tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52176663355512478582024-03-05T10:12:07.073-08:00The Psoriasis SpotA blog by someone who has successfully self-treated psoriases for many years, encouraging others to take care of themselves with more thought to improving their psoriasis.Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-54233693098764373692014-11-15T16:09:00.000-08:002014-11-15T16:09:23.964-08:00Natural Psoriasis RemediesI can't believe that a year has passed since I last posted on my <a href="http://psoriasis-spot.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">psoriasis blog</a>. It was 13th November 2013 that I last posted and today is 15th November 2014. My apologies to my regular readers, life got in the way. This past year has been incredibly busy for me and at times very exciting. How many people do you know who have been capsized in a large sailboat in a big open ocean storm? That was the exciting part and it resulted in multiple speaking engagements and much time spent writing articles for magazines and for my own <a href="http://dudleydix.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">boat design blog</a>. To read the exciting part, go to the archived posts from January 2014.<br />
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My psoriasis has not been forgotten in the past year. Psoriasis is not a condition that can be forgotten; it needs ongoing attention or it will creep up and up to levels that become progressively more difficult to treat by simple methods. If neglected it will end up requiring aggressive treatments and some of those can be dangerous to your health. I prefer to keep it under control and at a level that needs nothing that I can't buy in the food aisles or over the counter at my local supermarket.<br />
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Those who have read much of my blog know that I hold a low opinion of the drug-happy approach of the USA medical profession. The drug industry encourages and preys on the tendency of many people to take they path of least resistance, i.e. the easy way out. It is much easier to pop a pill or have an injection than to follow healthy eating principles. Why would anyone want to hassle with eating wholesome food to sort out their health issues, staying away from fast food outlets, prepackaged TV meals and restaurants that load their fare with sugars, salts and deep-fried goodies, when the alternative is the convenience of quick-fix medications and meals that are quick, easy and really tickle the taste buds? And the answer is? Those who really care to take back control of their own health, who want to take responsibility for their own bodies instead of handing over to the medical autopilot that is steered more by the profit line of the drug suppliers than the welfare of the patient.<br />
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That may sound harsh and extreme if this is a foreign principle to you. But think about it in more depth. Isn't eating food for which your body was designed less extreme than forcing it to process all sorts of stuff that it is not equipped to process efficiently? Force ingredients into it that it doesn't know how to process properly and you will have a bunch of harmful by-products cruising around your body with no useful function to fulfill. They have to be expelled from your body in some way or may be absorbed into cells where they get up to no good. They show up as psoriasis, arthritis and a bunch of other auto-immune conditions that involve inflammation of skin, mucous linings, muscles, joints etc all over the body.<br />
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Some of the damage done long-term by those by-products is permanent but much of it can be undone over weeks, months or years. Eating healthy and supplementing sensibly can make the difference between a long fruitful life and one of discomfort and pain that can eventually turn you into a cripple.<br />
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OK, so what is the point of this rant from me? Today I read a <a href="http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/health-a-healing/natural-cures-for-psoriasis?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=2013-07-19%20BOBL%20CID-0000001454%20%287%29%2011/15/14%2011:00%20AM&utm_content=&cid=47417793&spMailingID=47417793&spUserID=NTE4NTUyMjI4MzcS1&spJobID=562018036&spReportId=NTYyMDE4MDM2S0" target="_blank">great post on Bottom Line Health</a>, written by April Abernethy, ND,naturopathic physician and interim chief scientific and medical officer at the <a href="https://www.psoriasis.org/" target="_blank">National Psoriasis Foundation</a> in Portland, Oregon. What she wrote aligns exactly with my own thinking and what I have been saying for years. Sometimes I felt like a voice in the wilderness, with few people accepting my point of view and what I proved to myself many years ago.<br />
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I ask you, if you suffer from psoriasis, arthritis or any other auto-immune condition, to please read what she says. There is so much in it to help you if you will just accept that you have much greater vested interest in the health of your body than anyone in the medical profession or pharmaceutical industry. You have to live with the results of decisions taken about anything that goes into your body, whether food or medication. I prefer to stick with healthy food instead of chemicals.<br />
<br />Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-9573764407905115142013-11-13T19:09:00.000-08:002013-11-13T19:09:32.092-08:00Choose your Doctors WiselyFirst off, I must apologise for posting as infrequently as I am at
present. I will be sailing across the South Atlantic Ocean in January,
competing in the <a href="http://cape2rio2014.com/">Cape to Rio yacht race</a> from Cape Town, South Africa, to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
Ahead of my departure for the start of that race I am very busy
completing as much work as I can and working very long hours. That
leaves little time for writing on my Psoriasis Spot blog.<br />
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Yesterday I was chatting to someone who had called me to talk about psoriasis. He is very seriously afflicted and is on one of the biologic drugs. I don't use any prescription drugs of any kind because I don't want to intentionally put anything into my body that will weaken my immune system in any way. I believe that weakening my immune system is going to open the doors to all manner of possible infections and one of those infections will be serious enough that it may be the cause of my demise.<br />
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I am a very active person and hardly a month goes by that I don't open up a big hole in my skin through some activity or other. Last month it was a collision with my surfboard that left my head bleeding and my left ear ringing for 4 weeks. This month it has been a big gash in my hand when a socket spanner exploded under load while doing a brake job on my wife's car. Both were in situations that can definitely not be described as clean conditions, so infection is a very real possibility. Anyway, you get the message. I am not going to undermine the sterling job that my immune system is doing in protecting me from my own stupidity.<br />
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While chatting to this man I asked him about his diet and he told me that his doctor had told him that diet has no effect at all on psoriasis. The doctor put him onto various prescribed medications and eventually onto the biologic drug as a last resort. I agree with this in only one respect. The biologic drug should have been the last resort. <u>But</u>, the last resort option means that you have already tried everything else and none of it worked. The fact that this doctor said that diet does not affect psoriasis means that there was an option that he did not try before choosing the "last resort" drug option. It also means that he is uneducated in the research that has been going on for decades into diet and psoriasis and it means that he has a closed mind to alternatives outside of his drug solutions.<br />
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I have a major problem with this. It may come from the fact that I spent most of my life in South Africa, where the doctors are not trained in schools that are heavily sponsored by the drug companies. The result is that in SA the doctors that I was able to choose had an open mind about options outside of the influence of the big drug companies. Here in USA the drug companies hold too much financial influence over the training of the medical profession, so there is a strong leaning toward popping pills and jabbing flesh with hypodermic syringes instead of encouraging healthy eating habits.<br />
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I have also noticed that many of the doctors and nurses here really aren't as healthy as they should be. They are health-care professionals and should know what is good and what is bad for people. It is very apparent that many of them don't know, or they really don't care. Whichever it is, I don't want any doctor or nurse who is in self-inflicted bad health to give me any advice about how to treat my body.<br />
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If your doctor is unfit, obese, drinks heavily or smokes, why would you want them to look after your health? They obviously don't know how to treat their own bodies and will do no better on yours. I say, walk out the door and find a doctor and nurse who are in prime health to take over your care.<br />
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I know that I am not the "average person" when it comes to my health-care habits. I very seldom visit doctors of any description but when I do I want it to be a doctor in whom I have confidence that the advice will be balanced and well considered by someone who knows good health options from bad ones.<br />
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<br />Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-52912245977631490462013-10-03T07:08:00.000-07:002013-10-03T07:22:40.179-07:00Sensible Lifestyle DecisionsI have written before on this blog about the need for people to take responsibility for their own health and to make sensible lifestyle decisions. Most of this comes down to educating ourselves about the likely outcome of stuffing all sorts of junk food, sweet drinks, chemicals etc into our bodies and of becoming rolly-poly couch potatoes instead of getting outside into fresh air and sunshine to do some kind of physical activity that will keep our muscles and joints working. It also means having some interests in life outside of the home and away from the TV or computer games.<br />
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Beyond that, it also needs this information to be passed on to our children, so that they can live long and healthy lives. This information is passed on by setting a good example and by enforcing standards that are healthy within the home. What kind of parenting is it if a child is allowed to consume whatever tasty snacks they want from the almost infinite variety that the $-hungry food and drink industries have been able to concoct? The child doesn't know what is good or bad, other than what their taste buds are advising them. Don't blame an over-weight 10-year old when their health starts to break down, blame whoever was in charge of them and allowed that to happen.<br />
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The manufacturers of those products are somewhat to blame for bringing them to market but don't rely on those factories to have your health at heart, their financial bottom line is all-important to them. They will not change the formulation of their products until their bottom line starts to hurt. The best way to help that happen is to just stop consuming those junk products.<br />
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How often don't we hear people say that their excess weight is "in my genes". They are taking the easy way out and blaming their heritage for the bad state of their health. "I come from a long line of chubby people." Another one is "My family is big-boned." No, you come from a long line of people who have passed on unhealthy eating habits and family recipes that have done harm to all of them before you and will continue to do the same to your children and grandchildren and those who will follow them. It will not stop until someone breaks the chain and accepts that it does not need to be that way.<br />
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Bad health can come from inherited conditions for those unlucky to inherit those genes but most who use that excuse are simply too uninformed to know better or too stuck in their ways to do do anything about it. A rut is a terrible thing to break out of, in all walks of life. It is easier to continue along the same comfortable route, no matter how much we realise that we should do different, than to make the effort to climb out of that rut onto ground that allows us to travel in whatever direction we want.<br />
