New Vitamin D treatment for Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a skin condition that can bring not just physical, but emotional and social challenges for sufferers. News is just in of new topical treatments that are about to become available in the USA for psoriasis. Of the new options, one is a calcitriol ointment and one is a Hydrogel Patch, but this has only limited availability. What is really exciting is the calcitriol option that was presented by the vice chairman of dermatology at the University of California at a recent Skin Disease Education Foundation Dermatology Seminar in Hawaii.

Calcitriol is a vitamin D ointment that was approved by the FDA earlier this month and will be on general sale in pharmacies within two months. It has been shown to be successful in treating moderate to severe psoriasis of the scalp, when applied twice daily over a period of eight weeks. When extended to use twice daily for a year, there was a good improvement in 64% of patients.

Astrological health profiles – Leo

Leo 24 July – 23 August

Unfairly known as the ‘show-off’s’ of the zodiac as Leo tends to love the spotlight, but there is a lot more to you than that. Leo’s blend creativity and authority with courage and like to take on a great deal of responsibility – which can be a direct cause of some of their health problems, particularly as you don’t like admitting to any weakness. Watch out for:

* Stress – it is your number one enemy and you can be too proud to ask for help

* You can be rather self-indulgent in your eating habits.

* High blood pressure and high cholesterol are your particular dangers.

* Mental and physical rigidity is common in your sign, so beware a lack of flexibility in joints and muscles.

You love life, and all it offers, but that tendency to indulge yourself can backfire unless you balance it with a really good self care regime. You can eat anything you want, in moderation, which is not really how Leo’s like to function. Stress – particularly if unacknowledged and allowed to flourish – will damage your health so a sensible eating and exercise regime is a must to tackle thosepotential heart problems. Yoga or tai chi would be excellent to help those stiff joints, and has the double benefit of helping alleviate stress.

Breast cancer natural preventives

As I always believe prevention is better than cure, I am happy to report two new pieces of information this week on easy, natural and enjoyable ways to reduce breast cancer risk.

Breakthrough 1 gives you even more reasons to enjoy a nice cup of tea. If you are a regular black or green tea drinker then you are already helping to reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke and endometrial cancer. Regular tea drinking has two important functions: it inhibits uncontrolled cell growth, known as cell proliferation, and encourages the death of cancer cells, known as apoptosis. A recent study found that smokers who drank four cups of decaffeinated green tea per day showed a 31 percent decrease in oxidative DNA damage in white blood cells as compared to those who drank four cups of water. Oxidative DNA damage is implicated in the promotion of many forms of cancer. Now a new study has also linked tea to a substantial decrease in breast cancer risk. Particularly for women under 50, the risk is reduced by 37%, and as this is the group in whom the cancer can be particularly virulent and fast acting this is very worthwhile news. In fact, let’s raise a cup together, preferably green or white tea as these are the least processed. The darker the tea, the more processing as a rule, but these two have even more health benefits, and up that to three cups a day to boost your immune system and lower your cancer risk.

Breakthrough 2 concerns another favourite staple, and that is olive oil. Australian researchers have reported that that olive oil has a host of positive health effects, and now researchers from the Catalonian Institute of Oncology (ICO) in Girona have discovered specifically that extra virgin olive oil appears to be a powerful weapon against breast cancer.

The key ingredient is the polyphenols that are present in extra virgin olive oil. These are powerful natural antioxidants found in abundance in olive oil and are highly active against both HER2-positive and HER2-negative breast cancers cells. Polyphenols in the oil not only inhibit the activity of cancer-promoting HER2 activity but also promotes the protein’s degradation.

As Jamie Oliver would say, give it a good glug and not only will your food taste better, but your cells will thank you.

How running could help your eyesight

Yet another good reason to get out the old running shoes has come a study done at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that tracked approximately 41,000 runners for more than seven years. They found that vigorous exercise, particularly running, can help reduce the risk of both cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness and macular degeneration can cause irreversible vision in older people and so far there have been few suggestions as to how to avoid these conditions. Running, or any vigorous cardiovascular exercise, may be one excellent preventive measure and certainly worth investigating by anyone with a family history of eye disease.

The trial was conducted with both men and women runners they found that men who ran more than 5.7 miles per day had a 35 percent lower risk of developing cataracts than men who ran less than 1.4 miles per day. The study also analyzed men’s 10-kilometer race performances, which is a good indicator of overall fitness. The fittest men had half the risk of developing cataracts compared to the least-fit men.

In the case of macular degeneration the results were even more remarkable. Runners who averaged between 1.2 and 2.4 miles per day had a 19 percent lower risk for the disease, and people who ran more than 2.4 miles per day had an impressive 42 percent and 54 percent lower risk.

