Boston, MA (PRWEB) April 11, 2013
Doctors Health Press, a division of Lombardi Publishing Corporation and publisher of various natural health newsletters, books, and reports, including the popular online Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin, is reporting on a new study finding that combining vitamin D and corticosteroids may be the most effective treatment for psoriasis.
As Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin (http://www.doctorshealthpress.com/womens-health/skin-care/vitamin-d-vs-corticosteroids-for-this-skin-problem) notes, psoriasis is one of those tricky conditions to treat. Often, the cause of psoriasis isnt clear, which can make finding an effective remedy more of a challenge. And while psoriasis does have some unpleasant symptoms, mainly in the form of skin irritations, most people treat the condition because they want to have smooth, healthy, glowing skin.
As the article Vitamin D vs. Corticosteroids for This Skin Problem reports, topical creams that contain corticosteroids are commonly prescribed to treat psoriasis. Corticosteroids are synthetic steroids that mimic natural hormones and are supposed to reduce inflammation and help stop allergic reactions. However, corticosteroids, while effective, can cause a number of prescription drug side effects in certain people. The more potent they are, the more likely a person is to suffer from side effects.
The Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin article states that an alternative treatment for psoriasis involves using topical creams with added vitamin D, which is thought to lessen the severity and length of a psoriasis outbreak, as well as reduce scaling and inflammation. Vitamin D also helps to slow the growth of skin cells, which is a good thing when it comes to psoriasis; the fewer skin cells that grow and become inflamedforming dry, scaly patchesthe better.
According to the Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin article, researchers recently reviewed the performance of these two psoriasis treatments. In all, 177 trials were included in the researchers study. They found that vitamin D and corticosteroids worked better as a combined treatment than either treatment on its own. The researchers also noted that vitamin D was significantly less effective than potent corticosteroids when used to treat scalp psoriasis. However, they cautioned that most of the trials failed to report if long-term use of corticosteroids increases the risk for permanent skin dermal atrophy, a condition where the skin thins.
(SOURCE: Mason, A.R., et al., Topical treatments for chronic plaque psoriasis, Cochrane Database Syst Rev. March 28, 2013; 3: CD005028.)
Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin is a daily e-letter providing natural health news with a focus on natural healing through foods, herbs, and other breakthrough alternative health treatments. For more information on Doctors Health Press, visit http://www.doctorshealthpress.com.
Doctors Health Press believes in the healing properties of various alternative remedies, including traditional Chinese medicine. To see a video outlining the Doctors Health Press views on traditional Chinese medicine, visit http://www.doctorshealthpress.com/chinesemedicine.
