February 9th, 2010, by Digital Davo | in the news, natural remedies
Several Australian newspapers are running a story today about the risk that comes when people self-diagnose, self-treat and buy supplements off the shelf off a supermarket.
The whole idea of natural treatments is very appealing to many rosacea sufferers. There is certainly a group of rosacea sufferers who see prescription treatments as too artificial and too likely to cause harm. As it almost always the case in matter medical, the equation is not actually that simple.
The potential for many naturally-sourced treatments to cause harm is as real as for prescription treatments.
One could even make the argument that prescription treatments have well known side effect profiles whereas the unknown reactions of natural remedies can expose rosacea sufferers to unnecessary risks.
Do you believe that natural treatments pose risks to you as rosacea sufferer ?
NICK MILLER
February 9, 2010
SOME popular herbal medicines can be dangerous, even lethal, contrary to the perception that they are a safe alternative to conventional medicine, a University of Adelaide researcher has warned.
Naturopaths agree that there are dangers in herbal medicines for people who self-diagnose and then ”treat” themselves with off-the-shelf products. However, they say the industry is generally well regulated.
Forensic pathologist Roger Byard reviewed the risks attached to herbal medicines in last month’s edition of the Journal of Forensic Sciences.
He said herbal products had been found to contain potentially lethal levels of arsenic, mercury or lead. Even if not contaminated, some herbs posed health risks such as liver failure, haemorrhage or heart failure.
…
‘People think, ‘It’s growing in the garden – green is good’ but plutonium is natural, too,” Professor Byard said. ”Part of the problem is herbs are very hard to test for [during an autopsy]. We just don’t know if this is a widespread problem, we don’t routinely test for them.”
…
In his paper, Professor Byard wrote that a recent analysis of 251 Asian herbal products sold in California had found arsenic in 36, mercury in 35 and lead in 24. There were several cases of young children developing lead or arsenic poisoning from traditional remedies.
Popular remedies such as ginkgo biloba, pennyroyal and ma huang can cause liver damage if overused, and a wide range of herbs can trigger heart problems.
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February 5th, 2010, by Digital Davo | depression & anxiety, interviews
Every so often, when we are able to solicit the help of experts, the Rosacea Support Group assembles questions that we need answered.
Recently we put some questions on the psychology of rosacea to Professor Peter Drummond, Ph.D., from the School of Psychology at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, and his colleague Daphne Su, D.Psych, Clinical Psychologist (Registrar) with the Department of Health in Western Australia.
Professor Drummond’s research into the clinical psychophysiology of health-related conditions (pain, emotions, headaches including migraines, cardiovascular disorders) includes the neural control of facial blood flow, and the role of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) in pain and inflammation. (See also Rosacea and the Sympathetic Nervous System: Dr. Peter D. Drummond, PhD )
Dr Su’s doctoral thesis entitled "Psychological stress and vascular disturbances in rosacea" can be accessed electronically from the Murdoch University library catalogue using the above link.
The Rosacea Support team would like to express our warmest thanks to Professor Drummond and Dr Su for generously sharing their time and knowledge with us.
Some of the questions we asked;
- Do you have any advice on how to cope with flushing caused by crippling shyness and social anxiety?
- Rosacea can have a major impact on self-esteem. Have you any advice for single people who fear dating in case they are rejected because of their rosacea
- Some rosaceans also suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts. At what stage should professional help be sought?
Also feel free to check out our other Experts Questions and Answers;
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February 4th, 2010, by Digital Davo | in the news
Quite a few news sites today are covering the filing of charges of and arraignment of rosacea identity “Dr. Syed”.
Known to rosacea sufferers as Tanweer A. Syed MD. PhD, 66 year old Timothy Syed Andersson is facing 51 felony charges including practicing medicine without a license, grand theft by deception and perjury.
Andersson has been found to have no formal training or license in the United States or abroad.