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I recently met up with a friend while walking my dogs around the neighbourhood. He is my age and does way more exercise than I do. I am more active than than most men of my age but I work very long hours, which cuts deeply into available time for exercise. He is retired and spends much of his day riding his bicycle, walking or in the gym. Despite all that exercise he has a big gut. He said to me "You are so lucky you are so slim, it must be your genes". I told him that I eat healthy and that makes the difference. His response was that he also eats healthy but it doesn't help. I listed my meals for the day, which were oats for breakfast, fruit and salad for lunch and grilled fish with salad and vegetables for dinner. He said "Oh, I don't eat like that" and walked away.<br />
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My friend and his wife eat out very often, mostly at all-you-can-eat restaurants, which is likely to be a big part of his problem. My family eats at those same restaurants but we do so as a treat rather than on a regular basis. The danger is not only a risk of over-eating at the restaurant, to get the best value for money, it is also that you have no control over what is going into your food. Most restaurants in USA use way too much salt and/or sugar in their recipes, both of which are very bad for health if not used in moderation and both contribute to obesity and risks of cancer, diabetes and other serious health issues, if taken in excess.<br />
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Eating at home is not going to solve the problem either, if you are in the habit of taking the easy way out by opening cans or TV dinners. Those easy meals are possibly even worse culprits for over-stuffing with salt and sugar. Last night my wife opened a packet of rice/pasta mix to go with salads and the chicken that I had on the grill. The rice dish was OK but it was so salty that I would never buy it. I prefer to cook brown rice with herbs, for a more flavourful dish that is also much more healthy. Salt is not a flavour. A small amount of salt will accentuate flavours but more salt does not add flavour, it only adds bad health and a dry mouth.<br />
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This morning my email copy of <a href="http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/free-e-letters" target="_blank">Bottom Line's Daily Health News</a> arrived in my computer, with two excellent articles related to what I am writing about today. One is <a href="http://links.boardroom.mkt4711.com/ctt?kn=17&ms=NDMwNDAwOTIS1&r=NTE4NTUyMjI4MzcS1&b=0&j=MjA1OTI4NTY0S0&mt=1&rt=0" target="_blank">Dangerous Food Additives that Sound Safe</a> and the other is <a href="http://links.boardroom.mkt4711.com/ctt?kn=9&ms=NDMwNDAwOTIS1&r=NTE4NTUyMjI4MzcS1&b=0&j=MjA1OTI4NTY0S0&mt=1&rt=0" target="_blank">The Prescription that's More Important than Some Pill</a> . One deals with all the things that are in pre-prepared food that should or shouldn't be there and the other covers changing your lifestyle for the better instead of popping pills.<br />
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My advise is that, no-matter what rut you are in, climb out of it and you will see many more options in front of you. Don't just continue along the way that you are just because that is the way that it has always been. Every day brings new things and opportunities into your world, many of which are out of sight when you have the limited field of vision that results from being in your rut. If your personal rut is the root of ill-health, that is the best reason of all to climb out of it and improve your life.<br />
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<br />Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-25723716571956395862013-09-06T07:25:00.000-07:002013-09-06T07:25:20.811-07:00 Betaine Hydrochloride & PsoriasisOver the past few years my efforts and experiments have gradually improved my psoriasis, to the point that nobody realises that I have the condition unless I show them the few very minor lesions that I have. I have written before on this blog about my testing methods and waiting patiently to see the results. <br />
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A few months ago my sister told me that she had been suffereing from vitiligo, a different skin condition that is also rooted in imbalances in the immune system, like psoriasis. She had done some reading about the use of Betaine Hydrochloride (Betaine HCL) to increase stomach acid and kill off a Helicobactor Pylori (H Pylori) bacteria infection. She was seeing good results.<br />
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There is much information on Helicobactor Pylori online but it seems that there is not much that is known about what it does, except that it does increase inflammation in some people, which can lead to cancer and immune system problems. Infection is in the region of 50% of people worldwide, with higher infection rates in developing countries, lower rates in Western countries and varying rates among different population groups. Although there is such a high incidence of infection, few people show signs of illness resulting from it. Some researches speculate that it is actually a beneficial bacteria that does a job inside the digestive system.<br />
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There is much info available online if you Google "Helicobactor Pylori & Psoriasis" or "Betaine Hydrochloride & Psoriasis". I won't go into it but my sister saw good results on her vitiligo by supplementing with Betaine HCL so I decided to try it also.<br />
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Within a few days of starting with Betaine HCL supplements I started to feel changes in my skin before I could see them. Unfortunately, the changes were itchiness followed by increasing redness and lesion thickness. I persevered with the Betaine HCL supplement for 5 or 6 weeks, on the assumption that, if an H Pylori infection really was the root cause of my psoriasis then I should suffer through the deterioration to kill the infection and reach improvements once the H Pylori was gone.<br />
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Unfortunately, the improvement didn't come for me. After two bottles of Betaine HCL capsules I stopped taking them and my skin is now gradually improving again. At no time during the process did my psoriasis become more than mild but it definitely was deteriorating. This is very much in line with my past experience that acid foods aggravated my skin.<br />
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So, Betaine Hydrochloride didn't work for me. That does not mean that it won't work for you. There are people who say that it worked for them. Read up on the subject for yourself, you may be one of the lucky ones who can be cured this way. Just beware of those who claim that they have the final answer to cure all psoriasis and other immune conditions for everyone. Such huge claims are normally a clear give-away of someone wanting to separate you from your hard-earned money.Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-67504974460343199272013-07-02T09:22:00.004-07:002013-07-02T09:22:45.670-07:00Beware, Young People are Growing OlderWe have all heard for years that the life-expectancy of modern man is continually increasing and in the future humans can expect to live much longer lives. We also read headlines in periodicals that proclaim that "50 is the new 40" and "60 is the new 50". This is because baby boomers are living healthier and longer lives than their parents did. Some scientists have said that we can possibly live 150 years and more in the future.<br />
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This may all be changing. I have read a brief but very interesting article titled <a href="http://www.acatoday.org/content_css.cfm?CID=5200">"30 Is the New 45"</a> in the June/July issue of <a href="http://www.acatoday.org/">ACAnews</a>, the magazine of the American Chiropractic Association. Written by Dr William Morgan, it highlights recent research in Holland into modern adults, who have been followed for 25 years to monitor their health.<br />
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The essence of the article is that the trend of increasing lifespan and good health into old-age is changing and is likely to plateau and then start falling. This is all because modern young adults are not eating properly and not exercising enough. The research has found that their bodies are ageing much faster than their parents and even their grandparents. Their bodies at 40 years of age are the equivalent condition of their parents at 55. This is showing up in a massive increase in obesity rates and health conditions like diabetes and heart conditions. This is despite reductions in the number of people who smoke and continually improving medical care and technology.<br />
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Those conditions are developing much earlier than in previous generations so those people will die sooner and have more health problems to burden their shorter lives. I guess that a short and unhealthy life may be better than a long unhealthy life but isn't the best option a long life that is filled with good health and happiness?<br />
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The numbers are pretty bad and much more so among women than men. They show that obesity has increased 20% among men and a staggering 50% among women, when comparing generations. This latter fact is particularly disturbing because it is the woman of the family who takes care of the entire family and makes the major decisions about what her family will eat. If she can't make sensible food and beverage decisions for herself then what chance is there that she will make good decisions for her family?<br />
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I was at a trade show this past weekend and had the opportunity to observe the visitors for three days. Often there were families of three generations roaming around together. For many of them one can see the progression in those three generations, with mother more obese than grand-mother and the children obviously continuing the trend. If the children are being started off so badly in their pre-teens then they are destined to a short life that is filled with bad health.<br />
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At this trade show there were also many, many fit and healthy people, men and women who very clearly take good care of themselves, with plenty of exercise and decent food choices. As can be expected, their families looked good as well. Those are the people that can expect to live longer and much more satisfying lives.<br />
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What has all this got to do with psoriasis and arthritis? Plenty. Severely excessive body weight and bad food choices impact on all manner of health conditions, including psoriasis and arthritis. Both are conditions that are characterised by inflammation, which is aggravated by bad nutrition. Psoriasis is aggravated by perspiration and chafe, both of which are made worse by having rolls of flesh rubbing against each other. Arthritis is aggravated by the joints having to support more weight than they are intended to carry, wearing out the cartilages and bone surfaces sooner.<br />
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We all have to take decisions for ourselves about all aspects of our lives and then we have to live with the results of those decisions. We should not expect society to fix our lives or our bodies when we were just too lazy or too careless to do a proper job of it ourselves. Pumping our children full of absolutely trashy food and sodas because they want it or it is the least hassle for us at the time can only result in seriously diminished quality of life in the future. Why would anybody do that?Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-88218664207009686812013-06-25T07:34:00.001-07:002013-06-25T07:34:20.796-07:00Nightshades and ArthritisI have heard rumours for decades that nightshades may be bad for my psoriasis. I have always been willing to experiment with different foods, including those that may help my skin or excluding those that may aggravate it. Somehow I never did experiment with nightshades, possibly because the stories that I heard were just rumours and never backed up by personal experience from any of my friends who had the same health problems.<br />
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Most people have either never heard the word nightshade or have heard it but don't have any idea what it means. Nightshades are not the dinky little eye covers that long distance airlines give to their passengers on overnight flights. Nightshades are plants that fall into a group of 2800 different species in the scientific order Polemoniales. They include some fruits and vegetables that one never thinks could be related in any way, yet they all have some common characteristics. Primarily, they are all related to the tobacco family and all contain varying amounts of nicotine and other alkaloids.<br />
