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Psoriasis specialists in the UK
My 38-year-old husband has been diagnosed with psoriasis. He has flaky skin on his elbows and lower legs but his GP refuses to send him to a specialist, saying there is no cure for it. He does not smoke and rarely drinks alcohol but he does suffer from work-related stress. I’ve found experts in the US but surely there are specialists who can treat this disease here?
There is an excellent natural health clinic in London that specialises in treating skin complaints, including psoriasis, and it attracts sufferers from all over the world. It is where I went when I had a skin problem - and while there is a long waiting list, the sooner your husband gets his name down the better.
While he is waiting for an appointment with one of the practitioners at The Alternative Centre (0171-381 2298) he should get a copy of a book called Beat Psoriasis - The Natural Way, (Thorsons, £8.24), which is written by Sandra Gibbons, who set up the centre with her sister, Jane Waters, in 1981 - making them pioneers in natural health.
Jane, who is also a regular contributor to The Journal of Complementary Medicine, describes psoriasis as a genetically inherited weakness for which there is no cure. That does not mean, she adds, that it cannot be cleared and kept totally under control.
Stress, she warns, always find the weakest point in the system to take its toll and so a holistic programme will support the whole system, not just the skin. Psoriasis on the lower legs is usually a sign of adrenal gland weakness caused by an overload of stress and your husband’s first step should be to reduce and even cut out tea and coffee, which can overtax weakened adrenals.
He needs to drink plenty of unpolluted water to help flush toxins through the body and should consider taking a vitamin B complex supplement. The B vitamins are known as nature’s own stress busters and he should buy yeast-free capsules, which provide between 50 and 75mg daily and do not contain gelatine. He also needs to take tissue salts to bolster levels of minerals which also support the adrenals and, in turn, help the skin return to normal functioning. Waters recommends Magnesium Phosphate No. 8 and Silica No. 12. All these supplements are available by mail order from the Nutricentre (0800-587 2290).