What Really Works: The Insider’s Guide to Complementary Health. Susan Clark

is a natural phenomenon and is what happens when, for example, you hit a tuning fork that has been pre-tuned to resonate at a particular frequency. It will only resonate at this frequency, regardless of how hard you hit it. What you will also notice is that anything else in the room which resonates naturally at the same frequency as the fork will also start vibrating. To the human ear, this will sound like a humming noise.

      The idea, in health, is to think of normal resonance as being like a melody which illness or an infection shifts to a different key. When, for example, you have a sore throat you not only have the physical pain and symptoms, you are also conscious that you have a sore throat and, therefore, have become aware that you are ill. So, even with a seemingly trivial complaint, both the mind and the body are affected. What this means is that instead of just one particular resonance being out of kilter, the whole body has been disturbed. It then follows, if you accept this thinking, that if you are ill you will need a treatment (or, to follow the musical analogy, a series of tuning forks) which by resonating with your sick state will restore your original harmony.

      Good health is maintained by this restored, natural vibration; when we lose it, through stress or shock, we are then vulnerable again to illness. Homoeopathy, it is suggested, mimics what actually happens in the body where vital organs, such as the beating heart, act as the tuning forks which impart that natural vibration or frequency to the body fluids. ‘What we believe is that the signal or what we call the memory effect of resonance is recorded or held in the fluid of the body.’ explains Tony Pinkus, the UK’s leading homoeopathic pharmacist and director of Ainsworths, which is carrying out the new research. ‘The implication is that the body is a natural homeopathic machine and this could very well be the long-awaited explanation of how homoeopathy actually works.’

       Acne

      Adult acne is not only a fact of life, it is on the increase. There are now 12 different types of acne affecting some 3% of the UK population. Contrary to popular belief, it is not caused by junk diets or poor hygiene but by a hormonal imbalance, the skin’s reaction to this upset and a bacterium called Propionibacterium acne, which has become increasingly resistant to the antibiotics and other creams that are the conventional treatment route.

      The dilemma for all acne sufferers is whether to go ahead and take the prescription drugs which, in many cases, can bring a dramatic improvement to the condition of their skin in the short term, or put up with the psychological trauma of bad skin while tackling the problem from the inside out. Roaccutane, for example, will indeed suppress your acne, but, for many, at a price.

      You have probably read newspaper reports linking Roaccutance with depression and suicide in younger users. It works by shutting down oil production in the sebaceous glands, but it’s side-effects can include dry, cracked lips, nose bleeds, eye irritation, muscular aches and pains, hair loss, nail brittleness, high blood sugar levels and increased sensitivity of the skin to light. Roaccutane may also alter liver function and harm the unborn foetus if given to a pregnant woman.

      If you are given antibiotics and you take them for a prolonged period of time, there is a risk you will, inadvertently, exacerbate the very condition you are taking them to treat. This is because antibiotics can also damage the lining of the gut. In one study, for example, tests showed 50% of those with a severe acne problem also had higher levels of toxins in their bloodstream. What this suggests is what the holistic skin specialists have been arguing for some time – that treating acne has to start from the inside. To replenish the microflora wiped out by the prolonged use of antibiotics, for example, take a probiotic supplement and eat bananas, which act as natural probiotics.

      Teenage boys suffer spots and acne because of a surge in the male hormone, testosterone. In adults of both sexes, the same condition has been linked to the abnormally high levels of an enzyme called 5-alpha-reductase. Enzymes are the catalysts which trigger the body’s chemical reactions. What this one does, unhelpfully, is convert testosterone to a more potent form called dihydrotestosterone, and it is this substance, which is now believed to play the key role in causing the condition.

      As well as a hormonal imbalance, researchers have also identified an inability among sufferers to digest saturated fats. This means that eliminating dairy products and all animal fats, especially red meats, should help manage the symptoms. Both tofu and soya are phytoestrogens – substances which can help naturally rebalance the hormones in both sexes – and so eating these foods at least three times a week can help. Sufferers should also avoid yeast and white sugar. Women who develop acne-like outbreaks in their later 20s and 30s may also be suffering from a hidden condition called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (see page 203).

      A calcium-rich diet has been found to help reduce the severity of an acne infection. While the obvious source is milk, if the lining of the gut is damaged, acne sufferers are likely to be intolerant to and unable to digest lactose (the sugar in milk), making green leafy vegetables, broccoli, tofu and shellfish better natural sources.

      Vitamin A helps maintain all the surfaces of the body, inside and out. Good dietary sources include all yellow fruits and vegetables, unpolluted fish oils, and, of course, carrots. Zinc, which helps boost the immune system and which enhances the absorption of vitamin A, is lost in food processing or simply missing from non-organic food harvested from nutrient-stripped soil. Excessive sweating also depletes the body’s zinc resources, causing the loss of up to 3mg a day. Foods that are rich in this mineral include shellfish, pecans, turkey and wheatgerm, so include plenty of these in your diet.

      Foods for Acne

      Eat calcium-rich green leafy vegetables and organic dairy products unless you are intolerant. Include broccoli, tofu and shellfish in your diet. Add rich sources of zinc, including wheat germ, peanuts, pecans, turkey and, if you’re feeling flush, oysters. Eat bananas to help repopulate the gut with good bacteria that help flush out toxins. Avoid tea, coffee, alcohol and sugar.

      Supplements for Acne

      You should be drinking plenty of water – up to eight glasses a day – to flush out toxins. You will also benefit from taking B vitamins, MSM (organic sulphur, or Methyl Sulphonyl Methane), flax seed oil and zinc, all of which are known to nurture the skin.

      Make-up that Will Not Make it Worse

      The Canadian-born skin psychologist, Helen Sher, has helped thousands of sufferers worldwide with her skincare system which relies on water to rehydrate and soothe the skin. The Sher Skincare system is not cheap and will not work for everyone, but I’ve seen the before and after results with enough sufferers, young and old, to suggest you investigate it. (See Resources for full details).

      Light Therapy

      A UK-led study of some 10,000 sufferers is reporting excellent results using light therapy, with over 70% of those participating reporting significant improvement in their condition. The doctor pioneering this treatment, Dr Tony Chu, is based at the Hammersmith Hospital in London, England. He has dedicated his career to finding a drug-free and chemical-free treatment for acne. He has been widely quoted as saying his findings show light therapy is the most significant advance in the treatment of acne for two decades.

      The treatment relies on the use of a device called the DermaLux – a kind of light box, which the user sits in front of for 15 minutes a day. The theory is that the bacteria which can cause acne can be killed by the right mix of blue and red light. Patients in the recent trials of this device also applied benzoyl peroxide cream, twice a day.

       Allergy

       Everything under the sun – including the sun – is a potential allergen. What is amazing is that we do not have more, not less, allergies.

      Jonathan Brostoff, Professor of Allergy and Environmental Health,

      University College London Medical School

      It may have been around since 1966, but Enzyme Potentiated Desensitisation (EPD) remains a closely guarded secret outside allergy circles. Similar, in principle at least, to homeopathy, EPD works with the idea of treating like with like. Minute doses of allergens are given together with an enzyme called beta glucuronidase, which works in the body to increase and modify the effects of the allergen.