Sea buckthorn for Psoriasis?

Can Sea Buckthorn Help with Psoriasis

Psoriasis is one of the most common skin conditions, chronically plaguing 125 million people worldwide, according to the National Psoriasis Foundation. When left untreated, this skin disorder can affect your quality of life.  But there may be some hope with sea buckthorn. The National Center for Biotechnology Information published a study on psoriasis. The study set out to determine if the benefits of sea buckthorn have any effect on psoriasis. Read on to learn more.

millions of people are affected by psoriasis

What is Psoriasis

To those who don’t know any better, they may think that psoriasis is nothing more than a skin condition that leaves unwanted lesions. But it’s far more than that. Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease. It’s known as the most prevalent autoimmune conditions in the world. Although 125 million people suffer from this disease, it’s prevalence is increasing. The disease presents as round red, inflamed silvery or white scales and plaques. These plaques may greatly impact a patient’s quality of life. Sometimes these scaley patches will crack and bleed.

For those who suffer from psoriasis, their skin cell production is accelerated. With normal skin cell production, skin cells grow deep within the skin. These skin cells rise to the surface at a slow rate. The life cycle of a skin cell in about one month. For people who have psoriasis, the skin production process can occur in just a matter of days. Because of this acceleration, skin cells don’t have enough time to fall off. This rapid overproduction leads to skin cell buildup.  Psoriasis can develop anywhere on the body. But, it’s most common on and around the joints like the elbows and knees.

Different types of Psoriasis

There are five different types of psoriasis. Plaque psoriasis is the most common. In fact, 80 percent of psoriasis sufferers have plaque psoriasis. Guttate psoriasis is most common in children. It’s often found to affect their torsos, arms and legs.  Pustular psoriasis is most common in adults and causes pus-filled blisters. Inverse psoriasis, this type is often found around and near the genitals, groin area and breasts. Last, there’s erythrodermic psoriasis. This form is very severe and can cause the skin to sloth off in sheets. This type is rare but can be life-threatening.

five types pf psoriasis

Psoriasis is often treated with conventional strategies like immunosuppressive therapy and biological agents. These therapies have been proven to be quite effective. Yet, many psoriasis sufferers are also plagued by a high amount of long term unwanted side effects. These unfortunate effects impact the length patients stay on their treatment plans. These adverse effects also make patients less compliant with doctors orders and more prone to self-medication.

The Study

About 30-40 percent of psoriasis patients use or have used alternative remedies in combination with conventional psoriasis therapy. For the study, sea buckthorn oil was extracted from the fruit’s berry. Ten participants over the age of 18 were chosen. Each participant had psoriasis lesions on both the right and left sides of their bodies. But they were not currently under any treatment plan for their psoriasis. Each patient received two marked containers. One container was marked right. The other container was marked left. The right container held sea buckthorn extract. The left container held a placebo. But, the ingredients of the containers were unknown to the participants. Each patient was then instructed to apply the contents of the right container to the right side of their body where they had psoriasis twice daily. The left container’s contents were to be applied to the left side of their bodies where psoriasis was prevalent twice daily. At week four and eight of the studies, participants were assessed. All 10 participants completed the entire ten-week trial.

sea buckthorn for psoriasis

Week 4 Sea buckthorn Results

Once participants came in for reassessment at four weeks, major changes were reported. Significant and even superior results were observed on the right side of the body where the sea buckthorn extract was used. The left side of the body, where the placebo was applied showed no improvement. But, their condition did not worsen either.  

Week 8 Sea buckthorn Results

After week eight, there was a great improvement for the parts of the body that sea buckthorn was applied.  For the placebo side, psoriasis had shown dramatic worsening.

Sea buckthorn as a Whole

The results of the study show that using sea buckthorn extract correlates with improvement in psoriasis. Overall other sea buckthorn studies have described beneficial effects in wound healing, eczema, acne, and radiation protection. Sea buckthorn has also been proven to provide anti-ulcer, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial benefits.

 

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