After a 9 month hiatus in my medical blogs, my writing juices have returned and I will try to publish at least 2 blogs per month pertinent to your health and cosmesis. I will refrain from commenting on politics and the upcoming political debacle called the election of a President and (ugh!) a Congress as both Mark Twain and Will Rogers have summed up all of my opinions more than 100 years ago. If we have learned nothing since then who am I to comment? By the way, I believe it was around 1850 when one senator took a cane to the head of another senator and put him out of commission for some 3 months or so. It might be good if all of the senators did that to each other, say once a week ... but there I go again.
So back to health. I want to start with what has been a fertile field for snake-oil salespeople, some of whom may have been doctors. The benefits of vitamins. Dermatologists have long known and used vitamins therapeutically in numerous diseases. I am talking about common diseases, although vitamin deficiency has caused many diseases with skin manifestations. Niacinamide, Vitamin B3, is the converted form of niacin without the degree of side effects such as flushing and horrible headaches. Niacinamide has been long described as having anti-inflammatory effects and is now know to be an antioxidant. For both reasons it can be effective in acne and occasionally in some cases of rosacea.
Vitamin C, long touted as an anti-oxidant and some 50+ years ago as an immune stimulant for treatment of the common cold, is considered both in the treatment of acne and easy bruisability in the elderly. I myself use it as my chief placebo for treatment of symptoms of the common cold and I find that it usually works for me within 12 hours.
Vitamin A is an antioxidant and is used topically to treat acne and sun damaged skin. The latter has proved invaluable as a treatment for patients who wish to prevent new skin cancers from arising. While it may be fashionable to see your dermatologist several times a year to remove precancerous and cancerous lesions, wouldn't it make more sense to prevent these lesions in the first place? But, I have saved the best for last! Altzheimers and dementia have been characterized as having deposits of protein in the brain, called amyloid, which either cause or are implicated in the interruption of nerve activity in the brain. Recent evidence indicates that Vitamin A may delay or prevent the deposits of amyloid in the brain.
Oh, and does your botox not work as well as it used to work? Try zinc gluconate, over-the-counter, 30 mg for 5 days before and 3 days after your next botox treatment. You may be surprised that your problem was not an "allergy" problem but a conversion problem enabling botox to do its thing.
I have personally not given you doses, with the exception of zinc gluconate, since these are much higher than daily recommended doses and should be monitored by your dermatologist. But, hopefully, I have given you food for thought.
Labels: altzheimers, botox, Vitamins