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Maybe you don't smoke because you know that nicotine is very bad for your health. Yet you are almost certainly unknowingly consuming nicotine every day in what you eat because of nightshades.<br />
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As for the other alkaloids, these are components of nightshades that vary widely in content in these plants but are the reason why all nightshades are considered to be drugs. Alkaloids can have bad effects on nerve-muscle function as well as the digestive system and joints of all animals that consume them. The amount of alkaloids in food are very small, so most humans are not affected. However, people who are sensitive to alkaloids may have very bad effects. Autoimmune diseases are generally rooted in the digestive system, so any food that can deteriorate the digestive system is likely to cause problems.<br />
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So, what vegetables are we taking about here, as nightshades? The most common ones are all types of tomatoes, potatoes (normal and sweet varieties), eggplant and all varieties of peppers, from sweet to chili and cayenne species. I have found over the years that tomatoes give me bad reactions with both psoriasis and arthritis but I have still eaten them because of the good effects of lycopene. One of my favourite dishes is an Afrikaner dish that I have cooked regularly in winter. It is a red meat, tomato and potato stew over rice. I always showed a deterioration the following day or two but this stuff is so good that I lived with the after-effects of a well-loved meal. Red meat plus two nightshades over rice, that is a big mix of bad ingredients for someone with psoriatic arthritis. In future I will keep that for the occasional treat instead of cooking it weekly in winter.<br />
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At my weekly surf club meetings many chili peppers are consumed by my friends. I have tried them a couple of times and found that the following day or two my skin breaks out a bit. I had read somewhere that some people consider them to be good for arthritis, so I tried two one evening just to see if they affected my arthritis. They did and not for the better, so I decided to leave them out of my diet.<br />
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Lets go back to the bad stuff in nightshades. The alkaloids can block the signals that go back and forth between the nervous system and the muscles. The nervous system is the network via which the brain controls the whole body, so blocked or intermittent signals can cause big problems. These include muscle twitching, trembling, paralyzed breathing and convulsions. They also cause inflammation in the joints and arthritis problems are the result of inflammation.<br />
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Follow this link to an <a href="http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=62">excellent article on nightshades</a> and their effects on arthritis.<br />
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It is only about 3 weeks since I stopped eating nightshades, so I am still testing the results. Last week I did a surfing/sailing/camping trip for 4 days. I slept on an uncomfortable folding bed and abused my body with long hours of surfing and sailing (3 hours of surfing and 4 hours of dinghy sailing in one day alone). I had not the slightest hint of arthritis pain in those 4 days. Consider that I am no spring chicken, I turned 64 last month.<br />
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As I have said elsewhere on this blog, I follow many strategies to help my psoriasis and arthritis. Overall they work. Some will be helping more than others but it can be difficult to sort the good from the really good. Leaving nightshades out of my diet is looking very promising to become one of the best decisions to improve my health and well-being.<br />
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Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-81705342225572968012013-05-16T09:07:00.003-07:002013-05-16T09:07:48.129-07:00Is Salt Affecting your Psoriasis?Here is one that I have not heard of before or even considered it being a possibility. It popped up on my psoriasis radar today and is worth reading, posted on the <a href="http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/diet-a-exercise/salt-linked-to-multiple-sclerosis-rheumatoid-arthritis-and-other-autoimmune-diseases?utm_source=email&utm_medium=SilverpopMailing&utm_campaign=2013-05-16%20DHN%20NL%20CID-0000001034%20remainder&utm_content=&spMailingID=41514410&spUserID=NTE4NTUyMjI4MzcS1&spJobID=188293325&spReportId=MTg4MjkzMzI1S0" target="_blank">Daily Health</a> newsletter. Psoriasis is one of the many autoimmune conditions included in this wide range of afflictions that appear to be aggravated by excessive salt intake.<br />
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I am not a heavy user of salt and have been reducing its use progressively in the past few years. I use herbs and spices to flavour what I cook instead of relying on masses of salt. I do tend to increase my salt intake to boost my blood pressure on occasions that I sense it dropping but even that does not occur as often as it used to. Supplementing with ginseng complex capsules and CoQ10 capsules has stabilised my heart beat and blood pressure, mostly removing my reliance on salt to serve that function.<br />
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Excessive salt consumption is a big problem in the modern world of fast foods and convenience foods. In USA almost all of these foods are packed with ridiculous amounts of salt. I inadvertently bought two cans of Progresso soup a few months ago by picking up the wrong cans. I opened one and it was so unbelievably salty that I couldn't eat it. The can shows that one serving includes nearly 1/3 of the RDA for an entire day's eating. It also says that one seving is only half a can, so my quick and easy can of soup meal is giving me nearly 2/3 of my allowance for the whole day, before I add a couple of slices of bread.<br />
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A year ago my ladies took me for a birthday treat to Red Lobster, knowing my love of seafoods. Everything that we ordered was so salty that we have not been back.<br />
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A little salt is nice to draw out the natural flavours but why would I, or anybody else, want the salt to be the main flavour? Excess salt kills the natural flavours of the food. When it has been absorbed into the cells of your body it holds water, so you gain weight, encouraging other health issues.<br />
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So, I encourage you to cut down on salt intake. Instead use antioxidant herbs and spices to flavour your cooking. They will fight inflammation and, at the same time, reduce the harm that is being done by salt. Double the health benefit and at little cost.Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-67715688085812782492013-04-18T13:30:00.000-07:002013-04-18T13:30:03.014-07:00Stress-relief from MeditationWe all have stress in our lives, some more so than others. I realised many years ago the toll that stress was taking on my health and decided to do what I could to reduce stress. I changed my whole lifestyle in a way that few people can. Most others think that I now have an ideal stress-free life, my own boss, working from home and with very flexible hours that allow me to surf or sail when it suits me. A surfing acquaintance once told me that, unlike me, he had to earn a living so had to leave the beach. I told him that I also had to work and would be doing so until midnight to reclaim the hours spent surfing that day.<br />
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Being your own boss with your own micro business brings its own stresses that someone with a secure salary from a corporate or government job cannot comprehend. I have not known from one week to the next what my income would be for that month for nearly 30 years. Not knowing if you can pay the mortgage or some other big expense can be extremely stressful. Balancing a sorely-needed new computer against a repair needed on the car or the house when there is no way to predict with any accuracy how much money will be available is sure to raise the stress levels.<br />
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So, as I said, we all have stress to contend with. Recent research into the effects of stress has shown that stress causes inflammation. And anyone who has read this blog for awhile knows my opinions about inflammation. It is the root cause of psoriasis, arthritis and other auto-immune conditions and I do what I can to minimise inflammation in my system. You can read about the meditation research in a <a href="http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/natural-remedies/how-meditation-can-help-arthritis-asthma-and-other-inflammation-problems" target="_blank">Daily Health News article</a> written by Tamara Eberlein. It highlights the stress-relieving benefits of mindfulness meditation and the resulting reductions in inflammatory response in the body. The article includes links to more information about this type of meditation, which is very simple and easy to do almost anywhere and anytime.<br />
<br />
So, I have added mindfulness meditation as another implement in my toolbox to help me to eradicate inflammation from my body. <br />
<br />
<br />Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-36593673622252363972013-04-12T08:26:00.000-07:002013-04-12T08:26:34.099-07:00More Thoughts on InflammationI have written a few times about the benefits of a diet that is high in anti-oxidant foods and supplements. Anti-oxidants get rid of the dangerous free-radicals in our bodies and to which our immune systems react and create inflammation. Removing or reducing the free-radicals tones down the response of the auto-immune system so also reduces the inflammation.<br />
<br />
Psoriasis lesions (spots, patches etc) are inflammation of the skin. Arthritis is inflammation in the joints. Research has shown that those of us who have these conditions don't only have inflammation in those areas, that inflammation can show up almost anywhere within the body, hidden away where we don't see it. This hidden inflammation can only be seen on X-Rays and other imaging devices that can see inside the body, unless they show up as lumps. I have such a lump on my left Achilles tendon, which can give me very bad pain if I wear shoes that press on it or if I knock it on anything.<br />
<br />
There is a proven connection between psoriasis and various other conditions aside from arthritis, like diseases of the heart or liver. Some of them are not only conditions that make life uncomfortable, some of them are potentially lethal, so we should do all that we can to reduce the problem and its effects on our lives.<br />
<br />
I don't mean that we must jump headlong into the latest unpronounceable product brought out by the drug companies; the drugs that they offer almost always have side-effects, some of which can be worse than the conditions that they are supposed to be treating. I mean that we must do our best to stop dumping unhealthy food into our digestive systems. Most junk food is inflammatory, so stop eating it. Sodas are highly inflammatory, find something more healthy to drink, like filtered water and herbal teas, without loads of sugar or other bad ingredients. It is OK to have these things occasionally but many people live on nothing but junk food.<br />
<br />
I know that I have a heart condition. I have had an irregular heartbeat from about the same time that my psoriasis and arthritis appeared about 30 years ago. If I allow my blood pressure to get too low then I feel the irregular rhythms in my chest and know that I must eat or drink something to get my pressure up and the rhythms regular again or I may soon be on the floor. I need to look after my heart but am not prepared to live like an invalid or on drugs. <br />
<br />
I can see the obvious signs of inflammation on my skin and my tendon but I can't see it anywhere else that it may be in my body. Other than having X-Rays, I have to find another way to judge how I am doing with my fight against inflammation that could be damaging my internal organs. I use the condition of my skin for that purpose.<br />
<br />
Topical creams and lotions have obvious benefits in treating the skin lesions from the outside and getting rid of itches, redness and scaling. They can even reduce the inflammation in the layers of the skin, to make the lesions disappear completely. What they cannot do, though, is to remove any inflammation elsewhere in the body. That has to be treated from within. My tactic has developed over the years to one of treating as much as possible from the inside through diet, with some support from topical treatments on the outside.<br />
<br />
