Psoriasis: What can alternative medicine do?

Many alternative treatments have long been proposed in the management of psoriasis. This is mainly vitamins, trace elements, plant products, climatotherapy, acupuncture or psychotherapeutic approaches.

Researchers have studied their effectiveness, based on work published in the medical literature. Their results, recently published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, were analyzed by the Journal International Medicine (JIM).

Regarding the treatment administered orally, it is apparent that vitamin B - especially B12 - selenium, aloe vera or avocado oil have little effect in psoriasis.

Studies that have attempted to assess the efficiency do not show significant improvement. And treatment by sulphate of zinc or selenium did not appear to have any visible effect on the development of psoriasis.

On the other hand, many studies have been devoted to climatotherapy and balneotherapy, especially in the Dead Sea or in areas with lots of sunshine.

The data from some studies showed significant improvement in patients treated with hydrotherapy and UV. Acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine have been studied for several times. No conclusive result.

Finally, the effectiveness of hypnosis is not demonstrated, it is the same for meditation or relaxation techniques used in phototherapy.

All the methods described do not show proven effectiveness in the treatment of psoriasis. Some treatments such as fish oils, climatotherapy and techniques of psychotherapy seem to still have interest, say the authors.

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