The Off Topic Thread...

ULstudent wrote: »

Thanks for that temple - deffo gonna pick myself up a copy. Il pop over to amazon now.

Check some other sites too, I ordered a book the other day which was a good bit cheaper than on amazon.

I got it on www.bookdepository.com

loads of other sites listed in this thread
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055853735

also if you order over £25 worth on amazon delivery is free.

The book I ordered was Healing Psoriasis: The Natural Alternative
http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Psoriasis-Alternative-John-Pagano/dp/0962884707

It is actually more a diet book with similar topics to the one Temple mentioned. Some reckon it is cause by leaky gut syndrome and that you should change to an alkaline diet. I have read lists of alkaline & acidic foods and my diet is very high in acidic causing ones. Apple cider vinegar is meant to cause your body to be alkaline. I have been drinking it daily and have also gotten a UVB light and it has dramatically improved my skin. The UVB causes the body to produce vitamin D

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

It has been suggested by some vitamin D researchers, for example, that approximately 5-30 minutes of sun exposure between 10 AM and 3 PM at least twice a week to the face, arms, legs, or back without sunscreen usually lead to sufficient vitamin D synthesis and that the moderate use of commercial tanning beds that emit 2%-6% UVB radiation also is effective.[17][11] Individuals with limited sun exposure need to include good sources of vitamin D in their diet or take a supplement.

I don't think they are sure of all the mechanisms taking place, I think UVB slows cell growth too. What is disturbing is that on some forums you hear stories of peoples dermatologists advising against getting UVB lamps, apparently only since they would lose business/patients. I have read if you already used steroid creams you may have to use the UVB a lot more, luckily I have only used mild ones a few times.

I think you need a prescription to buy UVB lights in some places, I think you might in the US, and some prices being charged are ridiculous.

Sapsorrow wrote: »

I think if it was stickied other people would use it more for questions too rather than starting crappy little threads that only ever get two or three replies anyway.

Stickied, and got rid of my own crappy title!

ULstudent wrote: »

I just finished reading Vitamin the sunshine vitamin by Zoltan Rona and boy it makes such a convincing arguement that if the one supplement we should all be taking is Vit D and get blood levels checked regularly.

My psoriasis is now 95% gone due to my UVB light, my mate who also has it saw me for the first time in about 2 months and was shocked at the result. In the book I was reading "healing psoriasis" he mentioned UVB but really downplays it, he was saying peoples skin gets worse in winter and put it down to humidity, but I would say sunlight is by far the bigger factor.

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

It's almost making sunbeds sound like an attractive option :eek: If only I could find a place with bulbs that have a similar UVA/UVB ratio as sunlight (it's hypothesised that the imbalance between UVA and B that has the skin-cancer inducing effect.)

I read on a psoriasis forum that one guy just put UVB bulbs in a regular sunbed. Some of the prices are ridiculous for UVB lights. I made my own, the bulb was €50, while the exact same bulb in other units with fancy timers etc can be over $800! I read that they have UVB bulbs in some old folks homes to increase bone strength. These are just lights on in recreational rooms, ambient light not like getting therapy sessions.

I found studies saying there was no evidence of an increase in cancers with the UVB. It could even be that the vitamin D production protects against the cancer.

The most remarkable thing I have read about recently is Kaatsu training, AKA occlusion training. Basically they put bands on peoples legs to restrict the bloodflow to some degree, then you walk for 20mins and take them off. It increases growth hormones and results in hypertrophy and strength. I am starting to do it myself and will report back any results. I am doing weight training, you only have to lift 20-50% of your maximum ability, you use bands on your arms for arm/chest work. I am also trying to lose fat and it may help.

http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ijktr/2/1/5/_pdf

KAATSU training is a novel method for muscle
training, originally developed by Sato (2005). Under
the conditions of restricted muscle blood flow, even
short-term, low-intensity exercise can induce muscle
strength, and hypertrophy (Takarada et al, 2000b;
Takarada et al., 2002; Takarada & Ishii, 2002; Yasuda
et al., 2004; Abe et al., 2005a, b). In addition,
KAATSU training increases the amount of circulating
growth hormone (GH) (Takarada et al., 2000a;
Takano et al., 2005a,b; Sato et al., 2005), which may
enhance lipolysis and bone formation, resulting in a
reduction of obesity and bone diseases as well as
improving strength and inducing hypertrophy of
muscle (Beekley et al., 2005). Also, GH stimulates the
liver to secrete insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)
(Abe et al., 2005a), which may improve the function
of endothelium and insulin sensitivity. Thus, until
now, KAATSU training has been widely used in
healthy subjects and athletes, and has also been
applied to various kinds of conditions such as
orthopedic diseases, obesity and diabetes.

Plenty more studies here
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=kaatsu&hl=en&as_sdt=2000