Tag: Skin Disorders

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Eczema

 

Eczema is a noncontagious inflammation of the skin, characterized chiefly by redness, itching, and the outbreak of lesions that may discharge serous matter and become encrusted and scaly.
The main feature of eczema is red, inflamed, itchy skin that is often covered with small, fluid-filled blisters. in long-standing eczema, the affected skin may become thickened as a result of persistent scratching. eczema tends to recur intermittently throughout life.


What are the types?
There are several different types of eczema. Some are triggered by particular factors, but others, such as nummular eczema, occur for no known reason.

Atopic eczema:
This is the most common form of eczema. it usually appears first in infancy and may continue to flare up during adolescence and adulthood. the cause of the condition is not known, but people who have an inherited tendency to allergies, including asthma, are more susceptible to it. Click to learn more

Contact dermatitis

Direct contact with an irritant substance, or an allergic reaction to a substance, can result in a type of eczema known as contact dermatitis. it can occur at any age. Click to learn more

Seborrheic dermatitis:
This form of eczema affects both infants and adults. the precise cause of seborrheic dermatitis is unknown, although the condition is often associated with a yeastlike organism on the skin. Click to learn more

Nummular eczema:
Otherwise known as discoid eczema, this form of the condition is much more common in men than women. In nummular eczema, itchy, coin-shaped patches develop on the arms or legs, and the affected areas of skin may ooze and become scaly or blistered. the cause is not known. Click to learn more

Asteatotic eczema:
Most common in elderly people, this is caused by drying of the skin that occurs with aging. the scaly rash is random and cracked. Click to learn more

Dyshidrotic eczema:
This type of eczema occurs when the skin is thickest, such as on the fingers, the palms of the hands, and the soles of the feet. Numerous itchy blisters develop, sometimes joining to form large, oozing areas. the cause is not known. Click to learn more.

What is the treatment?
Try to keep your skin moist with emollients, take short, luke-warm showers or baths, and use mild soaps. Topical corticosteroids help reduce inflammation and itching. Avoid contact with substances that may irritate the skin. If contact dermatitis occurs, patch testing can be done to identify a triggering substance. most forms of eczema can be controlled successfully.

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Alternative Treatment………………………………………….…(1).………...(2)

The Truth About Eczema

Diet and Eczemas

Disclaimer: This information is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advise or help. It is always best to consult with a Physician about serious health concerns. This information is in no way intended to diagnose or prescribe remedies.

Resources:

http://www.charak.com/DiseasePage.asp?thx=1&id=148

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Leucoderma or Vitiligo

Leucoderma also known as vitiligo ,is a distressing skin condition. The word literally means white skin. There is a gradual loss of pigment melanin from the skin layer which results in white patches. These patches look ugly, especially in persons with a dark complexion. The condition does not cause any organic harm….click & see

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Hyperhidrosis Or Excessive Sweating

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Hyperhidrosis – Hyperhidrosis is a medical condition in which a person sweats excessively and unpredictably. People with hyperhidrosis can sweat even when the temperature is cool, and when they are at rest.Hyperhidrosis affects millions of people around the world  nearly 3% of the population, according to some studies.In simple terms, hyperhidrosis is a medical disorder characterized by excessive sweating. This kind of excessive sweating typically occurs either on your palms (palmar hyperhidrosis), in your underarms (axillary hyperhidrosis), on your face (facial hyperhidrosis), or in your feet (plantar hyperhidrosis).
Hyperhidrosis is a physical condition caused by excessive sweating in the body. Hyperhidrosis is caused due to malfunctioning of the sympathetic nervous system or disorders of the sweat glands. Curesweatyplams provides the best excessive perspiration treatment.

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Sweat Gland – a simple tubular gland of the skin that excretes perspiration, is widely distributed in nearly all parts of the human skin, and consists typically of an epithelial tube extending spirally from a minute pore on the surface of the skin into the dermis or subcutaneous tissues where it ends in a convoluted tuft.