If you aren’t keen on running, then the scientists involved in the study believe that it is quite likely that the studies’ results might apply to a lesser extent to smaller doses of more moderate exercise such as walking.

Scientists take the mystery out of kissing

Trust a scientist to take the romance out of life – and as we have just celebrated Valentines’ Day I saved this story until now as I didn’t want to take the fun out of it for you.

A professor of neuroscience at Lafayette College, Louisiana has examined what exactly happens during a kiss. You think she would have known from her own experience, but hey ho. In case you are wondering, kissing releases chemicals that ease stress hormones in both sexes and encourage bonding in men, though not so much in women. Personally I don’t find kissing always eases stress, but maybe I am kissing the wrong people.

If you are a sloppy kisser then you get even more stress release as it is the chemicals in saliva that change the levels of chemicals in the body. Some lucky pairs of college students got drafted for this research which involved kissing a partner for 15 minutes while listening to music. Presumably Mantovani and not Meatloaf, as it was found they experienced significant changes in their levels of the chemicals oxytocin, which affects pair bonding, and cortisol, which is associated with stress. Their blood and saliva levels of the chemicals were compared before and after the kiss which must have taken some of the romance out of it. Though as the experiment took place at the Student Health Centre that’s probably not the most atmospheric of settings.

Every subject showed a decline in cortisol when their 15 minutes was up which showed their stress levels had gone down also. In the men, oxytocin levels increased, indicating more interest in bonding, while oxytocin levels went down in women. Just to be sure they also tested couples that just held hands, and they had similar changes in body chemicals – but not to the same extent.

As proof that scientists can be just as obvious as the rest of us, I will leave you with the good professor’s final observations: “When you kiss an enormous part of your brain becomes active,” Oh really, just the brain? And to reassure you as you dust off that Valentine card, “Romantic love can last a long time if you kiss the right person.”

Why skin brushing helps more than just your skin

Our skin is the biggest organ of elimination that we have, in fact we get rid of more than 1lb a day in waste products through our sweat glands and pores. If our elimination is poor then the toxins become trapped in the system. One of the major factors in poor elimination is that the skin is being clogged with dead cells. Regular exfoliation is needed to keep these pores open and one of the simplest, and cheapest ways to do this is through regular dry brushing. The action of the brush stimulates the lymph and blood circulation and removes impurities from beneath the surface of the skin. This helps keep your pores clear, and as the bristles work directly on the lymph vessels and capillaries, you are stimulating the circulation so that toxins can be easily expelled through the pores.

When you brush daily you will see improvements in your skin texture, digestion and general energy levels. Because you are always brushing upwards you are also encouraging the flow of blood towards the heart and this is where the majority of lymphatic nodes are. In this way you are therefore improving the lymphatic drainage to your whole system and a sluggish lymphatic system can be the cause of many common ailments.

Clearing cellulite
Alternative practitioners have long advocated the use of dry skin brushing, but it is only in the last few years that its effect on cellulite has been recognized. There are many expensive anti-cellulite regimes on the market, but most experts agree that some simple steps are the most effective. The aim is to get rid of the toxins in the body, as it is these that cause the lumpy deposits we recognise as cellulite. Skin brushing works by gradually breaking down the fatty tissues and releasing the toxic fluids they contain so that they can be eliminated. It also stimulates the blood flow tothe heart and the lymph to the lymphatic ducts and this is the best way to gradually reduce those stubborn cellulite deposits.

Cleansing the Colon
Many practitioners advise skin brushing as the best start to any new health regime. It is a vital part of any colon-cleansing programme, and herbalist Kitty Campion recommends it to all her clients as a first step on their way back to health. As well as it’s acknowledged health benefits she believes it helps prevent premature ageing and brings a sense of well-being and energy as the blood and oxygen supply to the body is stimulated.

What’s Involved?
Dry skin brushing is suitable for everyone except if you have broken skin, eczema or psoriasis. The right brush is essential, you need one with sufficiently hard natural bristles to produce the necessary stimulating effect.

Dry skin brushing is simple, and is best carried out before your bath or shower. Your skin may feel tender at first, but you will soon gain the benefits if you persevere. Always begin with light pressure and move up the body from the feet to the head. Use long strokes upwards towards the heart for all of the body except for the head and shoulders where you will be brushing down towards the heart. For the buttocks circular movements will bring you the most benefit, particularly for working on cellulite. After a few weeks you can adjust the pressure of your strokes to what feels comfortable for you.

Never brush over areas of broken skin or varicose veins, and you can help the elimination process by paying attention to your diet. Make sure you are drinking a lot of water and minimising red meat, dairy, caffeine and sugar.

If you can’t find a good natural skin brush locally there is a very good one from Simply Nature. Call them on 01580 201687 or visit their website at www.simply-nature.co.uk.

