Tag Archives: ayurveda

The Functional Medicine and Gut Health approach to managing chronic conditions including eczema

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I have written briefly about Functional Medicine earlier in my posts. I have also mentioned how I have gradually moved towards it over the past couple of years through my research to find a less harmful way of managing my daughter’s extremely severe eczema. I  have shown her to a Functional Medicine practitioner in London this past July and got some tests done to determine her Gut Health. The tests show that she indeed has a “leaky gut” or “intestinal permeability” issue. But before I get to that, in this post I would like to cover Functional Medicine and Gut Health in much more details and why we should all know more about it. (Of course just to be clear, I write as a parent who is trying out a Functional Medicine approach for her child and not as an expert or health professional).

A BESPOKE medical approach

We are all used to wearing clothes which fit us well and pay a premium if we need to for clothes which are customized for our body shape and size. But when it comes to health, we are used to an approach which is just the opposite. It is a “one size fits all” approach!

This has worked well in the past when we were dealing with infectious diseases like chicken pox, measles, cholera, small pox and others which have been brought under control which much-needed antibiotics and antifungal medicines. But a lot of the medical issues that we are facing today are due to not only our genetic predisposition, environment but also our lifestyle choices (food habits, diet and exercise) and stress. Hence, most of the times we do not realise that a lot of our chronic medical problems (autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, coeliac disease, Grave’ disease and others like migraines, digestion issues, allergies, psoriasis etc) cannot be wished away by just popping a pill.

We will need to look beyond pills to deal with most chronic conditions. Luckily for us, there is an entire stream of medicine which is geared to do just that.

What is Functional Medicine?

Functional Medicine is an approach which is different from the conventional way that we use to deal with any kind of illness currently. Conventional medicine is of course necessary for dealing with acute illnesses which require immediate intervention either through medication or through surgery. So one needs to be very clear whether the health issue is an acute illness or a chronic one. Also, while conventional medicine focuses on symptom relief, Functional Medicine addresses the root cause of a problem. It has a patient centric approach that tries to find the root cause of any illness or condition by looking at each patient differently based on his/her lifestyle choices, food and dietary habit, genetic and environmental factors and other psychological factors like stress which has a tremendous bearing on a person’s well-being.

Functional Medicine is also science based and combines conventional medicine with a holistic approach by adding diet, supplements and stress management techniques etc which are not usually used in conventional medicine treatments. What is also important that it uses scientific methods like laboratory testing and latest diagnostic techniques to find out the root cause of any illness. Functional Medicine thus provides tools for the patient and the practitioner to customise and design a health management programme for each individual which is geared up to create health and not just to banish illness.

Ayurveda- a holistic approach towards diseases

Here I would like to mention briefly about our traditional treatment philosophy which is also patient centric and holistic in its approach towards diseases. In India, we have a tradition of healthcare called Ayurveda which translated in English literally means the “science of Life”. It focuses on how to prevent illness and how to address the root cause if it happens and is one of the earliest holistic treatments known to man. In that sense Ayurveda has a lot in common with Functional Medicine. But with the progress of Western medicine it has taken a kind of backseat in India over the years.

(I have written about our experience with Ayurveda in my earlier post- https://eczema-anindianperspective.com/2014/08/25/our-tryst-with-ayurveda-and-our-first-eczema-support-group-meeting-in-mumbai/).

Ayurvedic treatments are based on the principles of wholeness and balance. That is why the mind, body, spirit, emotional balance of a person as well as diet, lifestyle, stress is considered to be as important for treatment if not more than the actual medicine. It emphasises on treating the cause and not just the symptoms and hence looks to preserve a person’s well being and not just treat him. Unfortunately, due to various reasons (which is beyond the scope of this blog) ayurveda has come to relegated as an “alternative” medicine. This was all the more so due to a revolution in the history of medicine brought about by the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century which has saved countless lives. But today we face a very different challenge which may need to be tackled quite differently.

Chronic illness- a growing phenomenon

As we all know the use of antibiotics has helped saved millions of lives since its discovery and has even helped eradicate diseases like smallpox etc. This new era of medicine honed its skills in targeting a particular agent which caused an infectious disease and then evolved to treat a particular symptom caused by a disease. This is the current approach of medicine towards all illnesses. But while acute medical issues have been dealt with very well by conventional medicine, chronic and lifestyle related issues are not faring as well. And the incidence of chronic illnesses are increasing exponentially led by the USA and followed by other countries all around the world.

(Sources: http://www.who.int/dg/speeches/2011/global_forum_ncd_20110427/en/

http://www.cgdev.org/doc/expert%20pages/nugent/Nugent_Annals_article.pdf)

A chronic illness also does not go away on its own, indeed grows worse over time and usually has multiple causes. The medications usually only treat the symptoms which make recurring episodes a regular feature. This means leading a life visiting doctors, popping pills and putting up with many symptoms. This is even more problematic since ironically we are living longer lives than our previous generations.