Causes:

Though we in our ignorance often loosely use the term sweat problem for a lot of people who display the symptoms described above, they may actually be suffering from hyperhidrosis, which is a serious medical condition, and which requires proper diagnosis and treatment. Though excessive sweating causes are many the primary causes are still unknown but the secondary causes range from anxiety, obesity and psychological tension. Hyperhidrosis symptoms can be dripping sweat, odor along with sweat, stained clothes due to sweat and inferiority complex due to sweat

Under ordinary conditions, the hypothalamus, which is the part of the brain that regulates sweat-related functions, sends sensory signals to the sweat nerves. These nerves — part of the sympathetic nervous system located in the chest cavity — in turn send the signals to the sweat glands, causing the latter to produce sweat. As a result of hyperhidrosis, the sweat glands disobey these signals, as it were, and produce substantial volumes of sweat that then seek outlets on your underarms, face, palms and feet.

Types Of Hyperhidrosis:

Hyperhidrosis can either be generalized or localized to specific parts of the body. Hands, feet, armpits, and the groin area are among the most active regions of perspiration due to the relatively high concentration of sweat glands. When excessive sweating is localized (e.g. palms, soles, face, underarms, scalp) it is referred to as primary or focal hyperhidrosis. Generalized or secondary hyperhidrosis usually involves the body as a whole and is the result of an underlying condition.

Hyperhidrosis can also be classified depending by onset, either congenital or acquired. Focal hyperhidrosis is found to start during adolescence or even before and seems to be inherited as an autosomal dominant genetic trait. Primary or focal hyperhidrosis must be distinguished from secondary hyperhidrosis, which can start at any point in life. The latter form may be due to a disorder of the thyroid or pituitary glands, diabetes mellitus, tumors, gout, menopause, certain drugs, or mercury poisoning.

Hyperhidrosis may also be divided into palmoplantar (symptomatic sweating of primarily the hands or feet), gustatory hyperhidrosis, generalized and focal hyperhidrosis.

Alternatively, hyperhidrosis may be classified according to the amount of skin affected and its possible causes. In this approach, excessive sweating in an area greater than 100 cm2 (16 in2) (up to generalized sweating of the entire body) is differentiated from sweating that affects only a small area .

Broadly, hyperhidrosis can be categorized into two types: primary and secondary. There are four major areas of the body that are typically more susceptible to primary hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating induced by natural causes) than others .

Primary hyperhidrosis

When your excessive sweating is not caused by any other medical condition, or is not a side effect of any drugs that you may be under, you are suffering from primary hyperhidrosis. You may also find that the condition is described as focal hyperhidrosis. In such cases, the excessive sweating occurs on specific (or focal) parts of the body, the most affected areas being the hands, feet, underarms, and face.

Research has shown that the first signs of primary hyperhidrosis are often detected in childhood or early adolescence. Plenty of sufferers tend to sweat less excessively when at rest or asleep, though that is not always the case. There is also a theory that the sweat problem is hereditary, though there has been no conclusive research on this. Areas of the body most vulnerable to primary hyperhidrosis are :your face, underarm, hands and feet.
Secondary Hyperhidrosis

This type of excessive sweating (also called generalized hyperhidrosis) is caused by a usually unrelated medical condition (e.g. menopause), or is a side effect of a particular drug. In other words, it is everything that primary hyperhidrosis is not. There are two other significant differences: people suffering from secondary hyperhidrosis typically experience sweating on generalized  or larger parts of the body, and they usually experience the excessive sweating even while at rest.

When there is excessive sweating under the arms it is called axillary hyperhidrosis (click & see)  sometimes some people have excessieve sewating on the face then it is called facial hyperhidrosis   (click & see)  and excessieve sweating on the feet is called plantar hyperhidrosis.(click & see)

Treatments:

Given the profound social and professional embarrassment that excessive sweating can cause, there have been several different approaches to the treatment of hyperhidrosis. These include herbal remedies, chemical lotions, oral medication and over-the-counter antiperspirants. However, none of these have cured hyperhidrosis .