If we treat only what we see on the surface then the other locations of inflammation, like the heart, liver and joints, are going untreated and will eventually present insurmountable problems.Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-41610600975502682912013-03-28T20:10:00.000-07:002013-03-28T20:10:26.324-07:00PSO Medis Body Cream I was recently sent a sample pot of a product of which I had not heard before. It is PSO Medis Body Cream, supplied by <a href="http://www.kamedis.com/" target="_blank">Kamedis Bio-Herbal Skin Care</a>. I visited their website to read about their products before accepting the offered sample and it looked interesting to test.<br />
<br />
Their products are made from plant extracts with anti-inflammatory and moisturising properties. I won't go into the details, you can read those on their website. This post is intended to give readers a preliminary report of what I experienced with PSO Medis.<br />
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I received the product a few weeks ago and next day stopped my normal regimen of light topical applications of tar and hydro-cortisone on my lesions, each applied once daily in rotation. Instead I started to use the PSO Medis twice daily and watched for changes. Part-way through I had a trip abroad and carelessly left the unfinished pot of PSO Medis in my hotel room when I left for home. It prevented me from fully completing my test but I had used enough of it to get a good feel for the product.<br />
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It is an unusual cream, almost more like an ointment than a cream and it seems slightly fibrous in texture. This means that it doesn't spread smoothly like a true cream but it does rub in quite well. It is air force blue in colour and I found that it needs to be applied very lightly and well rubbed in, otherwise the blue colour makes it look much like light bruising if any is left on the skin.<br />
<br />
I experienced a very rapid improvement in itching. I am quite tolerant of my psoriasis itch and, while I seldom scratch it, I can feel it somewhere or other on my body much of the time. Some people have an itch from their psoriasis and others feel it as a pain. I read recently that the sensations of itch and pain are carried through the body by different nerves. I have always described mine as a painful itch, so I don't know how that sensation is carried through my nervous system. After I applied PSO Medis to my spots, all feelings of itch/pain disappeared within minutes.<br />
<br />
The moisturising ingredients also seemed to work very well. All signs of dryness on my skin disappeared while I was using it.<br />
<br />
By the time that I lost my pot of PSO Medis, I had not yet established whether my lesions were expanding or contracting due to the change in treatment. However, since then there have been definite improvements that may have been initiated by the PSO Medis. I felt encouraged enough by the initial results to pay for another pot of the same product. I will have that next week and will continue with my testing.<br />
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The USA suppliers of the products have given me a discount code that can be used by any of my readers. Go to the <a href="http://www.kamedis-shop.com/" target="_blank">Kamedis Shop</a> and select your products. When checking out with your order, enter the code K883S1XFA41C to receive a 30% discount off the cost of the products. Try it for yourself. I will post again when I have used it longer and have a clearer feeling for the benefits over a longer period.<br />
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Please note that I have no financial relationship with the makers nor distributors of these products. I receive no incentives except that they sent me a free initial sample. I only report my experiences and all others must ascertain the safety and suitability of the products for themselves. Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-75531224067229070472013-03-06T09:01:00.000-08:002013-03-06T09:06:20.921-08:00Spinal UpdateI have written before about my history of back pain and what I was doing in my attempts to improve it. Here is a summary of what I have been doing.<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Supplemented with glucosamine/chondroitin for about 15-20 years and changed about 5 years ago to a brand that includes small amounts of hyaluronic acid.</li>
<li>Increased my intake of hyaluronic acid considerably about 4 months ago.</li>
<li>Started hanging from an exercise bar and doing pull-ups (chin-ups) on that bar multiple times each day a few months ago.</li>
<li>Increased my core exercises to strengthen my back and abdominal muscles. Although I am an active person, I don't do enough of this type of exercise when there is a long period without surfing or sailing.</li>
<li>Increased the twisting type of stretch exercises that I do first thing each morning, to make my spine and supporting muscles more supple.</li>
<li>Attempt to sit straight whenever possible, rather than slouched.</li>
<li>Sit less often with legs crossed. When I do cross my legs I make sure to sometimes cross left over right and other times right over left. This was because my spine became distorted by always crossing left over right. To remedy this distortion I crossed right over left for about 2 years, which was uncomfortable until my spine straightened to the point that I now feel no difference either way.</li>
<li>Stand up and walk around as often as possible when working or travelling. I have also gotten into the habit of standing instead of sitting when I have to be in one place for a long time.</li>
<li>Stand squarely on both feet, with my weight evenly distributed and my hips straight. I used to stand with hips cocked and more weight on one foot than the other. This added to my spine alignment problems. </li>
</ol>
The results of these changes have been excellent. My back now feels stronger than it has for many years. For the first time in decades I have minimal discomfort when I get out of bed in the morning. That minor discomfort is gone within 2 minutes of standing up. I used to sit on the bed to pull on my socks because of back pain. Now I can stand on one leg, bent over with my other knee against my chest while I pull on socks.<br />
<br />
On my way downstairs I stop and do 5 pull-ups on my bar. I do my stretches and exercises before I sit down to work. Almost every time that I go upstairs, maybe 8-10 times each day, I do another 5 pull-ups, including last thing at night before getting into bed. Each time I hear pops in my back as it pulls back into alignment. My back no longer hurts when I stand up after sitting for a long time but I continue the habit of standing and walking as often as possible. Overall, my changes have made a big difference.<br />
<br />
My wife also hangs on the bar but less often than I do. She doesn't have the upper body strength to hang for long nor to do pull-ups. Still, it is helping her back problems and sciatica as well, with reduced pain. It may be that older women would benefit more from using an inversion table to stretch the spine if they cannot hang comfortably from an exercise bar.<br />
<br />
It is for everyone to experiment for themselves to find what works best for them. What I have done works well for me and may do the same for you.Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-59340889047927432772013-02-18T05:35:00.000-08:002013-02-18T05:35:01.018-08:00Another view on PsoriasisI have exchanged emails with Brian Eiland for a few years. He also works in the boating industry but in a different way from me and on a different continent. Only recently did we come to know that we both have psoriasis. Brian sent me an email a few weeks ago detailing his own self-treatment of his psoriasis and other skin issues. I am posting that email below, as written, as a guest post on my blog. Brian's methods differ from my own in some respects but I am including all of what he said, so that you can decide for yourself what to try and what to leave alone. Please note that I am only passing on this information, not endorsing it or otherwise.<br />
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<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;">Like you Dudley I spent quite a lot of time out
in the sun as a result of boating and the boat business. I am fair complexion
and was red headed in my youth. <br /><br />At one point about 40 yrs of age I
developed a scaly rash that covered much of my upper body, but particularly my
arms and hands,....even the palms of my hands. I went to a dermatologies and
they ran numerous test on me to try and determine some allergy. They gave me
some shots of cortisone and a prescription for cortisone tablets. This was
affective, but only as long as I continued to take the tablets and get shots
every once in a while. They never did 'discovered' the thing that might be
causing this skin reaction.</span><br />
</div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;">
</span>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;">So one weekend I was down in OC MD racing catamarans, and I woke up
with a little bit of a hangover (partying the night before...ha...ha). I'm
having breakfast and a friend hands me an article in the local paper that
discusses skin problems. Basically it says that sun exposure and alcohol
consumption both act to deplete the vitamin B in your skin. That was an 'Ah Ha'
moment for me. I was guilty of both sins.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;">I began to take Vitamin B in a regular fashion, and stopped the
cortisone. It worked. To this day if I ever see that scaly condition starting to
return (and often it starts between my fingers) I simply start with a heavier
does of Vitamin B. Of course at my older age I don't spend as much time out in
the sun, so it comes up much less often.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;">Of course the dermatologist
emphasized an unscented soap. I used that for years, basically a unscented bar
soap. But after I married my Thai wife she purchased some 'body wash' for me. I
use this all the time now, even in a scented form......and not even the
expensive ones. I use the very basic one offered by CVS. It keeps my skin much
more subtle than ANY of the bar soaps offered.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;">There was one almond scented one I liked very much, but I don't see so
often now. And speaking of Almonds I think they are suppose to be good for your
skin? Turns out I really like almond flavored pastries in my older age. Maybe
that helps with my skin as well?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;">I still get little bouts with psoriasis on occasions, particularly around
my neck and ears and eyebrows. It got particularly bad during the past 5 years.
I went to see another dermatologist, and this time was prescribed a cream called
Triamcinolone 0.1%. This stuff works like magic for me.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;">Whenever I am having
an attack, I put some of this on for several days, and eventually the redness
and flakiness goes away. Often I can remain free of this condition for months
now.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;">I am at the beginning of diabetes so I have some skin conditions
associated with that, particularly in my legs and feet, and particularly in the
winter months when the skin is so dry. My fingertips can get particularly dry
and cracked in the winter. I have found that a 100% Lanolin Cream is a wonderful
help. This is also available at CVS in small tubes,....and it goes a long way
with just a small application.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;">And finally my last 'home remedy'.....H2O2 hydrogen peroxide.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;">I am
concerned about skin cancer somewhere down the line. I believe I have already
suffered from some 'pre-cancerous' spots on my skin. A number of years ago I
read that cancerous cells need an oxygen supply (those tumors need a blood
supply from which to source oxygen). <u>Turns out they don't like too little
oxygen, NOR too much oxygen !!</u> So I began to think where I could source 'too
much' oxygen easily,....why not hydrogen peroxide which is water with an extra
oxygen attached, that it gives up easily??</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;">Most us of know of 'traditional' H2O2 that you purchase at most
stores,...that is at most 3% stuff. I wanted HI-TEST. I got some 35% stuff from
a health food store and I keep a bottle in the freezer to preserve it. Now the
full 35% stuff will practically burn your skin, so I dilute it to about half
that strength, ...that is what I dab on my suspect skin spots most of the time.
Occasionally I will use the full strength stuff. You need to be careful not to
get it on any skin (including fingertips) other than that spot you want to
treat. I use a Q-tip to apply, then throw it away so I don't accidentaly touch
the other end.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;">I have eliminated some moles, some warts, and some definite pre-cancerous
lesions on my skin. Those 'wayward cells' truly do NOT like too much oxygen.
