Nutritional Therapy,acne

WHOLEFOOD DIET Evidence is emerging
that the prevalence of acne in developed
countries is related to a glut of foods high
in reﬁned sugars and starches. These tend
to cause the body to secrete copious quan-
tities of insulin, which seem to increase the
levels of the male hormones that may be at
the root of many acne cases. Cutting back
on reﬁned and processed carbohydrates is
an important step in clearing acne.
DETOXIFICATION AND OTHER DIETS In
natural medicine, acne is viewed as a prob-
lem of excess toxicity. Clinical experience
shows that detoxiﬁcation can be effective
in reducing acne and in improving the
condition of the skin. A common factor in
acne is an overgrowth of yeast organisms
and food sensitivity also appears to be a
common underlying theme in acne. (See
p.40 for diets to address these problems.)
ANTIOXIDANTS There is evidence to sug-
gest acne is an inﬂammatory condition in
which free radicals play a role. Antioxi-
dants can help to reduce the inﬂammation
by neutralising the damaging free radicals.
Eating plenty of antioxidant fruit and veg-
etables is important.
Regular intake of carrot juice, for exam-
ple, can provide you with beta-carotene, an
antioxidant and a precursor to vitamin A,
which helps to control acne. Supplements
can help, too: in one study, taking 200mcg
of the mineral selenium together with
20IU of vitamin E each day helped to
reduce acne symptoms.
FISH OIL SUPPLEMENTS can also help to
reduce the inﬂammation that may be asso-
ciated with acne. This inﬂammation may
be linked to excessive amounts of omega-6
fatty acids (found in vegetable oils),
accompanied by a relative lack of omega-3
fatty acids (found in oily ﬁsh). There is
some evidence that many people with acne
are generally deﬁcient in the essential fatty
acids they need.
You may be able to control your acne by
cutting down on both margarine and vege-
table oils and by eating more oily ﬁsh
(such as salmon, mackerel and trout), wal-
nuts and ﬂaxseeds.
You may also reduce the inﬂammation
associated with acne by taking essential
fatty acids, such as gamma linolenic acid
(GLA). These are derived from evening
primrose (Oenothera biennis), borage
(Borage ofﬁcinalis) or blackcurrant (Ribes
nigrum) oil, as well as from ﬁsh oil.
ZINC from food sources, such as pumpkin
seeds, or supplements can be effective for
people with acne. One study found that
zinc therapy worked as well as antibiotic
treatment. Take 30mg of zinc supplements
three times a day for 3–4 months and then
reduce the dose to 25mg once a day. Tak-
ing zinc for a long period can deplete the
body of copper, so take 1mg of copper for
each 15mg of zinc.
VITAMIN B6 can help some women whose
acne ﬂares up before a period. A signiﬁcant
proportion of female acne sufferers have
high levels of male hormones (androgens).
Women with pre-menstrual acne may
beneﬁt from taking a 50mg vitamin B6
supplement a day.

DEVELOPMENT OF ACNE VULGARIS

Sebaceous glands around the hair follicles
produce sebum (an oily substance) to
lubricate hair growth and waterproof the
surface of the skin. Sometimes too much
sebum is produced during puberty in both
sexes due to male hormones (androgens).
The excess sebum becomes mixed with
dead skin cells, clogging the follicle
opening and encouraging bacteria to
breed. The result is inﬂammation and acne.
1 HEALTHY SKIN
The sebaceous glands sit in the dermis layer
of the skin, where they produce the right
amount of sebum to lubricate the hair shaft
and waterproof the epidermis.
2 BLACKHEAD
A surge in production of sebum blocks the
pore. The plug of sebum, bacteria and skin
debris reacts with oxygen in the air and
turns black (blackhead or “open comedo”).
3 WHITEHEAD
Sometimes the plug of sebum does not
break through the skin, when it is known as
a whitehead or “closed comedo”. As it
grows larger, it presses on the hair follicle.
4 INFECTED FOLLICLE AND ACNE
Sebum and the bacteria that feed on it leak
from the growing whitehead into the
dermis. The surrounding skin tissue and the
hair follicle become inﬂamed (acne).

