Holistic Dermatology and Integrative Medicine

Dairy and Acne. A connection?

Back when I started my dermatology training, there were still a number of older dermatologists who had trained before the era of widespread use of antibiotics, who told their acne patients to stop drinking milk to improve their acne condition. That advice became unpopular for about 30 years, with the easy use of tetracycline to calm acne and avoid the issue.  

But during the past decade, a study on nurses and then two subsequent studies on their sons and daughters (published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 2005-8,) demonstrated a definite association between drinking milk, and especially skim milk, and acne occurrence. The fact that skim milk had a greater association suggested that it was not the fats, but possibly the hormones in milk, which were causing the problem.  Milk contains hormones like progesterone, because 80% of the cows producing milk have recently been pregnant.

But milk also possesses a number of androgen-related hormones that go on to influence the sebaceous gland unit to form an acne lesion. Dr. William Danby, who was involved with these studies and lectured on this subject at the recent American Academy of Dermatology meeting, pointed out that the androgens in cows' milk cause acne, but are different than human androgens.  

As a result, the production of the body’s own androgens are not turned off by their presence, as in a normal feedback loop situation.  That would be like having another heater in your house not wired to the regular thermostat, and wondering why it was getting so hot.  So cow’s milk androgens turn up the male hormone activity that is driving the acne.  I will discuss other ways milk may aggravate acne in future blog. Do your own dairy experiment by cutting it out of your diet completely and see if it has any effect...

 

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.

Curing Acne Naturally - My Article in Delicious Living Magazine

I am seeing more and more people who are tired of the experienced and possible side effects of the medications that have been required to treat their acne, and want to get to the bottom of the issue and treat the causes. They are seeking a more natural treatment, and have often been motivated to take bold steps like giving up sugar and other foods they suspect are contributing to their breakouts.  

It is gratifying to see that some people have even started taking various herbs and supplements useful in controlling acne.

Unfortunately, most of them achieve only limited success. They have not put together a program that successfully integrates not only the general aspects of physiologic dysfunction associated with acne, but with the specifics of their own pathway to that disorder. And often, the supplements chosen do not have the maximum effectiveness for the category of disorder they are intended to correct. They are very happy for me to put together a tailored program for them.

If my methods interest you, you will appreciate the article that quotes me called “Natural Treatment of Acne” in January 2013 (page 55-6) in Delicious Living magazine that discusses some of the methods I, and other dermatologists use to control acne naturally.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology
New York 

Spiritual Health, Part 2

Our very health and survival is based not only on our own personal choices, but on how healthy our options are in the "soup" of our environment in which we eat, breathe, and swim. The trail we leave behind in that soup, individually and collectively, determines how healthy we and those around us will be for generations to come. 

I believe that there are millions of us who wish to leave a clean, healthy trail in our wake, or better yet, to leave no trace of pollution after we're gone. 

And I believe that there are billions of us, no matter what their creed and affiliation, who want to have the highest possible degree of health, well-being, productiveness, and longevity for themselves, their children, grandchildren and communities at large.

-To your health,

-Dr. Dattner

Holistic & Integrative Dermatology
New York 

Spiritual Health, Part 1

Science is an important foundation of our understanding of the truth. Through science, we understand the "how" and some of the "why" of medicine and healing. Yet, there are other foundation stones that are also important. For example, many cultures have created valuable forms of science and medicine (in this case, by "science" I mean methodical study). Asian cultures created incredibly precise and methodical forms of medicine like acupuncture and ayruveda, through a completely different set of cultural understandings.

Our western version of science should never be our only guiding light, because the application, emphasis, and direction of science depends on the level of intentions of those who apply it. 

Also, science is a constant rapid expansion; each year, we are tracking and studying smaller and smaller events--every seven years, we have an entirely new palate of factors we use to direct our studies. Western science is beginning to "catch up" to Asian philosophies in the past decade, in the way that we have begun to move from thinking in terms of chains of events to interactive symphonies of factors. Our leading mathematics of understanding, now explores probabilities rather than direct proof of cause.

To your health,

-Dr. Dattner

Holistic & Integrative Dermatology
New York

Food Allergy and Eczema (and Pregnancy)

According to an article published online ahead of print Oct 26 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, there was a significantly increased incidence of both food sensitization and filaggrin mutations in children who went on to developeczema and asthma.

A filiggrin is a protein related to penetration of foreign materials through the skin that has been found to be defective in a proportion of patients with atopic dermatitis, commonly known as eczema. The risk of being allergic to foods was up to 5 times as great in association with eczema as compared with those who did not have eczema.

Here's what I have to say about this: despite the naysayers over the years who have claimed that eczema is not related to diet, this study from Germany shows an association between food allergy and eczema and asthma. I want to emphasize that in my experience, it takes more than food sensitivity testing and elimination to control food allergy manifestations.

