• Homœopathy
• Psychotherapy
• Mahonia Aquifolium
• Sarsaparilla

Homœopathy & Psoriasis

Psoriasis is still considered to be a chronic and incurable skin condition and conventional medical treatment relies on a combination of controlled ultraviolet light exposure (sometimes after ingestion of sensitising chemicals called psoralens), lotions containing tar derivatives, and steroid creams to alleviate the condition. Oral steroids and even cytotoxic drugs are also sometimes used in severe cases.

But long-term use of these treatments can produce serious side effects ranging from advanced osteoporosis, high blood pressure ( from corticosteroids) to liver and kidney abnormalities (methotrexate) and hair loss, severe gingivitis necessitating tooth extraction and fetal malformation (retinoids).

It is therefore encouraging to find that German researchers have recently demonstrated that a new homœopathic topical ointment can effectively alleviate the symptoms of psoriasis in over eighty per cent of psoriasis sufferers.

Mahonia aquifolium ointment is listed as an homœopathic preparation in the German Homœopathic Pharmacopoeia. In an open, prospective multi centre trial in 89 dermatological practices throughout Germany, 433 patients with subacute and chronic forms of psoriasis were treated with Mahonia aquifolium ointment for up to a period of one year. 375 of the patients continued with the treatment for a year as planned or dropped out of the study early because they had experienced a complete clearance of their skin.

According to an overall evaluation by the participating dermatologists, symptoms improved or disappeared in 81.1% of the patients which was confirmed by the patients’ own subjective evaluation of the efficacy of the treatment.

The tolerability of Mahonia aquifolium ointment was evaluated as good or very good by 82.4% of patients. The treatment was also seen to produce a significant improvement in the quality of life, which was used as a subjective parameter throughout the study.

A detailed appraisal of the results found that while, at the start of the study, 30.1% of patients had significant or severe symptoms, after the first 12 weeks of treatment, only 5.6% of the patients fell within this category.

The researchers concluded that Mahonia aquifolium ointment is a well-tolerated topical preparation which offers a valuable alternative to conventional treatments and they went on to recommend that this new homœopathic ointment should find a place in the available treatments for psoriasis sufferers.

Gieler U.; Von der Weth A.; Heger M. Mahonia aquifolium - A new type of topical treatment for psoriasis. Journal of Dermatological Treatment (United Kingdom) , 1995, 6/1 (31-34)

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Psychotherapy & Psoriasis

It has been widely acknowledged for some time that psoriasis is a stress-related skin disorder, and it is therefore surprising that stress management and relaxation techniques (e.g. meditation, biofeedback, visualisation,etc) are not generally utilised in conventional treatment which largely focusses on topical applications. However, researchers in Denmark recently investigated the role of psychotherapies (including stress management, guided imagery and relaxation) in helping psoriasis sufferers.

Fifty one patients with psoriasis vulgaris were randomly assigned to either a treatment group involving seven individual psychotherapy sessions over a period of 12 weeks, or to a control group. The researchers took a number of measures to determine the changes in the patients’ conditions including Psoriasis Severity Index (PASI), Total Sign Score (TSS) and Laser Doppler Skin Blood Flow (LDSBF) of a selected area of affected skin. Scores were taken at the beginning of the study and then again at 4, 8 and 12 weeks.

The results revealed that improvements in three measures were found in the treatment group which were not evidenced in the control group. Whilst these improvements were generally considered to be modest, they were found to be statistically significant. The researchers concluded that their preliminary study suggests that psychological interventions have beneficial effects on psoriasis sufferers and should be considered as a valuable adjunct to existing treatments.

As a pilot study, this research paper confirms that psychotherapies may play an important role in the treatment of psoriasis and one cannot help wondering why dermatologists have ignored the psychological approach for so long. Hopefully, this study will inspire further investigations into specific treatment modalities so that they can assess which forms of psychotherapy may be more or less appropriate for psoriasis sufferers.

Zachariae R. Effects of psychologic intervention on psoriasis: a preliminary report. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 1996; 34: 6,1008-1015.

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Mahonia Aquifolium & Psoriasis

Following a report in the issue of ALTERNATIVES in health™ of the use of mahonia aquifolium ointment for psoriasis, a trawl of the international medical databases reveals more evidence of this remarkable herbal extract and more precisely, why and how it helps patients with psoriasis and other skin complaints.