Conventional Medicine for skin

After making a diagnosis, and depending
on the severity of your symptoms, your
doctor may recommend antibiotics and
other drugs in the form of creams as well
as preparations to be taken orally. You may
also be referred to a dermatologist.
TOPICAL KERATOLYTICS,such
as salicylic acid, help to relieve
mild acne. Your doctor may prescribe a
cream containing these. They help to break
down the oily plugs that block the opening
to the hair follicle and loosen the dead or
hardened cells on the surface of the skin.
As a result, the trapped sebum can ﬂow
out and air can enter the follicle, reducing
the chances of bacterial infection.
TOPICAL ANTIBIOTICS AND
RETINOIDS can help acne that
is mild to moderately severe. Your doctor
may prescribe creams or ointments con-
taining these. Retinoids work by reducing
sebum production.

ORAL ANTIBIOTICS AND RETOINOIDS If
your acne is moderate to severe, your doctor
may prescribe oral antibiotics, such as tetra-
cycline, which you need to take for at least
3–4 months. For severe acne, dermatologists
may prescribe a course of retinoids, such as
isotretinoin, which is usually taken for four
months.Over 90 per cent of patients respond
to this therapy. Many people are cured by a
single course of retinoids, but in some cases
a second course may be prescribed.
CERTAIN COMBINED ORAL CONTRACEP-
TIVES reduce male hormone (androgen)
levels and have been shown to reduce the
severity of acne in some women. These
combined pills may need to be taken for at
least six months.

If you have acne, SELF-HELP

If you have acne, the following
steps may help you:
● Wash twice a day with warm water and
a mild cleanser, but do not scrub your
skin too vigorously.
● Do not pick your spots and pimples, as
this may make them worse and even
result in scarring.
● Apply benzoyl peroxide cream to your
acne every day.

Acne vulgaris is more common and more severe in males than in females.

Acne vulgaris is more common and more
severe in males than in females. The skin
condition is triggered by changes in hor-
mones, such as testosterone and other
androgens, associated with puberty. The
rash usually subsides after adolescence, but
can occasionally persist after the age of 30
and scars may form on the skin.
Various factors may predispose an indi-
vidual to develop acne , including
genetic factors, since acne vulgaris some-
times runs in families. Stress can make the
acne worse. The condition can cause great
psychological distress, and often arises dur-
ing the period when teenagers are most
self-conscious about their appearance.
OVERACTIVITY OF SEBACEOUS GLANDS
Acne vulgaris is caused by the overproduc-
tion of an oily substance called sebum,
WHY DOES IT OCCUR?
which is secreted by the sebaceous glands
in the skin . Sebum
normally drains into the hair follicles and
ﬂows out through the follicle openings on
the skin surface, lubricating the skin and
keeping it supple. However, excess sebum
blocks the follicles and hardens into tiny
plugs. Bacteria multiply in the blocked fol-
licles, releasing fatty acids from the sebum,
inﬂaming the surrounding tissue.
In some cases, the follicles may become
blocked with keratin, a tough protein that
is produced by skin cells to strengthen the
epidermis. Keratin is also a constituent
of hair and nails.
OTHER TYPES OF ACNE Less common
forms of acne include occupational acne,
which may result from exposure to certain
industrial oils; and drug-induced acne,
which may be due to prescribed drugs,
such as corticosteroids.

what is Acne

ACNE
Acne is a rash that usually appears on the face but may also affect other
areas, especially the upper back, the middle of the chest, the shoulders
and the neck. The most common form is acne vulgaris, which is the
familiar rash that afﬂicts many teenagers. Regular washing with acne
soaps may help to prevent bacterial build-up. Depending on the
severity, acne may be treated with topical creams or oral antibiotics.
Acne may also respond to special diets, supplements, homeopathic
and herbal remedies and deactivation of trigger points.

