In the next few posts, I hope to show you how most skin conditions are a good indication of your internal health and how to achieve healthy, young looking skin.
Skin Condition Statistics
Whilst there are many skin conditions, I wish to look at three common skin conditions. I will be focusing predominantly on acne, eczema and psoriasis.
It is estimated that acne affects an estimated 3.7 million people in the UK and 18.4 million in the USA.Eczema affects an estimated 3.3 million people in the UK and 15 million people in the USA. At the same time psoriasis affects an estimated 3.7 million in the UK and 18.4 million in the USA.
From the ages of 13-31, I myself suffered from severe acne and have also suffered from eczema from time to time too. I can speak from experience how debilitating skin problems can be.
Skin problems are known to cause:
- Psychological damage
- Physical scarring
- Itching
- Loss of self confidence
- Loss of self esteem
- Relationship challenges
- Embarrassment
- Non attendance of activities and social events
- Development of psoriatic arthritis in 10-15% of psoriasis sufferers
- Physical pain.
When I first visited my Doctor at the age 13 or 14 in the hope that he could help me reduce the acne, I was given a topical cream and was suggested a skin cleanser to use. After using these products, the acne became worse and my skin became very dry. After some time I went back to the Doctor and he decided to put me on anti-biotics. I asked my Doctor if my diet had any affect on my skin and he said categorically, “no, your diet has no affect on your skin”.
For a few weeks and months, the acne did improve after beginning the anti-biotics. However, after this time, the acne began to continually worsen. I would have some good weeks interspersed with very bad weeks. This continued until my early thirties. For most of this time all my Doctor would do was give me different ant-biotics in an attempt to help me, sadly for me with no success.
It is generally believed in the medical community that acne is caused by a bacterial infection which develops due to an over-secretion of oils from the sebaceous gland which is believed to be caused by androgen (male hormone) stimulation. There is some validity in this theory.
Eczema is believed to be an interaction of genetic and environmental factors. This is an interesting view as every living thing is an interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Some more open-minded Doctors also believe there is a link between certain foods and eczema.
The cause of psoriasis whilst believed to be an auto-immune disease, the actual cause in medicine tends to be classed as unknown.
Tune in next time to discover a new perspective on skin problems.