I have had a few letters recently querying the side
effects of Roaccutane or Accutane for skin problems and as much as I have in
the past known that it is not ideal to use and can have some unpleasant side
effects, I did not realise that there was a huge groundswell of people who have
formed associations to help people who have been on this drug or are thinking
of it. Just type the name of the drug and see how many sites are dedicated to
this. In reading the information some of the new side effects that are showing
up now that the drug has been available for more than 2 years (usually the time
they test new drugs for!) and now that millions of people have been on it, I
was rather shocked to find that there is a high incidence of suicide among
users of the drug when compared to other skin medication. www.accutaneaction.com
There
are more than 500,000 different prescription medications sold via pharmacists
in the U.S. and other countries. The FDA indicate that Accutane/Roaccutane is
number 4 on the FDA top ten list of medications attracting serious adverse
reaction reports and is number 5 on the FDA top ten list of medications
attracting severe psychiatric adverse reaction reports.
Accutane/Roaccutane
has been prescribed to about 2 million people in the US from 1982 to date. The
number of people prescribed the other medications in the top ten list is
estimated at several billion (ie several thousand million people). We believe
that, on a per capita basis (ie when ADR's are related to the number of people
prescribed), Accutane/Roaccutane is number one, which indicates that Accutane/Roaccutane
has attracted the highest number of - general side effects - the highest
number of psychiatric side effects - the highest number of cases of suicide,
suicide attempt and suicide ideation compared to any of the other 500,000
prescription medications
List of Side Effects (as appear on packet insert)
Dryness
of skin (with scaling, thinning, erythema, pruritus), epidernal fragility
(trauma may cause blistering), rarely acne fulminans, facial hyperpigmentation,
dryness of nasal mucosa (with mild epistaxis), of pharyngeal mucosa (with
hoarseness), of conjunctiva (sometimes conjunctivitis), decreased tolerance to
contact lenses and rarely keratitis, visual disturbances (papilloedema, optic
neuritis, corneal opacities, cataracts, decreased night vision, photophobia,
blurred vision) - expert referral and consider withdrawal; hair thinning
(reversible on withdrawal) or (rarely) hirsutism; nausea, headache, malaise,
drowsiness, sweating, benign intracranial hypertension (avoid concomitant
tetracyclines); myalgia and arthralgia; raised serum creatinine concentrations
reported; raised liver anzymes (rarely jaundice and hepatitis); raised plasma
triglycerides and cholesterol (risk of pancreatitis if triglycerides above 8
g/litre); allergic, vasculitis and granulomatous lesions reported, other
side-effects reported include hearing deficiency, mood changes, convulsions,
menstrual irregularities, hyperuricaemia, inflammatory bowel disease,
paronychia and Gram-positive infections, bone changes.
Now when it comes to skin, as much as you may have
been led to believe that diet does not affect your skin, it actually plays the
major role. Yes hormones do control your skin function, but everything you eat
either has a positive or a negative effect on the hormones and this in turn
WILL affect the skin.
For decades people have been saying chocolate effects
their skin, yet the specialist have been saying this is nonsense and then of
course the chocolate companies regularly issue press releases telling us why
chocolate is good for you, which of course we all want to hear. So does
chocolate ‘make’ pimples? Well basically refined sugar, caffeine and dairy
products all upset the endocrine (hormonal) system and this is the system that
controls skin function and health. As chocolate contains all of these it can in
a round about way, very well be the cause of skin problems as can alcohol,
heated fats, artificial sweeteners, refined carbohydrates and sugar, lack of
exercise and sunlight and in fact any drug that affects the hormonal system in
any way.
The traditional approach to skin problems is to treat
the symptom, not the cause. The cause is an unbalanced, unhappy hormonal system
and this system is very sensitive and needs the right diet and lifestyle. Lack
of essential fatty acids for example can throw your endocrine system to such an
extent that you could be sterile never mind have a skin problem! The best
sources of essential fatty acids are raw nuts and seeds, cold pressed oils
(here flax oil is exceptional), olives, avocado, sweet corn on the cob and dark
green leafy vegetables. Lack of vital minerals and vitamins such as
beta-carotene and B complex vitamins especially the antioxidant group can
severely affect your skin, and the best sources are from fresh raw fruit and
vegetables, at least 5-11 portions daily. One of the best sources of very
powerful antioxidants and B complex are dark green leafy vegetables. These
amazing plants are loaded with SOD (Superoxide Dismutase), chlorophyll and a
vitamin e succinate that has a dramatic effect on the health and condition of
the skin. I have personally seen dramatic changes in skin due to the daily
inclusion of dark green leafy veg.
The most nutritious of all these plants is the barley
leaf and the most nutritious way to take this in is in the form of juice. One
of the many reasons I take Barleylife is because it is in my opinion the most
nutritious of the barley juice powders available making it the most nutritious
dark green leafy veg.
This SOD or Superoxide Dismutase that has been isolated in barley juice is an
extremely powerful ‘anti-aging’ antioxidant. It converts a harmful substance
called Superoxide, into water and oxygen, which is completely harmless, thereby
preventing damage to the skin.
Research completed at
George Washington University found substances that protect blood vessels from
damage, in the juice of the barley plant. In 1994, at the same University, a
Vitamin E succinate was identified. This was shown to improve or modulate Prolactin and growth hormone. Prolactin is vital to breast
feeding moms, so breast feeding Moms will benefit from taking Barley Greens. Growth hormone will benefit children
and those that are overweight.
Growth hormone also slows down the aging
process
One of the most active
ingredients in Barleylife is the very high level of chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll bears a
very close resemblance to hemoglobin. Dr Fisher, Nobel Prize winner used
chlorophyll to cure anemia. Since
then Chlorophyll has been used to successfully treat peritonitis, brain ulcers, pyorrhea and skin disorders Chlorophyll
increases the function of the heart, the lungs, the intestines the uterus and
skin.
Chlorophyll has been studied for its
potential
* in stimulating tissue growth,
* in stimulating red blood cells in connection with
oxygen supply, and
* in reducing absorption of dietary carcinogens.
Chlorophyll also
* removes carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide
and has
* anti-inflammatory properties,
* antioxidant properties, and
* wound-healing properties.
All of these properties would have a
profound effect on the ability of the body to heal itself
The amount of chlorophyll in a food is indicated by how green that food is.
Barlelife is exceptionally green in fact many people are convinced that
‘something’ must have been added to make it that green! Nothing is added to
make the colour greener, darker or richer, but the chlorophyll in Barleylife is
higher than most other green juices and foods at a level of 855mg per 100ml
Some of the isolated very powerful enzymes and antioxidants found in Barleylife are listed below. The first column is in 100g and the second in 5g For a fuller list of nutrients check out “The only Barley juice I recommend” on www.mary-anns.com
Enzymes
|
||
|
Superoxide Dismutase
(SOD) |
1,060 U/g |
53 U |
|
Peroxidase/Catalase |
227 U/g |
11.35 U |
|
Alpha Mannosidase |
0.501 U/g |
0.02505 U |
|
Beta Glucosidase |
0.89 U/g |
0.0445 U |
|
Acid Phosphatase |
107 U/g |
0.5 U |
|
Polyphenol Oxidase |
330 U/g |
16.5 U |
|
|
||
|
Antioxidant Potential Activity† |
123† |
NA |
|
|
||
Antioxidants
|
||
|
Lutonarin (7-O-GIO) |
4.62 mg |
0.231 mg |
|
Saponarin (7-O-GIV) |
1.26 mg |
0.063 mg |
|
Chlorophyll |
855 mg |
42.75 mg |