cure for burns,
wounds, and sunburn. It is also useful for any dry skin condition,
especially eczema around the eyes and sensitive facial skin, and can be
used for treating fungal infections such as ringworm. In Ayurvedic
medicine, the gel is an important tonic for excess "pitta" (fire).
intest_health
HOMEOPATHY - CHLORIDE OF POTASH (kali. mur.)
Found in lining and under the surface body cells. Imbalance or deficiency.
can cause granulation of the eyelids, blistering eczema, and warts.
intest_health
EMOTIONS
The emotional metaphor of eczema is SUPPRESSED ANGER. Anger is an emotion
associated with the liver.
Once, while attending a dance lecture class, the professor talked about the
Itching God. I believe it is based in African sacred dance. The Itching God
would come to a crossroads and the indecision about which way to go would
drive him ‘itchy’ and he would dance his ‘itchiness’. Are you at a point in
your life when you can’t decide which way to go, or where daily decisions
are difficult? Maybe you need to dance it out of your system.
Itch itch itch!
SHEILA’S METHOD OF STOPPING ITCHING
I stand in the shower using the shower massager. I adjust the water
temperature to the highest I can take and aim it at the itching area. I
increase the water temperature upward in slow increments until it reaches a
point of ecstasy on the skin. This method flushes out the histamines. Then
I use cold water briefly to close the pores. I end the shower and dry off
lightly. Then I apply pure oil of clove to the effected parts of my skin or
in place of clove oil I might use White Flower Essence. This process quiets
the itching for a few hours and I can sleep or work again. I haven’t
experienced this itching since last year when I did the parasite and liver
cleanses not to mention the intestinal cleanse.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
NATUROPATHIC HANDBOOK OF HERBAL FORMULAS by Herbal Research Publications,
Inc 4TH Edition
Many formulas for the liver, lymph, kidneys and immune systems for eczema.
THE ZONE by Barry Sears
‘The two most common skin diseases are eczema and psoriasis. The underlying
cause of both diseases is an overproduction of bad eicosanoids,
particularly leukotriene B4 –the same bad eicosanoid that at higher levels
causes chronic pain…’ page 194
JUICING FOR LIFE by Cherie Calbom and Maureen Keane
A Guide to the Health Benefits of Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Juicing
The authors have 4 pages on eczema. Watercress not mentioned in their book
but in that of Jay Kordich is excellent when juiced in proportion of 25%
with other vegetable juices.