Working with digestion, gut flora, and gut health, helps to reduce food allergy, and has proven to be helpful in reducing the incidence and severity of atopic dermatitis in infants, children and adults, as well as the severity of other inflammatory skin diseases.

Especially sensible is in normalizing these factors before starting pregnancy, if this planning is possible, and there is a history of atopy (asthma, hay fever, eczema) in you or your family. More about this important issue in a later blog.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.

Taking Stock of Your Medical History

Discovery of what illness a person has, and what is the underlying reason that illness is going on, often requires a lot of information.  Most of that information is related to your history, that of your family, and that of those around you. 

No one knows this information better than you, so it is helpful to keep a record of what has been going on with your health:
·      Serious or recurrent illnesses, surgeries and accidents, medications, vaccinations and other treatments, and their dates
·      Supplements, vitamins, herbs, other alternative treatments and the apparent positive and negative effects of these treatments on you.
·      Diet, or changes or slips in your diet and their dates are also important.
·      Don’t forget to get copies of important lab test results, and recent lab tests results, even if negative.

From my perspective, the events preceding your illness may be the most important clue to the cause of your specific illness that followed the exposure.

It may be more useful to edit the report you bring to a doctor, rather than bringing the whole file.  Try to keep a full file for yourself, and bring copies to your doctor, so that you keep a full set of your information.  Remember, doctors may only keep records for a period of up to 7 years.

Until there is a universal medical record kept, or perhaps a chip with that information in our wallet or under our skin, you are the best keeper and provider of information which may help with your health.  

Put together your own health file, and keep it where you or your family can find it.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.

 

Melanoma Immunotherapy

I recently read a report in March in the journal Drugs in Dermatology about a man with metastatic melanoma (spreading skin cancer,) who had a partial regression of internal melanoma spreading. It occurred after applying a cream to the skin that was prescribed for lesser skin cancers.  The cream is Imiquimod, and was designed to stimulate the immune system to react against pre-cancers, warts, and occasionally, as in this patient, for basal cell carcinomas (the most common kind of skin cancer)

It works by stimulating a primitive form of the immune system, called “Toll-Like Receptors”  (TLRs), which are a very primitive form division of the immune system that are present not only in other mammals, but also in other species including insects.  Imiquimod works by stimulating a TLR called TLR 7, which then signals other branches of the immune system to join the battle and attack and destroy the tumor.  

Interestingly, this patient could not tolerate other treatment he had been given, so, on his own,  he used the Imiquimod prescribed to him for a lesser skin cancer on the superficial metastatic lesions on his tummy skin, and the internal melanoma in his liver went away completely, and other internal melanomas got smaller.

The point of this comment is not to suggest Imiqimod for melanoma treatment; it may only work in certain cases, but rather to show that the right kind of stimulation of the immune system can make a great difference in reducing the size of potentially deadly cancers like metastatic melanoma.  

The literature contains numerous reports and case reports of melanoma getting smaller or disappearing with other immune stimulants including chemicals like dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) and diphencyprone, and microbial stimulants such as Bacillus of Calmette and Guerin (BCG).  

Not everyone responds to any given stimulus, so the challenge is to identify what the most likely stimulus is to get a melanoma rejected, and what else is necessary to get someone’s immune system to be strong enough to fight it off.

These are questions that I have been wrestling with in laboratories from Sloane Kettering to the National Cancer Institute over the past 5 decades.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.

Herbal Medicine and Dermatology article in New York Times

I was just browsing the internet to collect articles I've written, and came across this one in the New York Times. Here, I discuss camomile, plantain, aloe vera, lemon balm, and cayenne for dermatitis, psoriasis, herpes, and other conditions.  Please read the full article for specifics. 

To your health,

Alan M Dattner, MD
Holistic Dermatology, New York

Dry Skin

The activities of the summer, spending time in the water, wind, and sun, can sometimes trigger a flare-up of dry skin.  Chronic dry skin can have many possible underlying causes.  Patients come to me for holistic skin treatment when they don't want to use conventional medicine, and I address dry skin, among other conditions often by changing the diet, adding nutritional supplements, and changing the products you use on your skin.  Learning about what makes your skin dry or irritates is a highly individual process that an integrative physician can help you with.

However, I have one tip for occasional dry skin that works great.  If you regularly use a moisturizer, always apply it immediately after bathing or showering. This seals in the moisture your body has just absorbed and leaves skin feeling soft and healthy.  Also be sure to reduce the use of hot water, soap, and detergents on scaly skin, so that you don't wash out the lipids that keep your skin naturally moist.

To your health,

Dr. Dattner

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.