What is Mahonia aquifolium?: - Mahonia aquifolium is widespread in the forests of North America, and is also known as the cultivated plant ‘Mahonia’. It is commonly found in gardens and parks growing as high as 1 - 2 metres with ever-green, leathery pinnate leaves, with a very shiny upper surface and a thorny toothed edge.

It’s yellow buds develop into blue , frost-covered berries which contain a dark-red juice and contain 2-5 shiny seeds. The berries are edible and are used to make wine and brandy. The bark of roots and stems contain alkaloids which have a number of therapeutic properties.

In North American medicine, Mahonia aquifolium has been traditionally used to treat fever, diarrhoea, dyspepsia, gout, rheumatic ailments, kidney and liver diseases, but most prominenetly for skin complaints. However, only in the last five years have scientists discovered how and why this herbal extract is so beneficial for psoriasis sufferers.

Mahonia aquifolium applied topically and taken internally as a remedy for psoriasis. The very first clinical study involving Mahonia aquifolium as a treatment for psoriasis occurred in 1992.

In a multi-centred, randomised, controlled study, 93 patients suffering from mild to moderately severe psoriasis received treatment by either topical application of Mahonia aquifolium ointment or internal ingestion of Mahonia aquifolium extract. At the end of the treatment, significant improvement had occurred in more than 70 per cent of patients in both groups.

Weisenauer M. Mahonia aquifolium - salbe bei Psoriasis vulgaris. Z Allg Med (1992) 16:23-31

Mahonia aquifolium - A new type of topical treatment for psoriasis: - The first study to attract media attention about Mahonia aquifolium was an open, prospective multicentre trial in 89 dermatological practices in Germany, where 433 patients with subacute and chronic forms of psoriasis were treated with Mahonia aquifolium ointment.

Of the 433 patients who entered into the study, 375 were treated over the planned period of 12 weeks, or dropped out of the study early because of total clearing of the skin, A modified PASI score fell significantly from 5.5 plus or minus 4.0 to 2.3 plus or minus 2.6.

According to an overall evaluation by dermatologists, symptoms improved or disappeared in 81.1% of patients; and according to a subjective evaluation by the patients, 79.7% improved or healed completely. The tolerability of Mahonia aquifolium ointment was evaluated as good or very good by 82.4% of patients.

There was a significant improvement in the quality of life, which was used as a subjective parameter throughout the study. While 30.1% of patients had significant or severe symptoms at the start, this was the case for only 5.6% after 12 weeks. M. aquifolium ointment is thus a well-tolerated preparation which should find a place in the treatment of psoriasis.

Mahonia aquifolium - A new type of topical treatment for psoriasis Gieler U.; Von der Weth A.; Heger M. Journal of Dermatological Treatment (United Kingdom) , 1995, 6/1 (31-34)

Mahonia aquifolium in patients with psoriasis vulgaris - an intraindividual study: - A randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial was established to investigate the efficacy and safety of Mahonia aquifolium bark extract in psoriasis patients. From autumn 1990 to Spring 1992, 82 patients, of all severity gradings, were recruited from 22 family physicians. The patients were instructed to apply two types of ointment (verum/placebo), one to the left side of their body and the other to the right side. After an average treatment period of four weeks, the treatment success was assessed on a three-level ordinal rating scale. The patients’ reported significant improvements. Adverse reactions (eg. itching, burning sensations) occurred in four of the patients. The researchers stated that "Mahonia seems to alleviate symptoms especially in moderately severe cases", and concluded that "Mahonia aquifolium bark extract as a potent and safe therapy of moderately severe cases of psoriasis vulgaris.

Mahonia aquifolium in patients with psoriasis vulgaris - an intraindividual studyM.Weisenauer and R Ludtke. Phytomedicine 3(3) 1996; 231-235

The antipsoriatic Mahonia aquifolium and its active constituents: - The extract of the bark of Mahonia aquifolium is an inhibitor of keratinocyte growth (abnormal skin cell growth) with an IC50 of 35 microM. Of its main alkaloids tested, berberine inhibited cell growth to the same extent as did the Mahonia extract, while the benzylisoquinoline alkaloids berbamine and oxyacanthine were more potent inhibitors by a factor of three.