Bone marrow transplants – Good news

Finding a compatible bone marrow donor can be a heartbreaking process. Even if family and friends come forward they are not always an ideal match and the wait for the perfect donor can sometimes be longer than the time available to the patient.

Now there is good news from the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation which can effectively bypass the bone marrow route in appropriate cases by using a unit of mismatched blood from umbilical cords.

This work was presented by Duke University Medical Center who reported on a ten year study on children with malignant and genetic disorders, including leukaemia. Using cord blood for transplants offers some advantages over bone marrow because it is more widely available, has more immature cells, involves fewer complications, and donor match is not as important.

The study found that there was a four of six HLA matches of blood given to children and this meant low rates of failure and graft-related disease from the patient’s own body. Survival rates over one, three and ten years were also impressive for this type of patient, being 54.8%, 46.6%, and 43%, respectively which is comparable to those achieved with unmatched bone marrow transplants and substantially better than if the patients had not received transplants at all. In many cases the patients would have died without a transplant and although there was a failure rate in 6.7% of the patients, a slightly higher figure than the norm for bone marrow transplants, this is still low. Nor is that the end of the road for those patients as in many cases they can get a second transplant, something that is rarely available with bone marrow.

The time element is also an important factor and for patients who need an urgent transplant it could be a lifesaver. On average it takes two to three months for an unrelated bone marrow donor to become available and only about two weeks for an unrelated cord blood donor.

This breakthrough opens up the possibility of transplant to many more patients and although considered to be at a preliminary stage will make surgery available for those who previously were unable to find a matched donor.

What is Menieres Disease?

As a sufferer myself, I do get asked what it is, and one of the things about is its unpredictability. It is a disease that affects a part of the inner ear known as the labyrinth, a system of tiny fluid-filled channels that send signals of sound and balance to the brain. Meniere’s causes the fluid in the labyrinth to build up, disrupting both your balance and hearing and it affects one in 1,000 people, usually between 20 and 60 years of age, though I am over the upper age limit and still get attacks.

It is a progressive condition, which means it will gradually get worse the longer you have it and usually begins with just one ear affected, but in 30 per cent of cases symptoms will progress to both ears. Unfortunately the length and severity of attacks cannot be predicted and can range from several minutes to 24 hours.

Symptoms may be a combination of vertigo, tinnitus or hearing loss and common signs are spinning or whirling dizziness, nausea or vomiting, sensitivity to noise, ringing or hissing in the ears and sometimes temporary or permanent loss of hearing. I have likened my own attacks to the worst kind of drunkenness, while being on a fairground waltzer, and to date have found relief by always carrying a small tablet that dissolves on the gum and if taken at immediate onset can stave off an attack. Unfortunately I don’t like the side effects, so am currently trying a programme of exercises that are claimed to help avoid it altogether. I was previously given some physiotherapy which proved helpful in rebalancing the fluid in the canal, but was not long-lasting. I will keep you posted, and if you have any other things that work for you, please let me know.

New black tea for refreshment

I am a great advocate of the health benefits of green tea, but the truth is it’s flavour is not to everyone’s taste. If you are addicted to your ‘real’ tea, and usually drink it black with a squeeze of lemon, then a healthy option is a new blend of organic black tea with lemon verbena. From Hambleden Herbs, this blends leaves from, Africa, Ceylon and Southern India to produce a smooth, well rounded tea you can drink at any time and no need to keep slicing up a lemon.

Astrological health profiles – Cancer

Cancer 22 June – 23 July

Not sure I should be sharing this information, as it is my own sign and you will learn far too much about me! Claimed to be one of the most introverted and emotionally vulnerable signs of the zodiac, Cancerians are prone to great change and fluctuation in mood – and my friends will vouch for that, certainly around the full moon! Watch out for:

* Stress-related illnesses are common, often brought on my those frequent and powerful mood shifts, and Cancerian’s emotional sensitivity to themselves and others.

* Cancer is the sign of nurturing and vulnerabilities come from those areas such as the breast and stomach. Indigestion from being upset, and gastric ulcers from prolonged stress can be a problem.

* In women, PMS, water retention and swollen and sore breasts are common.

* Worry and anxiety can upset sleep patterns and this sign needs regular, balanced night time rest to maintain good health.

Tackling any stress is the best place to start dealing with swings of emotion and then making sure that nothing adds to the health strains on the body. If indigestion is a problem, try something like peppermint tea after a meal, or look at The Hay Diet which is about food combining. The less strain you put on your digestive system the better, so treat it kindly with alkaline foods and light, frequent meals. To ease yourself into sleep, don’t eat late at night and allow at least 2-3 hours after a meal before going to bed. If your worries are keeping you awake, try Bach Remedy for sleep or a herbal supplement containing hops or valerian.

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