Is there a connection between different illnesses and conditons?
Sunday, September 6th, 2009 at
10:05 am
I’ve had a few health problems recently and have seen my doctor about them (psoriasis, acne rosacea, a suspected stomach ulcer, and suspected rheumatoid arthritis) so I am seeing the relevant specialists and have appropriate creams etc. But I did wonder, are they linked?
I read an article which said that many people who had the Helicobacter pylori which caused their ulcers, also had acne rosacea. Are there any other links, and if so, what can I do to aid my recovery?
Filed under: Rosacea Remedies
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The healthcare philosophy that I live by is to treat the patient as a whole because all parts of the body are connected with each other in some way. Often when you eliminate the cause of one symptom, other seemingly unrelated symptoms clear up. For your situation, I would focus on gut health first. It is possible that if you heal up your gut your other symptoms could clear up as well. Why? Proper gut health is essential for proper absorption of nutrients. In other words if you are eating a food that you have a sensitivity/allergy to it may be hindering your absorption of very important vitamins and nutrients which your body would otherwise use to maintain overall health.
The following could help with your acne…
Acne rosacea: diet
1. if on a regular diet, try a vegetarian and complex carbohydrates. If on a vegetarian diet, try a fruit and vegetable diet or a short fast. Hypoallergenic /rotation diet
2. high fiber diet
3. small amounts of monounsaturated fats
4. increase: squash, cucumber, watermelon, winter melon, celery, carrots, cabbage, beet tops, dandelines, aloe vera, mulberry leaves, lettuce, potato, cherries, papaya, pear, persimmon, raspberries, buckwheat, alfalfa sprouts, millet, brown rice, mung beans, burdock root, onions
5. drink plenty of water
6. formula: 4 oz mung beans and 2 oz raw brown sugar boiled in 1 ½ pt. Water until volume is reduced to half. Eat and drink
Avoid:
1. food intolerances (diet diary/elimination diet http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiSaDi67cXjV6jPsRPeiXQHty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080831071918AA6JZO9&show=7#profile-info-3J9jLcPlaa)
2. simple carbohydrates and sugar, fried, fatty, rich foods, chocolate, nuts, coffee, alcohol, ice cream and other dairy products, soft drinks, red meat, shellfish, bamboo shoots, white mushrooms, check for fruit sensitivities
3. trans-fatty acids, hydrogenated oils (margarine, vegetable shortening, imitation butter spreads, most commercial peanut butters, oxidized fats (deep fried foods, fast food, ghee, barbecued meats)
4. spices
5. smoking, stress, constipation, washing with harsh soaps
Acne Rosacea: supplements
qd=every day; bid=twice daily; tid=3 times a day; T=tablespoon
1. vitamin A (100 000-200 000 IU qd) [toxic dose] –ONLY UNDER DOCTOR SUPERVISION
2. vitamin B6 (esp. pre-menstrual acne) (50 mg qd for 1 week pre-menses, 100 mg tid)
3. vitamin C (1000 mg qd)
4. vitamin E (400-800 IU qd)
5. zinc (50mg tid)
6. copper (5 mg qd)
7. selenium (200mcg qd)
8. folic acid (5-10 mg qd)
9. omega-6 fatty acids; safflower oil (1 T. bid)
10. Brewer’s yeast (1 T. bid)
11. HCl with meals (10-50 grains, work up slowly)
I hope this info can get you started on your quest for health.
Yes, they might be linked. Almost all stomach ulcers are caused by Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium. Eradicating this bacterium by taking antibiotics will usually cure the gastric ulcer.
H. pylori is thought to be causing a lot of other diseases, as well. These include other diseases of the stomach such as certain types of stomach cancers (adenocarcinoma). And there are also studies that suggest that the bacterium can cause diseases outside of the stomach. One of these is indeed rosacea. In a study by a Spanish group, some patients with both rosacea and a H. pylori infection showed improvement of the rosacea after treatment of the bacterial infection. A Serbian study showed similar improvement of ocular rosacea. Another study from a group from India found that psoriasis patients had a higher titer for H. pylori in their blood than healthy controls. None of these studies are very convincing, and there is no 100% relationship between the skin conditions and the presence of the bacterium, but there might be some link.
Surprisingly, H. pylori infection seems to also protect against other diseases, such as esophageal cancers. Recently, it has been suggested that the absence of H. pylori infection is associated with an increase in the risk for developing asthma.
Hope that was helpful. Good luck!