His web site has impressive sounding terminology such as “professional expertise in the field of extracting and synthesizing natural bioactive” and “incorporating biologically active natural ingredients into skin cream emulsions”, as well as “patent pending proprietary formulation” and also “powerful antioxidant is truly bio-available”.
Rosacea News has covered Dr. Syed and his products in the past. He was well known to rosacea sufferers for his very expensive Green Tea based cream. His cream was in fact found to contain hydrocortisone. The District Attorney Kamala Harris was quoted as saying the green tea cream was “a bunch of BS”. Users of his cream were found to be located all over the United States as well as several overseas countries.
Andersson has cleverly promoted his cream as appealing to rosacea sufferers. In 2007 he was listed as a member of the RRDi Medical Advisory Committee. His $125 Hypo-Allergenic Facial Cream (supposedly green tea based) was not well received by rosacea sufferers as you can see in a few forum postings.
Be Careful out There
The charging of Andersson on serious charges is a great opportunity for rosacea sufferers to step back and think about what they read and accept and who they trust. Especially online, we all need to watch out for people who call themselves a doctor and have a web site full of gobbledegook.
Don’t trust someone who is not a licensed M.D. to offer you a consultation. Don’t buy products that promise results that appear suspicious.
Andersson has claimed to investigators that he does not practice medicine and just sells his facial cream from his home.
The District Attorney urges everyone to check the official registration of medical doctors and to not visit Andersson/Syed’s web site.
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February 2nd, 2010, by Digital Davo | IPL, laser therapy
A recent segment on ABC-TV’s Good Morning America Health featured rosacea.
One slant put on this television story was promoted by a followup press release that highlights the use of Aesthera’s Isolaz technology. In the past Aesthera’s combination of `pneumatic energy’ and broad band light has been used to treat the pustules and inflammation of acne.
Aesthera is now wanting to promote a `new tip’ on the Isolaz device which will allow it to target rosacea symptoms.
So the Isolaz treatment is IPL but with a suction head that reduces the pain usually associated with IPL treatments.
The Isolaz treatment hasn’t generated much discussion online. This is surprising considering such a high profile promotion on the ABC TV segment and that the treatment has been available since 2007. Dr. Day, a dermatologist from New York tells us that she herself has treated several hundred patients for acne and is now using the new treatment tip for rosacea.
User Reviews
If you are treated for rosacea with the Isolaz please do let us know how you got on in the comments below. How was the level of pain ? Did you see improvements ?
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January 29th, 2010, by Digital Davo | in the news
ABC-TV’s Good Morning America Health has featured rosacea in a 7 minute segment broadcast on January 21st.
On the table you can see Oracea, Metrogel and Cetaphil products, all from Galderma. One shot shows the new Cetaphil UVA/UVB Defence SPF 50 as well as Daily Advance Ultra Hydrating Lotion and the well known Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser.
Apparently rosacea is called `the great disguiser’, not a term I have ever heard before, but obviously refers to the long list of possible differential diagnosis for rosacea symptoms.
The NRS supplied the familiar looking rosacea symptoms photos. This amount of detail given in the story is fantastic for the medium of broadcast television. Dr. Day touched on the confusion with adult acne and the reason we get rosacea as well as possible triggers.
Oracea gets a good plug for its low dose properties. Galderma will be very pleased indeed.
Finacea and Noritate also get a mention.
Other over the counter products on the table included
- Ageless Intensives Smooth Repair Control Deep Wrinkle Anti-Wrinkle Serum from Neutrogena (what a mouthful)
- Dopti Calm Anti-Fatigue and Diopti Anti-Wrinkle from Lierac
- Lipikar Baume Anti-Irritant Lipid Replenishing Body Balm from La Roche-Posay
Galderma’s `consumer promotional’ web site bestfaceforward.com as well the NRS’s rosacea.org get a mention at the end of the piece.
It was a well thought out and informative article. This is excellent for rosacea sufferers – such high quality information in the broadcast media.
Watch the full video here ;
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=9626641
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