Some wayward cells might take repeated applications once or twice a day for a
week. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;">I have also experienced one failure to attack a pre-cancerous growth on my
leg. After I had it surgically cut out I could see why my hydrogen peroxide
method may not have worked. It was a very deep cone structure, so I believe what
I was doing was attacking the surface cells (which appeared to be working), but
I was not getting to the deeper cells in that cone structure. I have given
thoughts to using a needle to inject some H2O2 into that core structure the next
time, but I don't care much for needles....ha...ha. We will see, the next
tim<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">e.</span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: small;">Regards, Brian</span></div>
Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-15562425696652303032013-02-12T13:56:00.000-08:002013-02-12T13:56:32.273-08:00The Cost of Psoriasis TreatmentUniversity of California, Davis dermatologist Dr. April Armstrong has done research using data from the files of the <a href="http://www.psoriasis.org/" target="_blank">National Psoriasis Foundation</a> into various aspects of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis and how these conditions affect the lives of the more than 5,600 people analysed. <a href="http://www.psoriasis.org/news/jan-2013/access-care" target="_blank">Read about it here.</a> <br />
<br />
One of the interesting things to come out of it is the high cost of treatment. 91% Of those studied have some sort of private or public health insurance. Despite that, out of pocket costs for co-pays and other costs are more than $2,500 per year for most patients and can be upward of $600 per month, or more then $7,200 per year. That is an awful lot of money to pay out for treatment, aside from what is being paid by the insurance. That can add a whole lot to the misery that you might feel from fighting these conditions.<br />
<br />
We each have to fight it in our own way and I only really know the way that I find best for me. That is to fight it primarily by eating a very healthy diet and living a very healthy lifestyle. I don't smoke and I consume very little alcohol or sodas, all of which can have major detrimental effects on both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.<br />
<br />
You have to deal with it in the way that you can manage. But, if you are one of those people paying out enormous sums of money to doctors and specialists then your health insurance is likely paying out even larger amounts. If, while this is going on, you are abusing your body by eating all sorts of highly processed or junk food, smoking and drinking large amounts of alcohol or sodas, then think about what you are paying out unnecessarily.<br />
<br />
We often hear the argument that it is too expensive to eat healthy, that junk or convenience food is so much cheaper and easier. Add onto your food costs for whatever you are paying out to the medical profession to treat you and that junk food is no longer so cheap. This doesn't only apply to psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, it also applies to many other conditions that are affected by diet. Many of them are self-inflicted conditions, brought on by over-eating and by eating cheap junk food.<br />
<br />
Everyone complains about the high cost of medical insurance and of medical treatment. A major factor in the high cost of insurance is so many people refusing to take personal responsibility for the state of their bodies. We can't help it if we are born with a genetic problem that leads to a disease or health problem but we can help it if we abuse our bodies into bad health. If we do that we should not expect those who do look after themselves properly to help carry the cost of treatment.<br />
<br />
So, please rethink the way that you eat. Work hard to clean up your bad dietary habits, get more exercise and get out into the sunshine more often. Your body and your wallet may both benefit from the changes.Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-39325162239563777122013-01-27T19:55:00.000-08:002013-01-27T19:55:35.411-08:00Helpmekaar - Soap for PsoriasisI am going to start a series of posts called "Helpmekaar". This is an Afrikaans word meaning "help each other".<br />
<br />
We need to exchange information between us, to tell each other what we find helps or aggravates our psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis. There are so many possible causes and factors that affect how these conditions affect each of us that we all respond differently to treatments, products and even weather conditions. What helps one person may not help the next.<br />
<br />
I have found various ways to ease my symptoms, even to sometimes make them go away completely. Many of you have found other ways to achieve similar results. Yet, few of us manage to remain totally clear of symptoms permanently. It may be because we become lax and fall back into our previous bad habits or it may be because the particular treatment that we are using has a limited shelf-life, after which it is no longer effective and we have to move on to try something different. It may be that if we combine what we have found good for ourselves with what someone else has found good, we may stumble onto something that works to our benefit more permanently.<br />
<br />
For whatever reason, we can only benefit from reading what others are doing and finding successful. So, I am inviting you to share with us what it is that you do that works for you, to alleviate your psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis. Some of it will be purely relief from unpleasant symptoms, other may be getting deeper, into the root causes of these conditions, deep within our bodies. It just depends on the particular aspect that is under consideration at the time.<br />
<br />
For each post in this series I will kick it off with what I am doing at the time or have done in the past. What I am doing might be good but may not necessarily be the best that I could do, likewise for you. I hope that many people will respond with their stories. This first one deals with body soap, as in the kind of soap that you use to shower or bath.<br />
<br />
I have used various kinds of bath soap over the past 30 years. Popular wisdom is that we must use mild and unscented soaps and I have found this to be true. The one that I finally settled on as the most beneficial to me is Olay Ultra Moisture white bar with Shea Butter. This is a gentle soap that softens any light scaling that I may have at the time, allowing me to "roll it off", leaving sound and undamaged skin behind. It leaves a layer of oil on my skin as well, moisturising it to increase flexibility and prevent it drying out. That reduces itching, so overall my affected skin feels much better and more normal. Soap can dry out your skin, so using a moisturising soap is much better for psoriasis lesions.<br />
<br />
Some of the high-end soaps that are supposed to be gentle are not really so gentle if you have psoriasis. I tried Pears soap years ago. I don't remember the exact effects but they were strong enough that I only used one bar and then changed to another brand.<br />
<br />
Please post your story as a comment below this post.Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-4321421826235114182013-01-10T04:39:00.001-08:002013-01-10T04:39:32.899-08:00Food Combining for HealthI have written before on this blog about the dangers of mixing the wrong foods together. Read about it in my post <a href="http://psoriasis-spot.blogspot.com/2012/04/watch-what-you-mix.html" target="_blank">"Watch What You Mix"</a>. Thoughts of that were brought back into mind when I read an excellent article on the same subject, titled <a href="http://bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/diet-a-exercise/dont-eat-chicken-with-rice?utm_campaign=_BQ3CauB8v5xAoB&DHN" target="_blank">"Don't Eat Chicken with Rice"</a> by Carole Jackson of Daily Health News.<br />
<br />
I have long been aware of the health dangers of mixing sugars and protein, so I try to have sweet things like fruit, fruit juice etc before a meal rather than after it and leave a big gap between the main meal and desert. If we go out to dinner I seldom have desert because I can't separate the two by anywhere near enough time for it to be healthy.<br />
<br />
What I have not really taken into account, though, was a similar problem with starchy food. I don't know why I didn't make the connection, I just didn't apply enough of my brain cells to the problem even though I knew the answer all along. I remember clearly in about Grade 4 or 5 the teacher of our hygiene class telling us that saliva converts starch into sugar, so we must chew our breakfast cereal thoroughly to mix it with saliva, which would start the digestive process even before it reached our stomachs. For some reason that memory kept recurring in my brain ever since, which has been a long, long time. Obviously my sub-conscious mind was trying to tell my conscious mind that this is important, so please pay attention. The Carole Jackson article made the final connection to get me to take note.<br />
<br />
Sugars are simple carbohydrates and starches are complex carbohydrates. Ptyalin and amylase in saliva convert complex carbohydrates into simple carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates are easily digested and move quickly though the digestive system. They should not be consumed with or after anything that is tough to digest, which is exactly the case with any kind of animal protein. <br />
<br />
Animal protein takes a long time to go through the digestive system and it holds back any sugars that are with it or behind it in the queue. The sugars complete their digestive process quickly but can't get to where they can be absorbed into the blood stream. They sit around in the warm and cosy intestine and start to ferment, which produces toxins. While they are hanging around waiting, they cause bloating, heartburn and other very uncomfortable sensations. When the animal protein finally gets to where it can be absorbed into the blood stream, the fermented sugars and toxins go with it into the body.<br />
<br />
I am a lover of stews and casseroles, generally containing potatoes and other vegetables, along with some pork or chicken and served on a nice bed of brown rice or yellow rice. I also love grilled salmon on rice and with a pile of steamed veggies. Now I realise that this is a toxic mix and may be contributing to my psoriasis symptoms. I must ditch either the animal protein or the starch from these combinations. <br />
<br />
Although I don't have a lot of animal protein, I don't really want to go vegetarian. So, I must rather watch my food combining more carefully. The Carole Jackson article has some good advice on healthy combinations and has a link to an easy-reference food-combining chart. Basically, eat sugars and starches together or with vegetables. Eat animal proteins by themselves or with non-starchy, non-sugary vegetables.<br />
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You need only keep these basic principles in mind to modify your normal recipes and come up with slightly different ways to create tasty interesting meals.Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-19780177771671718632012-12-27T20:30:00.000-08:002012-12-27T20:30:26.573-08:00Back Pain UpdateI wrote in posts on this blog over the last few months about trouble that I was having with back pain due to psoriatic arthritis and what steps I was taking in my quest to reduce the pain. Well, I am pleased to be able to now write that my back is almost pain-free. It is an ongoing process, of course, but I think that I have a pretty good understanding of what did the most good for me.<br />
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I think that it was carelessness on my part that caused my back to trouble me as much as it did. I have had back problems from when I was about 12 years old, after a fall of about 6ft that landed me on my knees on a hard floor. I was treated by a chiropractor and slept on a 4" coir mattress on a solid wooden base for the next 10 years as part of the remedy. It was very rigid and unyielding, so it was funny when friends visited and flopped down onto my bed, remembering with a jolt how hard it was.<br />
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That kept my back happy for decades and I became complacent. I didn't take care of it the way that I should have, so eventually it grabbed my attention and I had to pay for it. The final straw was about 18 months ago while working on a vintage car that I am rebuilding. I pushed and twisted at the same time and threw my back out very badly. Against the advice of my chiropractor, I was back surfing and sailing again within 10 days, albeit in a back brace, although he recommended that I lay off for 6-8 weeks.<br />
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I have come to realise that there is another contributing factor. I have always relied on my surfing, sailing and hiking on the mountains to keep me fit. That worked well in Cape Town, where there is surf almost all the time, it is warm enough for year-round sailing and I was surrounded by mountains. Not so here in Virginia Beach. The only mountain is a converted refuse dump something less than 100ft high, the winters are too cold for regular dinghy sailing and the occurrences of decent surf few and far between. Here I need to supplement with regular sessions on my home exercise equipment. Work pressures get in the way of me exercising as often as I should, so my core muscles can sometimes get a bit lazy. The result can be a sloppy posture, followed by back pain.<br />
