SKIN DISEASES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 October 1938, Page 7

SKIN DISEASES

INFLUENCE OF DIET. EARLIER OPINIONS CHANGED. It has been said the skin specialist who is able to solve most of the problems presented to him is the one who knows the most about diet, writes Dr Irving Cutler, in the “Chicago Tribune.” Inasmuch as the products of digestion enter the blood via the alimentary tract, there is every reason to urge a more intensive study of the response of the covering of the body to the numerous elements of nutrition. The answer may not be as simple as merely cautioning the patient against eating lobster or strawberries. In fact, single items, if offenders, are usually avoided by the individual himself as the result of experience. Sometimes with infants one food annoyer may be detected, for example, wheat. It is the hidden toxin that must be sought out, identified, and eliminated. Physicians have long since ceased to regard eczema as a skin malady. It is now looked upon as something which comes from within —an irritant peculiar to the individual. Inasmuch as the epidermis is fed by the circulation, it is easy to understand how it may exhibit resentment—with an eruptionshould the blood supply be unsuitable. Recent reports indicate that the mineral balance of the system plays an important role in eczema. For example the use of liberal quantities of common salt (sodium chloride) will aggravate the lesions. Not only will the itching become more bothersome, but in some instances almost intolerable. This has been shown to be due to the sodium and not the chloride fraction of the substance. Cutting down on this condiment may bring about marked amelioration. Again, potassium and calcium are antagonistic. If there is more potassium and less calcium in the food the blemishes tend to multiply. Reserve this ratio —more calcium and less potassium —and they improve. The amount of water in the tissues also must receive consideration. It has been foun.d that the person with eczema holds more fluid in the skin than under normal conditions. Here, too( using less salt and more protein will withdraw water. This explains the satisfactory progress of those to whom calcium lactate, ammonium chloride, and magnesium chloride are administered. It goes without saying that one of these chemicals can be relied on to produce the.desired effect if liquids are taken to excess. Satisfy thirst, but no more.

The effectiveness of this programme will be enhanced substantially if fats and carbohydrates are employed sparingly and emphasis is placed upon lean meat once daily, liver three time a week, and an abundance of green vegetables and fruits. Milk may be used as a valuable source of both calcium and protein.

Everyone is agreed that in the presence of hives the meals must be investigated, and here the food dairy furnishes a simple plan of spotting the cuuprit. Everything ingested is record-* ed, as well as the exact time of the appearance of the wheals. More often than not, within a few weeks, some relationship will be noted between a particular dish and the onset of trouble. In severe cases it may be necessary to place the patient upon a semi-starva-tion diet, wherein milk constitutes the entire menu. Other articles are then added one at a time, possibly at twoday intervals, until the flowering of the eruption points to the guilty edible. Those of us who “boil” frequently, who are subject to repeated attacks of these disturbing infections, may learn much from the susceptibility of diabetics to these lesions. With these sufferers the resistance of the skin to infection is reduced. There is more sugar in the blood than normal, and a higher concentration in the cuticle. Patients whose meals are composed largely of starches and sugars need not wonder should they become afflicted with the illness of Job. We cannot escape the fact that over-indulgence in carbohydrates predisposes to one crop after another. The answer is to omit sugar entirely from breakfast dishes, tea, and coffee, and to avoid starchy foods.