Psoriasis healing is a long term journey and we need to keep looking for better options and ideas to make our lives easier. Recently, while browsing the Internet, I come across a well documented psoriasis case study of 5 patients. It is a 10 page report, explaining each and every aspect of the study in a detailed manner. There are some typical medical terms included as well in it. So, I have tried to summarize the whole report in a brief but concise manner so that you can get all the information without losing the interest. I hope, you would have a great time reading this informative post.
Introduction
This case study was undertaken by Dr Amy C. Brown and her team at The Meridian Institute, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA. The idea behind this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a dietary regimen suggested by Edgar Cayce to heal psoriasis. In his readings, Edgar Cayce, known as the father of holistic medicine, has suggested that psoriasis is caused by the over production of toxins by the digestive system. Due to the hyper permeability of the intestinal walls, these toxins enter the blood stream and circulate throughout the body and trigger an auto-immune reaction.
Edgar Cayce proposed a diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables, along with fiber supplements and regular consumption of herbal teas (saffron and slippery elm bark) to heal psoriasis. Small amounts of protein in the form of fish, fowl and lamb is allowed. Foods to be avoided are- red meat, processed foods, fried foods and refined carbohydrates.
About the Study group
To evaluate the results, a study group of patients was recruited.
- Number of patients- 5 (2 males and 3 females)
- Average age        – 52 years (age range is 40 to 68 years)
- Psoriasis intensity  – Mild to Severe
- Each of them was suffering from chronic plaque psoriasis.
Methodology
All the patients were trained to follow a diet protocol for a period of 6 months. If they were already undergoing any other treatment to treat psoriasis or any other condition, they were allowed to continue with that. This diet protocol didn’t need them to stop those medicines.
Apart from taking before-and-after pictures, pre-treatment and post-treatment assessment of the patients were done using three different parameters to evaluate the results. These three parameters were:
1. Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI)
2.Psoriasis Severity Scale (PSS)
It is a subjective evaluation of the psoriasis severity, to be done by the patient. Patient evaluates the psoriasis severity on the basis of redness, thickness and scaling of plaques. PSS score is correlated with PASI (performed by the doctor) score to draw a convincing comparison of before-and-after results.
3. The lactulose/ mannitol test (to check intestinal permeability)
Diet Protocol
These 5 patients attended a 10-day residential program. During their stay, the initial assessment of their situation was performed and the initial body cleansing was done using massages and colonic irrigation. Colonic irrigation refers to colon cleansing to flush out the accumulated toxins from your body. Colon hydrotherapy (enema) is the most widely used method to perform colonic irrigation. For massage, they apply castor oil packs over the abdomen to stimulate bowel movements. Spinal adjustments were also done to heal intestinal wall injuries. They were advised to adopt a positive frame of mind towards this natural healing treatment.
Read more: Coffee Enema for Psoriasis
During their stay, they were trained to follow the diet protocol. They were educated about the benefits of the diet protocol, so that they can be self motivated to follow it as closely as possible. After 10 days, they were sent back to their locations with the direction to follow the diet protocol for next 6 months. They were encouraged to perform castor oil massages, occasional colonic irrigation and spinal adjustments (with the help of a local chiropractor) also. All the patients maintained daily log sheets of those 6 months for monitoring.
Read more: Saffron Tea for Psoriasis
Read more: Slippery elm bark tea for Psoriasis
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The Results
Before jumping to the overall conclusion, let us analyze the patient-wise observations and results:
- Case 1
40 years old woman, having mild psoriasis lesions on hands, elbows and feet. She got psoriasis at the age of 32. It is interesting to note that she is a physician herself. She didn’t use any other treatment or medicine during the course of the study. After the completion of the case, there was significant improvement in psoriasis symptoms. No more psoriasis lesions on hands and elbows. She complied with the diet protocol quite sincerely with occasional colonic irrigation. She showed least sincerity in performing castor oil massage and spinal adjustments.
- Case 2
68 years old man, having severe to moderate psoriasis from last 14 years. He also didn’t use any other medicine. After the course completion, there was noticeable improvement in his skin. White psoriasis scales on her back were completely disappeared, they turned into big red spots.
He showed excellent compliance to diet, colonic irrigation and spinal adjustments with least compliance to castor oil massages.
- Case 3
47 years old woman, having moderate psoriasis from last 2 years. Almost half of her body was covered with moderate plaque psoriasis. Apart from psoriasis, she was dealing with other health problems- hepatitis C, obesity and craving for sugar. She was also using some topical ointments and occasional UV therapy to manage her symptoms. She continued with these treatments during the course of case study also.
After the course completion, few areas of her body were completely free from psoriasis. There was significant reduction in psoriasis symptoms on other body parts as well.
- Case 4
44 years old man, dealing with mild psoriasis on his scalp and fingers from last 40 years. He had some psoriasis arthritis as well. He was already using a vitamin D based topical ointment and some other pharma medicines. He continued these medicines during the treatment also.
Read more: Vitamin D for Psoriasis
It was difficult to evaluate the improvement on the basis of before-and-after pictures because it was a case of mild psoriasis. But, the psoriasis severity parameters- PASI and PSS showed remarkable improvements. His post-treatment PASI was nil- no psoriasis symptoms left.
He showed excellent compliance to herbal teas with fair to minimal compliance to diet, castor oil massages and spinal adjustments.
- Case 5
59 years old woman, having severe psoriasis from last 46 years. Among all the patients, she was having the severe case of psoriasis. More than 60% of her body was covered with severe psoriasis plaques. Apart from psoriasis, she was dealing with osteoarthritis and abdominal bloating. She was already using a steroid based ointment, which she continued during the case study as well.
After the course completion, she experienced clearly visible improvements. Big red lesions on her back were reduced to small spots with reduced redness. She exhibited excellent compliance to diet (including herbal teas) and castor oil packs. She didn’t bother much about the colonic irrigation and spinal adjustments.
Overall Results- Assessment Parameters
- Lesser the values of these three parameters, lesser the psoriasis symptoms. Hence, there is a significant reduction in psoriasis symptoms for all the patients.
Takeaways
The results show that an alternative treatment approach, based on Edgar Cayce readings, with the help of a positive diet, herbal teas, occasional colonic irrigation, castor oil massage and spinal adjustments can help manage psoriasis symptoms. Diet and herbal teas are the primary tools while colonic irrigation, castor oil massage and spinal adjustments are secondary tools.
In this psoriasis case study report, they didn’t talk much about the consumption of- Wheat gluten, Citrus fruits and fish varieties like lobster, crab and shrimp. There can be certain foods which are helping you, but they are not present in this list and vice versa.
Also, they didn’t talk about dietary supplements (omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D), herbs (turmeric, milk thistle) and the importance of regular exercise and/or Yoga.
Hence, we really don’t need to blindly follow the above food chart. The basic idea behind writing this post is to re-affirm ourselves that natural healing of psoriasis on the basis of a positive diet, lifestyle and use of herbs and dietary supplements is worth a try.
At last but not the least, all of us people, dealing with psoriasis, would like to express our sincere gratitude to The Institute and the doctors team for doing this informative case study.
You can get the PDFÂ of the original study report here.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psoriasis_Area_and_Severity_Index
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_cleansing
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10902869
http://www.altmedrev.com/publications/9/3/297.pdf
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