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OK, so what have I done that has improved the condition of my back?<br />
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<ol>
<li><strong>Stretching my back.</strong> I mentioned that I had a trapeze bar in my home in Cape Town and used to hang upside-down by my knees. The weight of my upper body pulling downward stretched my back and allowed it to realign. I have not figured how to rig that in my home here in Virginia Beach, so had to come up with a different plan. I bought an inexpensive ($20) exercise bar that hooks onto the head of a door frame and I placed it in a doorway where it could stay there permanently. At least 7 or 8 times each day I stop under that bar and do 6-8 pull-ups (chin-ups) before continuing whatever I was doing. I do it with my legs straight but sticking out in front of me at the best angle that I can manage. The hanging stretches my back and I hear the vertebrae popping back into alignment. They are also pulled apart, allowing my disks to suck back into their rightful positions and reinflate, thereby helping to keep my vertebrae further apart. Sticking my legs out in front of me loads up my abs to strengthen my core, helping to keep my back properly aligned.</li>
<li><strong>Doing core-strengthening exercises.</strong> Aside from the abs exercise mentioned above, I also do various other core-strengthening exercises and stretches, all aimed at keeping my spine supple and in proper alignment. These include push-ups, squats, body twists and using the rowing facility on my exercise machine. Getting the strength and flexibility back into my core muscles gives proper support to my spine from all sides.</li>
<li> <strong>Supplementing with hyaluronic acid (HA).</strong> This substance is the primary ingredient of synovial fluid, the lubricant and cushioning material in our joints. It is also in our ligaments, tendons, skin, lips, eyes and almost everywhere else in the body. It lubricates, binds, fills and makes flexible. As we age, our bodies produce progressively less HA, so our joints bind, tendons and ligaments weaken and lose elasticity, our eyesight weakens and our skin wrinkles. I have found that the right HA supplement has helped to return flexibility to my joints, so maybe I will also see improvements in other parts of my body. I had read that the most effective form is in the patented complex named Biocell Collagen. I found a few brands with Biocell Collagen and chose the brand Hydraplenish, mostly because it was on reduced price special at the time. It worked and I started to feel improvement. When the bottle was empty I decided to try a much cheaper brand, just hyaluronic acid and vitamin C. Within days I felt that I was going backwards a bit, so went back to the Hydraplenish brand. In future I will stay with brands that contain Biocell Collagen.</li>
<li>Further increasing my intake of anti-oxidant foods. This is mostly by increasing the amount of colourful vegetables, combined with reduced red meat intake. Red meat and processed foods generate toxins in the body and anti-oxidants break them down and remove them from the bloodstream. This results in reduced inflammation throughout the body. Reduced inflammation results in improvements in all parts of the body, including joints.</li>
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Overall, my back is now way better than it was a month ago. Pain is less than 5% of what it was not long ago. Aside from a mild pain immediately after getting out of bed, I am virtually pain-free. I feel that I am on the right track and will continue along this path.Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-67610213586062567432012-12-05T10:44:00.001-08:002012-12-05T10:45:36.448-08:00Friendships & InflammationI said that I would no doubt be writing about inflammation in the future but didn't expect it to be this soon.<br />
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Yesterday I read an interesting article by Carole Jackson of Daily Health about research that has been done into the effects of friendship on our health. The results are quite fascinating.<br />
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A study was done of British men and women by Dr Noriko Cable over a 5-year period to establish the effects on mental well-being of having or not having many friends. A previous study had already shown that having friends reduces inflammation in the body and this new study sought to build on that earlier study. <br />
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The participants were asked to say approximately how many friends they had, with whom they met at least once a month. Five years later the study followed up to establish their psychological well-being. The results showed that people with more than 10 friends had a higher level of confidence and contentment than those who had less than 10 friends. That can be translated into feeling less stress if you have more friends. <a href="http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/self-improvement/how-many-friends-do-you-have-why-the-number-matters?utm_campaign=_BQvfQsB8vbRI7G&DHN" target="_blank">Read the full article here.</a><br />
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Many people who have psoriasis, arthritis and various other auto-immune conditions find that it is aggravated by periods of increased stress. We knew this was an effect of stress but not why or how it happens. These two studies seem to hold one possible answer, in that friendships reduce stress, which reduces inflammation.<br />
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A few months ago I wrote a <a href="http://psoriasis-spot.blogspot.com/2012_09_01_archive.html" target="_blank">blog entry about inflammation</a> showing in X-rays, both on the skin (where it appears as psoriasis) and internally on various organs. Psoriasis involves inflammation in and on many parts of the body. Arthritis involves inflammation in the joints. For these conditions, inflammation plays a major part in creating the discomfort and pain that can make the lives of people with these conditions anywhere from mildly inconvenient through to thoroughly miserable.<br />
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We need to do whatever we can to minimise that inflammation and, according to these studies, increasing the number and quality of our friendships can help in that quest.<br />
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The quality of your friendships is important in this because we all know people who are simply more trouble than they are worth. They are in the friendship for what they can get out of it rather than to simply be a good friend. Or they are negative about themselves, us or their situations, with nothing positive to say about anything. These people drain us and can be unpleasant to have around; they create stress rather than alleviating it. <br />
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Friendship is a two-way street, with both parties needing to feel good about the relationship. If you regularly come away from meeting with such a friend feeling stressed in some way then you have to ask yourself if that friendship is worth maintaining into the future. We need to get such people out of our lives and to rather build up friendships with people who have a positive attitude, people with whom we share common interests and pleasures. When we associate with people who make us feel good about ourselves we feel less stressed. The lower stress levels will translate into less inflammation, which will ease the symptoms of your psoriasis and/or arthritis.Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-54839166512374125622012-11-26T05:55:00.002-08:002012-11-26T05:55:45.851-08:00Reumofan Plus SupplementsJust a quick post this morning.<br />
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Those of us with arthritis in any form, whether psoriatic or otherwise, know the stiffness and pain that comes with the condition, which can be debilitating. Sometimes we might feel the need for a painkiller or two to help us through the day. Personally, I stay away from painkillers as much as possible because of the side-effects that can aggravate my psoriasis. <br />
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I do supplement though, with glucosamine, chondroitin and hyaluronic acid to boost the synovial fluid in my joints. More fluid translates into more cushioning and more comfortable joints. We tend to trust the labels that we read on the supplements and medications that we take, basing decisions on what ingredients are listed on those labels. And it is right that we should be able to trust what is printed on those labels.<br />
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The health supplement industry is mostly unregulated, so it is worrying to learn of companies that are abusing the system, or the lack of an oversight authority to which they might otherwise have to answer. One of those companies taking advantage appears to be Riger Naturals in Mexico, which produces and distributes products under the names of Reumofan Plus and Reumofan Plus Premium. They are claimed to be all natural and the labels list only natural ingredients. They are marketed as supplements to ease joint and muscle pain.<br />
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However, after reports of various health problems and even deaths, the FDA has analysed these products and found varying amounts of three unlisted ingredients that are not natural and are actually prescription drugs. They can conflict with other prescriptions and can cause serious bodily harm. To make it worse, it is dangerous to stop cold-turkey with one of the unlisted ingredients, so it must be gradually reduced instead.<br />
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This was reported months ago but a quick search on the Internet still brings up companies that are selling these products. If you are using them, please read whatever information you can find about them and speak to your doctor about how to safely wean yourself off them and onto something that is less risky to your health.<br />
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You can read more about this at <a href="http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/health-a-healing/the-pill-you-cant-takebut-cant-stop-taking-either?utm_campaign=_BQs2gRB8vRFDp-&DHN" target="_blank">Daily Health News</a> .Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-51905654692660984832012-11-14T06:23:00.000-08:002012-11-14T06:28:36.713-08:00Still More on InflammationFollowing on my previous posts on inflammation, here is another. I don't want to bore anyone with this subject but it is so far-reaching in its effects that it needs to be explored as far as possible.<br />
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I have had problems with tendons for many years. As a very active person, I thought that it was all caused by the repetitive actions of some of my activities.<br />
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In the 1980s I was building a big boat, by myself. That involved lots of carrying of heavy parts, with attendant stress on my bones, muscles, joints and the tendons and ligaments that tie them all together. I did not use many powertools aside from saws and sanders, so there was lots of hammering and there were many, many screws to be driven by hand. I lived in an area of strong winds and spent many hours sailboarding, which puts heavy loads onto arms, shoulders and legs. As if that was not enough abuse of my body, I was also playing squash a few times a week, with massive impact loading on feet, knees and hips, as well as sharp twisting movements of elbows, wrists and shoulders.<br />
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Eventually I started to experience sharp pains in my right wrist and pain in my right elbow followed. Being right-handed, this was naturally the more heavily loaded side of my body. I started wearing wrist and elbow braces but the pain got worse. The solution was simple, or so I figured. I changed over to working left-handed and playing squash left handed as well. My game suffered badly, of course, but it is good for a boatbuilder to be ambidexterous. My left arm is not as powerful as my right, so it didn't take long for my left wrist to start giving the same problems.<br />
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The doctor diagnosed tendonitis in my wrists and classic tennis elbow in my right elbow. He advised that I get myself an electric screw-driver to take the heavy rotational loads off my wrists. So I bought myself a reversible electric drill and that piece of equipment did good service for me, relieving my wrists for many years and allowing the boat to be completed.<br />
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It all came to a head when I was slalom waterskiing and overloaded my already damaged elbow. I rested it as much as possible but continued surfing and sailing. My wrists improved but were not cured and my elbow remained very painful. Then I was offered a crew position to sail in the 1993 Cape to Rio trans-Atlantic yacht race. I knew that my elbow wasn't up to it, so had a tennis-elbow operation done on my right arm. That cured my elbow problem and magically the pain in my right wrist disappeared as well. My improved right arm meant that I no longer had to use my left arm as much, so that improved as well. <br />
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I have also had occasional bursitis problems in my elbows but remain convinced that this was due to impact injuries incurred while surfing and sailing. Psoriasis may have aggravated this but was not the cause.<br />
