Acne Rosacea: Re: [rosacea] Relief of symptoms

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Re: [rosacea] Relief of symptoms - hydrogen peroxide

Ken wrote: "I'm cured so there is nothing else I can do to prove that it
works or not." & "The itching, burning, flaking and redness all gone. Now
about 3 weeks later I think some of the redness might be reappearing but
none of the other stuff."

Although it's great to hear anyone say, "I'm cured!", there is one big
problem with announcing that even "very mild" rosacea has been cured after
just three weeks.

Rosacea is a disease characterised by periods of remission and improvement.
It can, and generally will, get better and get worse again every so many
months, and this can happen irrespective of the treatments being used.

It is human nature to credit any change to whatever remedy is being used at
the time, even though this might be entirely coincidental. That's why
science looks to double-blind placebo testing in preference to anecdotal
findings, and why doctors talk not of cures but of rosacea being "in
remission" once the symptoms have been absent for a number of months or
years.

Hydrogen peroxide can damage skin after prolonged contact. If used in a very
weak solution, it shouldn't do much harm to ordinary skin, but rosacean skin
is particularly sensitive, so anyone thinking of following suit might like
to do their homework first.

There is plenty of information about hydrogen peroxide available on the net
because it is a popular quack remedy, hence the warnings issued by all of
the usual sites, including the American Cancer Society, Quackwatch, Snopes,
and news reports. I'll just copy and paste in a little bit from the
Wikipedia entry on the substance, which has quite a few links at the end of
the article.

Obviously, we all have the right to try any remedy we like, but there's a
lot to be said for considering information both for and against treatments,
especially when rosacea is such a tricky condition.

Kind regards,

Aurelia

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_peroxide

Therapeutic use

Hydrogen peroxide has been used as an antiseptic and anti-bacterial agent
for many years. While its use has decreased in recent years due to the
popularity of better-smelling and more readily-available over the counter
products, it is still used by many hospitals, doctors and dentists in
sterilising, cleaning and treating everything from floors to Root canal
procedures.

Recently, alternative medical practitioners have advocated administering
doses of hydrogen peroxide intravenously in extremely low (less than one
percent) concentrations for hydrogen peroxide therapy - a controversial
alternative medical treatment for cancer. However, according to the American
Cancer Society, "there is no scientific evidence that hydrogen peroxide is a
safe, effective or useful cancer treatment." They advise cancer patients to
"remain in the care of qualified doctors who use proven methods of treatment
and approved clinical trials of promising new treatments." Internal use of
hydrogen peroxide has a history of causing fatal blood disorders, and its
recent use as a therapeutic treatment has been linked to several deaths.

Hydrogen peroxide is GRAS (Generally Recognised As Safe) as an antimicrobial
agent, an oxidizing agent and more by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Hydrogen peroxide can also be used as a toothpaste when mixed with correct
quantities of baking soda and salt. Like benzoyl peroxide, hydrogen peroxide
is also sometimes used in the treatment of acne.

Hydrogen peroxide is also used as an emetic in veterinary practice. [meaning
an agent to cause vomiting]