The skin is the body’s largest organ and its ﬁrst line of defence.

The skin is the body’s largest organ and its ﬁrst
line of defence. Skin ailments are often a visible
symptom of internal imbalances, so integrated
treatment can be very effective.While treatments
usually rely on creams, ointments and oral drugs,
nutritional supplements, homeopathy, herbal
remedies and mind–body therapies can all help.

The Intelligent Body,the brain is a network of almost inﬁnitely interconnected neurons

We tend to think of the brain as being intelligent, and that

the brain controls the body, while the body is just dumb

ﬂesh. Indeed, the brain is a network of almost inﬁnitely

interconnected neurons; it has been called the most

complex object in the known universe. But the whole body

is a network too, which is why the psychologist Michael

Hyland has put forward his “intelligent body” hypothesis.

Dr Hyland takes further the idea that there is no strict

division between brain and the rest of the body. He proposes

that intelligence is not conﬁned to the brain, but rather it is

distributed throughout the body in an extended network.

Medicine, if it is to get to grips with health rather than

just confront disease, must comprehend the living body’s

extraordinary ability to maintain conditions stable enough

for life to happen at all. Too hot or too cold, too acid or

too alkaline, too many waste products or not enough

nutrients, and we die. The same goes for the body’s internal

architecture and outer form, for they are not ﬁxed, but are

constantly broken down and rebuilt. The sense of self, too,

although it seems stable, is formed out of a whirl of sense

impressions and memories.

At a biochemical level, the properties that emerge from

the network provide its ability to self-organise, control

the myriad chemical reactions that provide energy and

produce the living tissues. At the structural level, these

so-called “emergent” properties allow the body to move

through space and constantly reconstruct itself; at the level

of awareness they give us the ability to sense, respond to,

and reﬂect on our experiences.

Complexity and Medicine,healthy guider

New medicine views the body as a complex system
through which information ﬂows. A shoal of ﬁsh is
an excellent example of this type of complexity.
Although each is a separate animal, when ﬁsh come
together in a shoal they behave as a single entity.

Complexity is the name for the universal tendency of parts
to organise themselves into more complex wholes.We
humans are so much a part of our world that we often take
many of its properties and qualities for granted.We fail to
remember that weight, water, light and warmth, although
totally familiar to us, are also rather mysterious. Complexity
can be seen at the most basic level: who could predict, for
instance, that bringing the gases hydrogen and oxygen
together would give you something to drink! Complexity
operates too on the biggest scale of all. After the Big Bang,
when time and space ﬁrst began, our pattern-forming
universe produced stars and galaxies; planets formed.
Life – miraculously it seems, but also quite naturally –
emerged out of this universal process. Organisms are
alive precisely because the whole is always greater than
the sum of its parts.
Medical scientists until now have tried to understand life
by isolating its biochemical properties in a test tube, or by
examining dead tissues.While this approach has certainly
proved very useful in understanding how the human body
works, it can only reveal our chemical nature. Modern
technology now lets us see into the intricate design and
workings of the living body. As science discovers how the
parts communicate, form wholes and self-organise,
medicine will change quite profoundly. It is too soon to
know what medicine would look like if it were based on
mind–body connectedness and the ﬂow of information
that keeps us well, but there are similarities between such
an approach and the traditions that gave birth to
complementary medicine. These traditions all include
notions of mind–body wholeness, energy ﬂow, harmonious
living and therapeutic relationships, along with knowledge
of how to encourage self-healing. Science is becoming
increasingly interested in this territory and the possibility
that complementary therapies might provide us
with further clues about human health.
Complex processes are not like
sequential ones, where A causes B,
which causes C.Whole-system
processes are networked; they
happen all at once, and
communication is across the
whole system in all
directions, so C inﬂuences A even as B inﬂuences Z – and
back! This realisation has enormous practical implications
scientists developing artiﬁcial intelligence, or predicting
weather patterns or ecological consequences, need to know
how to predict whole-system behaviour. It is of even
greater relevance for medicine to understand how the
processes of life interweave, and how the whole and the
part continually reshape one another.