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A more persistent problem has been my left Achilles tendon, which has been painful and a bit swollen for a few years. It prevents me from running and seriously limits the shoes that I can wear. I can only wear shoes that put no pressure onto the back of my heel. I thought that this was a sports injury from too much squash, until I read in Vol 3 No 2 of <a href="http://guide2psoriasis.com/" target="_blank">Health Monitor</a> last month that tendonitis in the Achilles tendons is common among psoriatics.<br />
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That helped me to the realisation that my tendonitis through the past 30 years has been closely tied to my psorisis. It started a year or two before psoriasis started but may have been the first sign of internal inflammation. More recently I have done a small amount of internet research into associations between tendonitis, bursitis and psoriasis. It seems that there is a strong connection and some of it is stated on the <a href="http://www.talkpsoriasis.com/webdocs/features/Psoriatic_Arthritis.php" target="_blank">talkpsoriasis website</a>, which has useful information.<br />
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I think that my realisation of the psoriasis/inflammation connection has been an important one. For a long time I have been progressively moving my diet further toward foods that have anti-oxidant properties, for the resulting anti-inflammatory benefits. That was before I realised that psoriasis appears to be almost entirely an inflammation condition. Now I am moving more resolutely in that direction. For example, I have used turmeric in my cooking for a few years but in fairly small quantities (making yellow rice or sprinkling into soups and stews). <br />
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Now I am also taking turmeric capsules as a supplement. I increased my hyaluronic acid supplement intake at the same time (to boost the synovial fluid in joints and disks) and the two in combination seem to be helping considerably. Reinforced by increasing my core-strengthening exercises, the result is that my back pain is now less than 25% of what it was only a month ago.<br />
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I will no doubt post on this subject again in the future, hopefully with positive results from my changes to diet and supplement intake.<br />
<br />Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-17744087547941025332012-10-24T08:08:00.001-07:002012-10-24T08:08:31.279-07:00Tribute to Doreen FaureWhen I was diagnosed with psoriasis many years ago, I had no idea what it was. I had to ask the dermatologist to spell it to me so that I could write it down to research later in an encyclopedia. There was no Internet, so I couldn't Google the word and receive instantaneous information, research was much more time-consuming than it is now.<br />
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By happy timing, there was a program on South African national TV a few months later that was to change my experience completely. It was mainly an interview with a fine lady named Doreen Faure, intended to spread information about psoriasis, where to go for support and treatments that were available. Doreen was Secretary of the Cape Psoriasis Association, a regional body that was affiliated with the <a href="http://www.psoriasis.org.za/" target="_blank">South African Psoriasis Association</a>. She had psoriasis herself, was the mainstay of the Cape Psoriasis Association and was trying to educate South Africa about the condition.<br />
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I contacted Doreen and attended the next public meeting. I learned a lot and was able to meet others with the same skin condition as me. I attended almost every public meeting, where I was able to swap success and failure stories with other members. A year later I was coaxed onto the committee and very soon learned just how much work Doreen did on behalf of others with psoriasis. <br />
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She worked tirelessly to educate others, communicate with health authorities in SA and psoriasis authorities internationally and to organise public meetings. Among a host of other things she also gave support to those with psoriasis with information, transport to/from meetings, dealing with non-supportive family and colleagues and any other problems that they might have had. We on the committee threw in ideas and helped where we could in our busy employed lives but Doreen was the one who did the bulk of the work. She did it all with a smile and with intense compassion for the sometimes overwhelming problems that others were having.<br />
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The following year the Chairman, Tiny Jones, needed to step down due to business pressures and Doreen convinced me that I should make myself available for the position. I became the figurehead standing up front and running the public meetings but Doreen was the force behind me and the others on the committee that made it possible.<br />
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Due to Doreen's endless work, the Cape Psoriasis Association was the most active psoriasis body in South Africa. Under Doreen's guidance, it later absorbed the almost dormant South African Psoriasis Association and took on that name, with the national body moving from Pretoria to Cape Town.<br />
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For me personally, Doreen changed my life. She helped me to define and get my psoriasis under control. More importantly, she talked me into the Chairman position and that released me from my absolute dread of public speaking. After that all sorts of opportunities opened up for me in my business and sporting life, enhancing my stature in both and improving my future. I am very grateful to Doreen for her role in cutting open my cocoon and yanking me out of my little comfort zone.<br />
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Doreen Faure affected the lives of so many people, all in a positive way. Anyone with a problem related to psoriasis could contact her and she would help them in whatever way she could. Eventually Doreen moved to a retirement home and stopped driving, so was no longer able to be as actively involved. She passed on a few years ago, I believe from a heart attack. She had made helping those with psoriasis her life's work and she did a wonderful job of it. Doreen's leagacy is the <a href="http://www.psoriasis.org.za/" target="_blank">South African Psoriasis Association</a> and they continue her work.<br />
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Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-74265809051854216692012-10-15T13:20:00.000-07:002012-10-15T13:20:28.160-07:00More on InflammationThis post is, to some extant, a continuation of my last post, with definite links to what I said last month.<br />
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Since I wrote that entry I have been away on business, driving long distances and staying in hotels. That always leads to me getting out of my normal habits of home-prepared healthy meals that contain lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, prepared in a healthy way. Quick stops at fast food joints along the road, many sugary sodas consumed to keep me awake while driving and rushed meals ahead of or between convention sessions became my diet. Of course, it didn't take long for all this junk food to proceed from my lips to my skin, emerging as expanding red patches.<br />
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Back home again and back onto my healthy diet, my skin is rapidly coming back to its normal condition, with minimal evidence of psoriasis. Remember what I said last month, this is all due to inflammation within my body, a reaction of my immune system to what I was consuming. If I put bad fuel into my engine it shows up as deterioration in the state of that engine.<br />
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I referred last month to research that showed up inflammation in the bodies of test subjects who had psoriasis, inflammation that resulted in diseases in various organs of the body other than the skin. Today I have read in <a href="http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/health-a-healing/psoriasis-sufferers-keep-an-eye-on-blood-sugar?utm_campaign=_BQe96mB8ujdZQN&DHN" target="_blank">Daily Health News</a> of other research that has linked psoriasis to another worrying condition, one which is very prevalent in USA and is spreading rapidly in all countries that have adopted an American style diet. That condition is type 2 diabetes.<br />
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Type 2 diabetes is not the type that one might be born with, it is the acquired version of the disease and is mostly as a result of bad eating habits, habits that lead to obesity and ultimately diabetes. The research has found that people with psoriasis are at greater risk for type 2 diabetes than the general population, whether or not they are obese. They found that people with mild psoriasis had a small (11%) increase in risk of diabetes, which increases to 46% with moderate to severe psoriasis. This is a considerable increase in risk and good reason to keep your psoriasis symptoms to as low a level as possible. This is thought to be because the inflammation in a person with psoriasis interferes with the proper reaction to insulin in the body, which triggers type 2 diabetes.<br />
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The upshot of this new finding is that it highlights even more the need for us psoriatics to control very carefully what we put into our bodies. We have to always keep in mind the potential harm that we are doing to ourselves in the longer term. If you have psoriasis and don't want to end up with the compounding problems that diabetes will bring with it, please get your diet under control right away.<br />
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The article in <a href="http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/health-a-healing/psoriasis-sufferers-keep-an-eye-on-blood-sugar?utm_campaign=_BQe96mB8ujdZQN&DHN" target="_blank">Daily Health News</a> also recommends that we have our blood sugar levels checked as part of our regular medical check-ups, as an early-warning sign of impending problems. It also recommends exercising regularly and losing excess weight.<br />
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I ma an active person, I eat healthy and I am the same low weight now as I was 40 years ago. I am working hard to minimise the effects of psoriasis and hope that these efforts will be successful. However, knowledge of this research will keep me even more vigilant to keep my diet on the healthy side of normal.Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-64715077367924407212012-09-13T09:05:00.001-07:002012-09-13T09:05:51.845-07:00InflammationFunding for research about psoriasis has not been a high government priority, so funds are scarce from government sources. Also, most people and many doctors consider psoriasis to be an aesthetic or cosmetic problem rather than the much deeper physical problem that it really is. The <a href="http://www.psoriasis.org/" target="_blank">National Psoriasis Foundation</a><span id="goog_985728785"></span> took the bull by the horns and gathered donations to kick-start research, some of which is producing interesting results.<br />
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One of the programs that they started is funding research by Dr Nehal N Mehta, a preventive and nuclear cardiologist at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He has used some very fancy electronic equipment to look for inflammation in the bodies of people with and without psoriasis, to see if there are differences.<br />
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As expected, the scans showed extensive inflammation in the areas of skin that showed psoriasis on the surface. Of more importance though, they also showed inflammation in other parts of the bodies of people with psoriasis that was not there in patients without the condition. These included joints, blood vessels, heart and liver. The joint inflammation is linked to arthritis but the inflammation in other organs can also be tied to problems and potential failure in those organs in the future. When the joints are painful then it is inconvenient or uncomfortable but when the heart or liver fails or the blood vessels become blocked then the body is in serious trouble.<br />
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These results came out of a pilot study and more research must be done to expand the knowledge that comes out of this work. The <a href="http://www.psoriasis.org/" target="_blank">National Psoriasis Foundation</a> needs funds to finance further research, so if you have psoriasis and are not a member, please visit their website and consider joining.<br />
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My little psoriasis blog does not have the importance to psoriasis that Dr Mehta's research has but something that I have said a few times is reinforced by these findings. I have said that psoriasis is not only a skin condition and cannot only be treated with topical creams or anything else that treats only the symptoms. The inflammation that was found in the body scans comes from inside the body, not through the skin. Don't expect to treat a problem that originates inside the body by rubbing on some magic cream that you have bought either over the counter or the Internet. <br />
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Those creams can and should form part of your overall treatment regimen to alleviate itching, redness and scaling but they are treating the symptom and not the cause. For long term positive results you must treat the cause and that means treating it from inside.<br />