Also a myth that has been associated with chronic diseases and developing countries like ours is that chronic diseases affect only the elderly and wealthy parts of a society and is prevalent primarily in developed countries. That notion no longer holds any truth. This problem is all the more compounded when you add in the economic costs associated with the growing burden of chronic noncommunicable diseases. We now not only have to deal with the rising healthcare costs associated with chronic illnesses over long periods of time, we also have to factor in the loss in income due to same.

In India, the incidence of  Type 2 diabetes is steadily reaching epic proportions especially in the urban areas. Autoimmune disorders like Rheumatoid Arthritis, eczema and others like heart diseases, migraines etc are also on the rise.

Some of the articles whose links are given below will give you some idea of the criticality of this situation globally and in India-

http://www.who.int/chp/chronic_disease_report/part1/en/

http://archive.oxha.org/initiatives/economics/chronic-disease-an-economic-perspective

Gut health and Functional Medicine

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Functional Medicine recognises that though the symptoms may be similar in two different individuals, the medical approach required to deal with them will usually be radically different. This is due to the fact that while the manifestations of the disease is similar in both individuals, the genetic makeup of both are different, environmental factors like exposure to toxins are different and their lifestyles will also be completely different.

In this post I am focussing on one major aspect of Functional Medicine which is being recognised as the root cause of most chronic conditions including autoimmune diseases. That aspect is our “gut health” (or lack of). The others include genetic predisposition, lifestyle and environmental factors concerning each individual.

We are slowly coming around to this very important fact that our microbiome (or the many thousands of types of bacteria and other microorganisms which reside in our gut or intestines) determines our health and causes many autoimmune and other disorders when compromised. We carry about 2 kilograms of these microbes in our gut consisting of roughly tens of trillions in numbers and a part of the microbiome is unique to each of us.

This intestinal mircoflora has various important functions such as

  • digestion and absorption of certain foods
  • aids in the production of some vitamins such as Vitamin B and K
  • it has a protective function in keeping toxins, allergens out and balancing  out the unfavourable microbes
  • forms a protective barrier as a part of our immune system

Our gut system becomes off-balance and our health suffers when there is too much of harmful, pathogenic microorganisms like bad bacteria, yeast and parasites and too less of the health promoting bacteria. As mentioned earlier, this leads to chronic illnesses which are far more serious than just indigestion and heartburn.

Our gut health can become adversely affected due to various reasons like

  • a high calorie, sugar laden, processed food, low fibre diet that promotes the wrong kind of microflora
  • high use of medications like antibiotics which disturb the balance between the good and the bad bacteria
  • undetected low grade food intolerance and allergies (gluten, eggs, dairy etc)
  • deficiencies in pancreatic enzymes leading to issues with digestion and absorption of foods
  • toxins like mold, chemicals, pollutants etc which affect the gut and thus the health adversely
  • and last but not the least stress

Another serious issue which can crop up due to poor gut health is intestinal permeability or leaky gut syndrome. The lining of the gut acts as a barrier by containing the undigested food, toxic wastes and harmful microbes and filtering out only the required nutrients after breaking down the food into vitamins and minerals. This incredibly useful gut immune system may develop tiny gaps in the intestinal wall and allow leakage of undigested food particles, microbes and metabolic wastes which the body would then recognise as foreign invaders. This is called the leaky gut syndrome and can cause one to become allergic to all kinds of foods since the immune system starts defending the body against what it perceives to be foreign invaders. The hyperactive immune system if left untreated over prolonged periods of time can create inflammation and may eventually manifest itself in the form of various chronic conditions. Depending on the symptoms the illness is then classified as digestive disorders like Irritable Bowel Syndrome; migraines, chronic fatigue, arthritis, eczema and other autoimmune conditions.

(Sources for further reading-

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/290747.php

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22583600

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/285122.php)

How is Functional Medicine really useful?

Abstract word cloud for Gut flora with related tags and terms

Given this backdrop Functional Medicine is poised to play an important role. By customising medical care based on the individual and not the symptoms of the illness, Functional Medicine is concerned with the problems afflicting the various organs and systems inside the body. As mentioned earlier it our intestinal (or gut) health which determines which nutrients are absorbed by our bodies and which toxins, mircobes and irritants are expelled. If anything happens to disturb this balance and affect our gut health adversely, it affects our health in myriad ways. (I have briefly touched upon this topic in my earlier post- https://eczema-anindianperspective.com/2015/06/12/not-all-those-who-wander-are-lost-eczema-and-our-ongoing-journey/). Functional Medicine focuses on this very important aspect of our health by trying to heal the gut health first and foremost in tackling chronic illnesses and autoimmune conditions.