The antipsoriatic Mahonia aquifolium and its active constituents; II. Antiproliferative activity against cell growth of human keratinocytes.Muller K.; Ziereis K.; Gawlik I. PLANTA MED. (Germany) , 1995, 61/1 (74-75)

Products of lipoxygenase metabolism are known to play a role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Six bisbenzylisoquinoline (BBIQ) alkaloids - oxyacanthine, armoline, baluchistine, berbamine, obamegine, aquifoline - isolated from Mahonia aquifolium, were tested for lipoxygenase inhibition.

Berbamine and oxyacanthine were the most potent lipoxygenase inhibitors, whereas aromoline and baluchistine exhibited only very low potencies. Oxyacanthine and berbamine were also among the most active compounds to inhibit lipid peroxidation. Between the results of lipoxygenase inhibition and the lipid peroxidation a linear correlation was found.

The data suggests that the mechanism of lipoxygenase inhibition by these alkaloids, inhibition of lipid peroxide substrate accumulation, either by direct reaction with peroxide or by scavenging or lipid-derived radicals, may play a role in alleviating the symptoms of psoriasis. Inhibition of lipoxygenase by these compounds may explain the therapeutic effect of Mahonia aquifolium extract in treatment of psoriasis.

Lipoxygenase inhibition and antioxidant properties of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids isolated from Mahonia aquifolium Bezakova L.; Misik V.; Malekova L.; Svajdlenka E.; Kostalova D. Dept. Cell/Mol. Biology of Drugs, Faculty of Pharmacy, J.A. Comenius University, Kalinciakova 8, 83232 Bratislava Slovak Republic Pharmazie (Germany) , 1996, 51/10 (758-761)

Antifungal screening of medicinal plants of British Columbian native peoples: - One hundred methanolic plant extracts were screened for antifungal activity against 9 fungal species. Eighty-one were found to have some antifungal activity and 30 extracts showed activity against 4 or more of the fungi assayed. The extracts with the greatest fungal inhibition were prepared from Mahonia aquifolium roots, Alnus rubra catkins, Artemisia ludoviciana aerial parts, Artemisia tridentata aerial parts, Geum macrophyllum roots, and Moneses uniflora aerial parts.

Antifungal screening of medicinal plants of British Columbian native peoples McCutcheon A.R.; Ellis S.M.; Hancock R.E.W.; Towers G.H.N. Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, 3515-6270 University Blvd, Vancouver, BC V6T 1ZA Canada J. ETHNOPHARMACOL. (Ireland) , 1994, 44/3 (157-169)

The antipsoriatic Mahonia aquifolium and its active constituents: -The effects of the extract of the bark of Mahonia aquifolium and its main constituents (berberine, berbamine, oxyacanthine) on 5-lipoxygenase, lipid peroxidation in phospholipid liposomes induced by 2,2'-azo-(bis-2-amidinopropane), deoxyribose degradation, and their reactivities against the free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl have been studied. The extract of Mahonia aquifolium inhibits 5-LO with an IC50 value of 50 microM, whereas no appreciable effects were observed by its constituent alkaloids.

Pro-oxidant effects by Mahonia aquifolium or its constituents can be excluded, since deoxyribose degradation was not influenced as determined by the release of malondialdehyde. The most prominent feature of Mahonia aquifolium is its efficacy in inhibition of lipid peroxidation (IC50 = 5 microM) which was not mediated by the alkaloids berberine, berbamine, and oxyacanthine.

The antipsoriatic Mahonia aquifolium and its active constituents; I. Pro- and antioxidant properties and inhibition of 5-lipoxygenase Muller K.; Ziereis K. PLANTA MED. (Germany) , 1994, 60/5 (421-424)

For suppliers of products containing Mahonia aquifolium, click here.

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Sarsaparilla & Psoriasis

Sarsaparilla, the root of the Smilax, a trailing vine or shrub native to South America, has been shown to be extremely beneficial for psoriasis sufferers. In one study, a group of 75 sufferers were given sarsaparilla tablets and 62% reported noticeable improvements (1).

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