Since a couple of decades ago, an extremely delicate form of invasive endoscopic surgery has been performed on patients to restrict the flow of neural transmissions to the sweat glands. Though many patients have reported an alleviation of the problem of excessive sweating, the surgical approach is beset by the appearance of certain side effects that can assume potentially dangerous consequences.

Yet another method of treatment is iontophoresis, a procedure that involves the administering of mild electrical currents to the affected areas to thicken the outer layer of the skin, thus blocking the flow of sweat to the skin’s surface. However, this method is absolutely out of the question for a large group of sufferers, which may include pregnant women, and cardiac and epileptic patients.

Another very recent development involves the use of Botox to treat hyperhidrosis. As of now, however, Botox has received FDA approval only for use in the treatment of underarm or axillary hyperhidrosis. Additionally, the relatively high cost of treatment and the fact that a top-up dose needs to be administered every 6-10 months means that not everyone has access to this treatment.

Some effective home remedies:
1.Saga Tea: For excessive sweating infuse one teaspoon of dried saga in a cup of boiling water for 15 minutes, strain and drink the tea 2-4 times a day.
2.Zinc: Take 30 to 50 mg. of zinc perday.
3. Tea bags: For sweaty hands or feet , boil 5 regular tea bags in a quart of water for 5 minutes, let it cool and soak hands or feet for 20 to 30 minutes at night before bed.
4. Always try to avoid more sugar, alcohol, and hot spicy food.
5.Drink plenty of pure water(6 to 8 glass a day) and this is essential.

 

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Regular Yoga Exercise with PRANAYAMA  under the guideline of  expert  cures the problem totally….click & see

Click & see :   The Many Health Benefits of Sweating

partly extracted from:http://www.hyperhidrosisweb.com/excessive-sweating.html

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Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a disease/disorder, where angry red lesions on the skin , multiply, and scale over with silvery patches, Of course this is an over simplification.

But Psoriasis is non contagious, Usually inherited. It is an Autoimmune disorder and very rarely life threatening.

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The word Psoriasis has come from ancient Greece and it means itch. Red eruptions appear on the surface of the skin and begin to eatch.These areas form plaques over the reddendend lesions. The plaques resemble multi-layered scales of skin. Psoriasis varies in intensity from a few random spots to a massive outbreak sometimes covering the entire body and requiring hospitalization too.

Psoriasis has a tendency to be genetically inherited.Recently it has been classified as being an autoimmune disorder.This disorder can originate in juveniles or not be evident until adulthood.It has been reported to initiate as early as birth or not occur until very late in life.Once Psoriasis begins, there are only remissions and replaces of varying degree of intesity..There is no known cure yet,only possible control over the severity.

Psoriasis reacts.It has triggers(such as systematic step infection) which can cause the body to go from mild to severe case within days.There are also other factors,such as sunlight,which may help to decrease the severity.

Psoriasis occurs in 2% of the total population.It can be mildly annoying problem or can destroy the self-esteem and life of the victim.Although it is not at al contagious, it definitely an ugly disease that can alenate coworkers and acquitances.

Arthritis can sometimes stem from psoriasis, attacking the joint spaces,giving the victim another disease to deal with.This disease can be consuming.The ugliness of the patches,the chronic eatching and flaking(although not life threatening) impact the self-esteem and life style of the victim.Time and money are spent to keep it under control.

Treatment Advances Improve Outlook
With the emergence of several new therapies, including the biologic agents, more people are experiencing substantial improvements and reporting a greatly improved quality of life.