Some of the basic changes that we can make to heal our gut would be

  • eat whole unprocessed foods like vegetables, fruits, nuts seeds etc which are high in fibre, nutrients
  • limit intake of sugar and processed foods
  • cut out/limit foods which you are sensitive to (gluten, dairy, eggs, shellfish)
  • take help to increase healthy bacteria in the gut and repair the instestinal wall (if damaged)

Functional Medicine also advocates the 4 R programme which acts as a framework based upon which we can make changes to improve and repair our gut health.

1. Remove- remove the allergens ( gluten, dairy, eggs, shellfish etc), inflammatory foods like sugar, processed foods and other irritants like alcohol, tobacco etc

2. Replace- replace the good stuff which are essential for good gut health like digestive enzymes and of course whole, unprocessed plant based foods, low sugar diet

3. Reinoculate- this step is all about restoring the balance of good bacteria in the gut microflora.This is done by taking prebiotic and probiotic supplements (containing the benefical bifidobacteria and lactobacillus species).

4. Repair- the necessary ingredients have to be reintroduced for the gut to repair itself which includes supplements like zinc, omega 3 fatty acid and vitamins.

There are tests available for determining the gut health. I am not sure about the availability of these tests in India yet though there is a clinic in Kochi called Heal Wellness which claims to be the first IFM certified clinic in India. (I am also not aware of any further details other than that what they have provided on their website).

A few of these tests include intestinal permeability test through urine samples; nutritional evaluation tests which can determine nutritional deficiencies and hence help in supplementation and comprehensive stool tests to determine the microbiome health in the gut. There are Functional Medicine practitioners who are health professionals trained and certified by the Institute of Functional Medicine (IFM) who can help in determining which tests need to be carried out and the subsequent course of action.

The Institute of Functional Medicine is the main body for Functional Medicine and is based in Santa Fe, USA. It was cofounded by Dr Jeffrey Bland who is considered to be the father of Functional Medicine. He has also written several books on this subject and if you want to know more about chronic illnesses and why they happen; the role of Functional Medicine etc you can read his book ” The Disease Delusion“.

(You can read more about IFM here – https://www.functionalmedicine.org/AboutFM/History/)

Physician- heal thyself!

There are some well-known Functional Medicine practitioners who though trained initially in conventional medicine are now following Functional Medicine principles in their work. Some of them had a taste of Functional Medicine when they suffered from their own health issues. Where conventional medicine failed them, Functional Medicine was able to control and even reverse the chronic condition in one case. Now they are all following Functional Medicine approach in treating themselves and their patients. You can read about them here-

Dr Mark Hyman (https://www.functionalmedicine.org/AboutFM/ourteam/faculty/bios/hyman/)

Dr Robert Hedaya (https://www.functionalmedicine.org/AboutFM/ourteam/faculty/bios/Hedaya/)

Dr Gerard Mullin at John Hopkins Hospital (http://thefoodmd.com/about/)

Dr David Perlmutter (http://www.drperlmutter.com/)

Dr Mark Houston (https://www.functionalmedicine.org/AboutFM/ourteam/faculty/bios/Houston/)

Dr Amy Myers (http://www.amymyersmd.com/2013/01/heal-your-gut-heal-yourself/)

Dr Terry Wahls (http://terrywahls.com/about/about-terry-wahls/)

Our health in our hands

Fruits And Vegetables Diet Word

Our health is determined by a myriad factors but the basic ones are our diet; lifestyle; exercise and movement levels; stress related factors; our environment; personal relationships and our relationships within the community.

Also, my experience of dealing with my daughter’s severe eczema over the past few years has taught me that we need to take some responsibility for our own health instead of leaving it completely to our doctors. We also need to take care of our health not just when we fall ill but much much before.

That means taking care of our bodies and treating it as a friend rather than an adversary that needs to be either tamed (through various fad diets) and/or ignored (either intentionally or unintentionally) till such time an illness crops up. (Of course one can always fall ill even after taking adequate care but then like much else in life there are no guarantees here only possibilities) I would rather try to explore all the possibilities that life has to offer rather than have regrets due to a lack of effort, wouldn’t you?

The good news is that today we have access to information, knowledge and the experiences shared by other people on their own journey from sickness to health that we can all learn from. We can thus work along with our health professionals and use their expertise and knowledge to improve and maintain our own health. An example of a person coming to this realisation the hard way and which proved to be a major turning point in his life is the top tennis player in the world, Novak Djokovic. You can read about his story in the book “Serve to Win”. One should however keep in mind that each of us is unique and what works for one person will not necessarily work for another. You will have to patiently find out what works for you and your loved ones.