Challenges affect all three levels – psycho-social, structural and biochemical – and, since they are entwined

a person’s resources are depleted then the ability to
maintain balance is undermined. Defence and repair
systems may begin to fail if the integrity of cell chemistry,
body structures and mind are threatened.
The underlying factors upsetting self-regulation can
be obvious or subtle, intense or diffuse, short-lived or
prolonged. They can include a short-term, severe injury,
for example from a car accident, a bereavement triggering
depression, a spell of rushed working lunches resulting in
bouts of indigestion, or ﬂu caught from exposure to an
infected person. In their own important ways, the resulting
ill-effects tell us something vital about how well we are
adapting to the demands placed on us; they are a message
about things we need to attend to, and changes that we
might have to make.
Challenges affect all three levels – psycho-social,
structural and biochemical – and, since they are entwined,
when there is a problem in one, it can affect how the other
two work. For example, a biochemical disorder such as a
nutritional deﬁciency or food sensitivity may have
psychological consequences, such as depression. Loneliness
depression, bereavement and inner conﬂicts can undermine
immune system defences, while a structural injury might
cause pain that then undermines well-being and
relationships.
The implications are obvious: give your body what it
needs to work well and avoid the things that harm it. This
may include taking up yoga, meditation or dance, giving
up smoking, seeing friends or making dietary changes. Do
whatever you need to do to nourish yourself intellectually,
emotionally and spiritually.

LIFE FORCES,PSYCHO-SOCIAL,STRUCTURAL,BIOCHEMICAL

“LIFE FORCES”
Encompassing and acting
on all three realms, this
concept is variously
described by therapists as
“regulatory forces”, “vital
forces”, “energy” and “Qi”.
Treatments include high-
potency homeopathic
remedies, traditional
Chinese acupuncture,
traditional herbalism and
spiritual healing.

PSYCHO-SOCIAL
The psycho-social realm
includes thoughts and
feelings, relationships,
social environment,
community, workplace,
and culture.
Treatments include
psychotherapies,
behavioural approaches,
health promotion
information, social work,
hypnotherapy, meditation.

STRUCTURAL
The structural realm
includes muscles, bones,
nerves, blood vessels,
movement and the
physical environment.
Treatments include
physiotherapy, osteopathy,
chiropractic, massage,
medical acupuncture,
and surgery.

BIOCHEMICAL
The biochemical realm
includes cells, hormones,
enzymes, chemical
processes, digestion and
respiration, the chemical
environment and pollution.
Treatments include drugs,
nutritional supplements,
low-potency homeopathic
remedies, dietary changes
and herbal medicines.

WELL-BEING AND HEALTH,about healthy guider

These are the questions that new medicine has to ask. They
are different from the questions medical science has asked
until now, and they are important because medicine is in
crisis. The crisis has to do with rocketing costs and a wide-
spread disillusionment among the public with scientiﬁc
medicine’s obsession with molecules, drugs and technology
at the expense of serving the whole person. It is an aspect
of a worldwide concern with sustainability and the side-
effects, whether global or medical, of technological
solutions to complex problems. Fortunately, science is
becoming more holistic as it realises the limitations of a
fragmented approach to solving problems and starts to
understand complexity. Curiously, the scientiﬁc picture
emerging today has a lot in common with truths known to
the world’s oldest healing traditions. The new medicine
will integrate this timeless knowledge about self-healing
and whole person care with 21st-century science. It is even
possible, as complexity is further explored and understood,
that traditional notions such as “life-force” and “energy-
body” could ﬁnd their way into mainstream medicine.