References:
American Academy of Dermatology. “American Academy of Dermatology’s Psoriasis Public Awareness Campaign Provides Latest Information About this Skin Condition.” Available at: http://www.newswire1.net/NW2004/C_AAD_CH/111504/index.html. Accessed April 26, 2005. American Academy of Dermatology. Psoriasis. Available at: http://www.aad.org/public/Publications/pamphlets/Psoriasis.htm. Accessed April 26, 2005

Topical treatment

Bath solutions and moisturizers help sooth affected skin and reduce the dryness which accompanies the build-up of skin on psoriasis plaques. Medicated creams and ointments applied directly onto psoriasis plaques can help reduce inflammation, remove built-up scale, reduce skin turn over, and clear affected skin of plaques. Ointment and creams containing coal tar, anthralin, corticosteroids, vitamin D3 analogues (for example, calcipotriol), and retinoids are routinely used. The mechanism of action of each is probably different but they all help to normalise skin cell production and reduce inflammation.

The disadvantages of topical agents are variabily that they can often irritate normal skin, can be awkward to apply, cannot be used for long periods, can stain clothing or have a strong odour. As a result, it is sometimes difficult for people to maintain the regular application of these medications. Abrupt withdrawal of some topical agents, particularly corticosteroids, can cause an aggressive recurrence of the condition. This is known as a rebound of the condition.

Some topical agents are used in conjunction with other therapies, especially phototherapy.

Phototherapy

It has long been recognised that daily, short, nonburning exposure to sunlight helped to clear or improve psoriasis. Niels Finsen was the first physician to investigate the theraputic effects of sunlight scientifically and to use sunlight in clinical practice. This became known as phototherapy.

Sunlight contains many different wavelengths of light. It was during the early part of the 20th century that it was recognised that for psoriasis the therapeutic property of sunlight was due to the wavelengths classified as ultraviolet (UV) light.

Ultraviolet wavelengths are subdivided into UVA (380–315 nm), UVB (315–280 nm), and UVC (< 280 nm). Ultraviolet B (UVB) (315–280 nm) is absorbed by the epidermis and has a beneficial effect on psoriasis. Narrowband UVB (311 to 312 nm), is that part of the UVB spectrum that is most helpful for psoriasis. Exposure to UVB several times per week, over several weeks can help people attain a remission from psoriasis.

Ultraviolet light treatment is frequently combined with topical (coal tar, calcipotriol) or systemic treatment (retinoids) as there is a synergy in their combination. The Ingram regime, involves UVB and the application of anthralin paste. The Goeckerman regime, combines coal tar ointment with UVB.

A form of phototherapy called Grenz Rays (also called ultrasoft X-rays or Bucky rays) was a popular treatment of psoriasis during the middle of the 20th century. This type of therapy was superseded by ultraviolet therapy and is no longer commonly used.

Photochemotherapy

Psoralen and ultraviolet A phototherapy (PUVA) combines the oral or topical administration of psoralen with exposure to ultraviolet A (UVA) light. Precisely how PUVA works is not known. The mechanism of action probably involves activation of psoralen by UVA light which inhibits the abnormally rapid production of the cells in psoriatic skin. There are multiple mechanisms of action associated with PUVA, including effects on the skin immune system.

Dark glasses must be worn during PUVA treatment because there is a risk of cataracts developing from exposure to sunlight. PUVA is associated with nausea, headache, fatigue, burning, and itching. Long-term treatment is associated with squamous-cell and melanoma skin cancers.

Systemic treatment

Psoriasis which is resistant to topical treatment and phototherapy is treated by medications that are taken internally by pill or injection. This is called systemic treatment. Patients undergoing systemic treatment are required to have regular blood and liver function tests because of the toxicity of the medication. Pregnancy must be avoided for the majority of these treatments. Most people experience a recurrence of psoriasis after systemic treatment is discontinued.

The three main traditional systemic treatments are the immunosupressant drugs methotrexate and ciclosporin, and retinoids, which are a synthetic forms of vitamin A. Other additional drugs, not specifically licensed for psoriasis, have been found to be effective. These include the antimetabolite tioguanine, the cytotoxic agent hydroxyurea, sulfasalazine, the immunosupressants mycophenolate mofetil, azathioprine and oral tacrolimus. These have all been used effectively to treat psoriasis when other treatments have failed. Although not licensed in many other countries fumaric acid esters have also been used to treat severe psoriasis in Germany for over 20 years.

