Acne: CAM Therapies for Specific Conditions

• In a 1995 RCT, researchers evaluated Ayurvedic formulations (which are herbal preparations from India's traditional system of natural medicine) used to treat acne vulgaris, which is a type of acne manifesting in blackheads, whiteheads, and inflammation, and not the more severe cystic form. Eighty-two patients were randomized into five groups. Four of the groups received different Ayurvedic preparations orally for six weeks, while one group received a placebo. One of the preparations, Sunder Bati, produced a significant reduction in acne lesions.
  
  
• A 1998 study of 280 people with acne vulgaris evaluated the traditional Ayurvedic formula shanka bhasma. Patients were assigned to groups based on dosha constitutions. At the end of the four-week study, the vata and pitta patients showed significant improvement, but the kapha patients did not. This study indicates that individualized treatment based on doshas may be a meaningful approach.

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From THE BEST ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE: WHAT WORKS? WHAT DOES NOT? by Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier.
Copyright © 2000 by Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier, Inc.
Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, New York.

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Unless otherwise indicated, Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier. All Rights Reserved.
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