acne

[Guest guest]

the primary treatment for acne is simple enough, but can take awhile

and be a challenge for the patient, esp. b/c the most vulnerable are

teenagers, and lets face it, teenagers often lack discipline

 

i view acne as a culturogenic disease, meaning that it occurs as the

result of factors in our culture and society and the changes this has

wrought to factors such as diet, as opposed to any intrinsic issue

with human and human health

 

for example, in a recent study examining the prevalence of acne

vulgaris in non-industrialized societies of the Kitavan Islanders of

Papua New Guinea and the Aché hunter-gatherers of Paraguay, Cordain

et al found that the prevalence of acne in these societies is

virtually non-existent, compared with a nearly universal incidence in

the West, afflicting 79% to 95% of the adolescent population, and 40%

to 54% of adults above the age of 25

 

reference: Cordain L, Lindeberg S, Hurtado M, Hill K, Eaton SB, Brand-

Miller J. 2002. Acne vulgaris: a disease of western civilization.

Arch Dermatol. 138:1584-1590

 

you can be that traditional people don't have access many of the so-

called “junk-foods” that are often consumed by adolescents and can be

seen to worsen acne, as well as promote the formation and retention

of toxins in the blood that induce immunological responses and burden

the liver - such diets also place stress upon the neuroendocrinal

system by depriving the body of essential nutrients, such as n3 fatty

acids

 

in ayurveda acne is essentially an ama state, which aggravates the

doshas which can be identified depending on the quality of the

lesions; from a physiological perspective, in teenagers specifically,

the acne relates to the improper deactivation of hormones such as

testosterone, and thus the primary measure is to treat the liver

whose job it is to deactivate and eliminate these circulating

hormones, e.g. dandelion, barberry, triphala, chicory, black radish;

for girls esp. addressing the underlying hormonal dysregulation is

often helpful, to balance the ratio of

estrogen:progesterone:testosterone, e.g. saw palmetto, peony, vitex etc.

 

if a factor in acne is an unhealthy body ecology such as chronic

candidiasis, measures can be taken correct this by using antifungal

remedies such as pau darco, neem, turmeric or echinacea, homeopathic

nosodes, and probiotics

 

and as far as cosmetics, natural alternatives should be found; skin

cleansers can consist of simply herbal/food based scrubs such as

ground adzuki beans, mung beans and oats groats, which do not disrupt

the delicate ecology of the skin; however, the lesions may initially

need to be treated with some kind of antiinfective

 

overall, foods that should be emphasized in the diet include fresh

vegetables and fruits vegetables, high quality proteins, whole grains

and clean water

 

 

best... todd caldecott

 

 

On 4-Jun-06, at 7:09 AM, ayurveda wrote:

 

> Message: 4

> Sat Jun 3, 2006 9:14 pm (PDT)

> "J Madaffer" jmadaffer (AT) att (DOT) net

> Re: Acne

>

>

> did anyone ever respond?

>

> Just wanted to point you to Pratima Raichur and her book Absolute

> Beauty.

> Its all about Ayurveda, mostly as it applies to skin care. Pratima

> also has

> a practice in Manhattan.

>

>

>> I was speaking to some about acne who has been using proactiv. He

>>

> stopped using it and the acne is back. What can be done naturally to

> rid it for good.

Caldecott

todd (AT) toddcaldecott (DOT) com

www.toddcaldecott.com