Biologics[4] are the newest class of systemic treatment for psoriasis. These are manufactured proteins that interrupt the immune process involved in psoriasis. Unlike generalised immunosuppressant therapies such as methotrexate, biologics focus on specific aspects of the immune function leading to psoriasis. These drugs are relatively new, and their long-term impact on immune function is unknown. Examples include Amevive®, etanercept (Enbrel®), Humira®, infliximab (Remicade®) and Raptiva.

Alternative Therapy

  • Antibiotics are not indicated in routine treatment of psoriasis. However, antibiotics may be employed when an infection, such as that caused by the bacteria Streptococcus, triggers an outbreak of psoriasis, as in certain cases of guttate psoriasis.
  • Climatotherapy involves the notion that some diseases can be successfully treated by living in particular climate. Several psoriasis clinics are located throughout the world based on this idea. The Dead Sea is one of the most popular locations for this type of treatment.
  • In Turkey, doctor fish which live in the outdoor pools of spas, are encouraged to feed on the psoriatic skin of people with psoriasis. The fish only consume the affected areas of the skin. The outdoor location of the spa may also have a beneficial effect. This treatment can provide temporary relief of symptoms. A revisit to the spas every few months is often required.
  • Some people subscribe to the view that psoriasis can be effectively managed through a healthy lifestyle. This view is based on anecdote, and has not been subjected to formal scientific evaluation. Nevertheless, some people report that minimizing stress and consuming a healthy diet, combined with rest, sunshine and swimming in saltwater keep lesions to a minimum. This type of “lifestyle” treatment is suggested as a long-term management strategy, rather than an initial treatment of severe psoriasis.
  • Some psoriasis patients use herbology as a holistic approach that aims to treat the underlying causes of psoriasis.
  • A psychological symptom management programme has been reported as being a helpful adjunct to traditional therapies in the management of psoriasis.
  • It is possible that Epsom salt may have a positive effect in reducing the effects of psoriasis.

Future Drug Development

Historically, agents used to treat psoriasis were discovered by experimentation or by accident. In contrast, current novel therapeutic agents are designed from a better understanding of the immune processes involved in psoriasis and by the specific targeting of molecular mediators. Examples can be seen in the use of biologics which target T cells and TNF inhibitors. Future innovation should see the creation of additional drugs that refine the targeting of immune-mediators further.

Research into antisense oligonucleotides is in its infancy but carries the potential to provide novel theraputic strategies for treating psoriasis.

Prognosis

Psoriasis is a chronic lifelong condition. There is currently no cure but various treatments can help to control the symptoms. Many of the most effective agents used to treat severe psoriasis carry an increased risk of significant morbidity including skin cancers, lymphoma and liver disease. However, the majority of people’s experience of psoriasis is that of minor localised patches, particularly on the elbows and knees, which can be treated with topical medication. Psoriasis does get worse over time but it is not possible to predict who will go on to develop extensive psoriasis or those in whom the disease may appear to vanish. Individuals will often experience flares and remissions throughout their life. Controlling the signs and symptoms typically requires lifelong therapy.

“The heartbreak of psoriasis”

The phrase “the heartbreak of psoriasis” is often used both seriously and ironically to describe the emotional impact of the disease. It can be found in various advertisements for topical and other treatments; conversely, it has been used to mock the tendency of advertisers to exaggerate (or even fabricate) aspects of a malady for financial gain. (In Bloom County, the character of Opus once considered the possibility of his suffering from “the heartbreak of nose hemorrhoids.”) While many products today use the phrase in their advertising, it originated in a 1960s advertising campaign for Tegrin, a coal tar-based medicated soap.

Partly extracted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psoriasis

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