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Inflammation is one of the body's defence mechanisms, triggered by the immune system. Over-active immune response in any part of the body is an auto-immune problem or imbalance and needs to be treated at the source. Auto-immune problems are generally rooted in the digestive system, so that is what needs to be corrected. The human body is not a mechanical device that can be adjusted by turning a screw, it must be adjusted by changing what is put into it as fuel and which is turned into the building blocks of the cells throughout the body.<br />
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Anything that you can do to improve your digestion and speed up elimination is likely to help reduce inflammation. To this end, consuming colourful fresh vegetables and fruit with anti-oxidant properties will go a long way toward correcting the imbalances, particularly broccoli, spinach and other cruciferous vegetables, as well as carrots, butternut and similar brightly coloured produce. Aside from tasting good, they also brighten your meal and make it more appealing. On the other side, cut down as much as you can on red meats, replace them with poultry and cold water fish. <br />
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Cut down or eliminate artificial bastes and sauces, they also contain stuff that is not good for psoriasis or any other auto-immune condition. Replace them with herbs and spices to add zest to your meal. Many of those herbs and spices, like ginger root, black pepper, paprika and turmeric are also natural anti-oxidants and will work toward improving your condition.<br />
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Also cut down or eliminate the junk that you consume. That means most fast food, sodas (regular and diet varieties) ice creams, candies and highly processed foods like white bread, cold meats, TV meals etc. If you don't want to give up these things, that is your own decision. However, at least educate yourself about what they are doing to your body so that you can make the decision with your eyes fully open. Your public library will likely have much info available for you to read on the subject.<br />
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So, please visit the <a href="http://www.psoriasis.org/" target="_blank">National Psoriasis Foundation</a> and be careful what you put into your body.Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-85234505634013731282012-08-21T10:20:00.000-07:002012-08-21T10:20:07.222-07:00Easing Arthritis SymptomsMost of my self-treatment of my psoriatic arthritis is aimed at improving the inner workings of my body, to improve it at the root rather than at the surface where it is seen or felt. This tactic has done wonders to improve both the psoriasis and the arthritis aspects of the condition.<br />
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However, there always remains some discomfort that needs to be treated where it is felt. For the skin this can be in the form of topical lotions, moisturisers etc. For the joints it may be the use of heating pads, infrared heating devices and similar methods, or the normal smelly arthritis rubs to deaden the pain.<br />
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The problem with this condition is that you might well have psoriasis on the skin in the same area that you have joint pain. If you apply one of the muscle and joint creams onto psoriasis lesions the result is likely to be intense pain and cause you to rush to the bathroom to wash off the cream. Been there, done that, felt the pain and got the T-shirt. It gives new meaning to the saying used in gyms that you should "feel the burn".<br />
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Aside from my daily consumption of glucosamine/condroitin/hyaluronic acid, I do something else to ease my joint deterioration, thereby attempting to keep my joints serviceable for many years to come.<br />
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I noticed years ago that my joints seemed to be wanting to always go to the bent position. I also noticed that the people with the worst arthritis conditions were bent over or had very bent joints. I did some research on it at the time but can't remember where I found the info that I wanted, which brought me to my conclusions. Wherever it was, it was enough to make me experiment by keeping my joints straight whenever possible. The result has been long-term easing of my arthritis symptoms, although ageing will probably eventually cause natural deterioration to start catching up again.<br />
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Observe your own habits and think about how they may be aggravating your arthritis symptoms. I noticed various that I will list below.<br />
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<u>Hands.</u> At rest my hands naturally go into the closed position of a loose fist. Look at most severely arthritic people and you will see that their fingers are curled like claws. Once they get to that stage it is very difficult to do even simple everyday tasks because your fingers will not do what you want them to do. I changed my resting and sleeping habits to remedy this. Instead of letting my hands rest as they naturally would, I lie them palm down against a flattish surface, like the bed, top of the settee or my thigh. In this position the fingers must straighten and to help them do this I spread them apart against the surface. Each time that I wake at night I put them back in those positions if they have moved. It did not take long before I would wake to find them still straight.<br />
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I also actively stretch my wrists and fingers regularly by pressing them hard against a wall or door frame, with fingers spread and arm at 90 degrees to the surface. This stretches the ligaments to help the joints stay straight. It is also very good for carpal tunnel syndrome, if you spend too much time at the keyboard.<br />
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<u>Spine.</u> In bed it can be very comfortable to be curled up in a ball, with legs pulled up toward your chest. This is not good for your spine, which will gradually grow into the curved shape and not want to straighten. I try to always sleep with my back straight or slightly arched backward. I find it particularly beneficial to arch my spine backward as far as I can for a few minutes immediately before I get out of bed. I will have less back pain when I stand up than if I don't do this.<br />
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<u>Legs.</u> Getting back to curling up in a ball in bed, this bends your hips at 90 degrees or more one way and your knees even more the other way. This will not help your hips or your knees. I found it best to sleep on my side with a small amount of angle, maybe 20-30 degrees, to my hips and knees. This stops me from falling over onto my back or stomach and is near enough to straight that my joints don't freeze into a bent position when I want to get up.<br />
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Sitting for long periods is bad for spine, hips and knees. All end up bent and may not want to straighten up later when you need to stand up. I try to limit the periods that I am sitting by standing up and walking around for awhile. Changing from a sit-down task like computer work to a stand-up task like filing documents for awhile helps big time. Doing some leg and back stretches when you change from the sitting to standing work also helps.<br />
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So, think about your posture habits and what you can do to improve them. Your joints will thank you by serving you longer and without shouting painfully at you.Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-57004881131509107402012-08-16T10:13:00.000-07:002012-08-16T20:30:47.690-07:00Hotel Room DangersToday I was reading in <a href="http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/travel-a-recreation/the-four-dirtiest-surfaces-in-a-hotel-room?utm_campaign=_BQLLaTB8tbagTt&DHN" target="_blank">Daily Health News</a> what the four dirtiest surfaces are in an hotel room, aside from the obvious toilet and bathroom sink and floor. They turned out to be:-<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Main light switch</li>
<li>TV remote control</li>
<li>Bedside lamp switch</li>
<li>Telephone keypad</li>
</ol>
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I have never worried with cleanliness of hotel rooms unless they looked really gross. I grew up eating snails and all sorts of things that would petrify a mother in today's sterile world, so I have a strong immune system. Mine is an obviously unbalanced immune system, evidenced by my psoriasis, but I am generally pretty resistant to disease.<br />
<br />
However, something struck a chord with me in that article. It was the statement that "exposure to any <em>pathogens</em> (germs that carry diseases) raises your risk for getting sick, especially if you are immunocompromised". Think about that statement; you are more likely to become sick if your immune system has been weakened by anything.<br />
<br />
Remember that the biologic treatments for psoriasis and arthritis work on exactly that principle, they weaken your immune system. So, if you are on one of those wonder drugs, remember that this is the result and take <br />
additional precautions when you are travelling.Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217666335551247858.post-37468546180640945402012-08-15T20:25:00.000-07:002012-08-15T20:25:10.100-07:00More on back painWhen I first visited a new chiropractors office a few years ago, they did a very thorough check of my body, including many measurements and X-ray images. The results were very interesting.<br />
<br />
1) I had lost a full 1.5" in height from my nearly 6' 3" when in my 20s to 40s.<br />
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2) My left hip was considerably higher than my right hip.<br />
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3) I had a slight lateral curve in my spine, no doubt linked inextricably with the two points above.<br />
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They also told me of the links between spine misalignments and particular conditions due to constriction of various nerves as they exit the spine in those misaligned areas. According to the chart, misalignment at the T12 vertebra can result in skin conditions. You can believe or not, to suit yourself. I believe that if one shuts out any idea then you are closing out a possible solution to a problem. I am happy to accept that my misalignment is possibly a contributor to my psoriasis, so I will do what I can to correct it.<br />
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Chiropractor visits are rather costly, so I set a limit on my treatment and now save it for when I have hurt myself beyond self-treatment. While going through that treatment I gave much thought to what may have caused my skewness.<br />
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I have an excellent memory of my childhood, going back to before I was 4 years old. I remember a very staid old great aunt telling me not to sit with one leg over the other because my body would grow up skew. Of course I didn't believe her. I remember her also telling me to sit with both feet flat on the ground. Why would I follow that advice either?<br />
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Now that I knew myself to be skew her advice from nearly 60 years ago came back to mind. I often sat with my left leg over my right knee. Tall and slim people do this, we wrap our long limbs around each other like vines. The result, a tilt of my left hip above the level of the right. I tried wrapping them the other way, with right over left. It was seriously uncomfortable, to the point that I could not do it for more than a few minutes at a time.<br />
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I thought further about my habits and realised that when I was standing around in shopping queues or for whatever reason, I invariably placed most of my weight on a straight left leg and relaxed my right leg. This habit also tilted my left hip above the right.<br />
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I resolved to reverse both of these habits and hoped that it was not too late to correct the problem. I persisted with crossing my legs the way that they did not want to go. I had to repeatedly catch myself sitting the other way and switch legs. It took about a year before I was comfortable sitting right over left but my hips have corrected enough for it to now be comfortable to sit either way. I now also sit with both feet flat on the ground whenever I remember. I try to stand straight, with my weight squarely spread on both feet.<br />
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I don't know yet how much I have straightened my hips and spine but they are more comfortable. Reinforced by the hanging from a bar that I described in my last post, my back is feeling much better than it has for a long long time. In the process, I hope that I have done some realignment of the important T12 vertebra and any others that could affect other aspects of my health.<br />
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If you are in the habit of sitting with one leg over the other and always the same way around, try switching legs. If you find it very uncomfortable then I guess that you are also skew and could benefit from changing legs to straighten yourself and possibly improve your psoriasis in the process.Dudley Dixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10463988486568081821noreply@blogger.com0