“Take care of your body; it’s the only place you have to live”

Take Care Of Your Body Quote

I started writing this post planning to simply introduce the Functional Medicine approach to dealing with chronic illnesses like eczema, diabetes, migraines etc based on my understanding. But I realised that I also needed to include a detailed background given the increasing incidence of these illnesses in our lifetime. I hope I have been able to share a bit of what I have understood about this issue that you may or may not have been aware of.

I started on this quest because of and for my daughter who suffers from severe eczema and which is being managed through strong immunosuppressive medications. My family and I have reached this stage through a lot of trial and error but always with the guidance of our doctors who have been with us every step of the way. We have already seen some results with the changes we have made in our daughter’s diet but we still have some way to go. We will be starting treatment based on Functional Medicine principles soon for her with the help of an IFM certified practitioner. We are taking an informed decision based on studies backed by science and evidence and which has helped so many others like her to cope with various chronic illnesses. Even if we can simply heal her gut to begin with will itself be a minor victory.

I share all this with you so that it may encourage you to find out a bit more for yourself if you need to. We often do not realise how much more can be done to improve the quality of our lives if we really wish to. As one wise person put it very simply, we have only one life and one body. Our health depends on what we do with it.

Our tryst with Ayurveda and our first Eczema Support Group meeting in Mumbai

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In my last couple of posts I had mentioned that I was trying out Ayurveda as an option of treatment for my daughter simultaneously with the immunosuppressive medication Cyclosporin that she is currently on. She was started on Ayurveda treatment in May and it carried on during her summer holidays till the end of June. She was given a mix of medicines  in the powder form ( made of natural ingredients) and others in the liquid form. In all there were quite a few medications before and after breakfast, evening snacks and dinner, and it is to my daughter’s credit that she took all the medicines without much fuss at regular intervals.

Dietary restrictions and Ayurveda

However, the more difficult part was to live with the many and varied dietary restrictions on a daily basis.  Foods which are restricted not only include food groups like fermented food products ( curd, yogurt, dosa, idli, cheese etc) ,cold foods like food straight from the refrigerator, ice creams, cold drinks or juices but also citrus foods like tomatoes, sweet lime, lemons; vegetables like potatoes, cauliflowers, leafy green vegetables like spinach; processed foods like cakes, pasta, noodles containing maida (refined wheat flour), fish and meat, cold cuts of meat, canned foods– the list was pretty comprehensive. Due to the fact that Aiyana was on vacation and at home, we did manage to follow almost all the restrictions but it was pretty tough for an 8 year old to remember and adhere to these restrictions on a daily basis. I guess given all that she has been through in the last couple of years she has matured beyond her age and understands what needs to be done even if she does not like it at all.

But inspite of following this treatment for almost 2 months, there was no marked improvement and infact her itching became progressively worse and she was unable to sleep throughout the night. It was once again a most difficult and stressful time for all of us and most of all for my daughter. As per our follow up which was scheduled in early July, I took her back to the institute and this time she was met by their skin specialist as well. Upon hearing that the medicines had made her very itchy, he changed most of her medicines and asked us to give it some more time.

Unfortunately, by that time Aiyana was extremely uncomfortable and I stopped all the ayurvedic medicines by second week of July. After showing her to her regular doctors (pediatrician and dermatologist), she was put on a low dose of oral steroids. Infact over the last couple of years we have noticed that whenever her skin has flared up or seems to be out of control even with her regular medication and routine, oral steroids is the only medication which brings it completely under control. Even cyclosporin has not had that effect on her in the past year that she has been on that medication. After consultation with her doctors, we were advised to increase and try a higher dose of cyclosporin (along with the oral steroids) for the next couple of months to see if that made her skin stable only after which it would be decided to change her medication.

The struggle is just a part of our story

Pinteresting with Koka Tawera Week 3

So this is where we are now, still looking for a stable alternative to her ongoing medication. We have our ups and downs and it has been a long journey for us since Aiyana was diagnosed with Atopic Dermatitis. But in the end, she is so much more than a child with eczema. Eczema and all the problems associated with it are just a part of our family’s walk through life.

There was always a risk trying out alternative medicine but I wanted to explore that option incase it proved to be a viable one for her and did not have the kind of risks associated with the side effects of the medication she is on currently. But the biggest risk in my opinion is that there is not much regulation with regards to the manufacturing of medicines. Unlike in mainstream medicines like steroids, immunosuppressive medication and other such medicines, ayurveda and other alternative medicines like homoeopathy are not that regulated. Thus I was not 100% sure about the purity of the medicine (especially since some of them were manufactured by little known Ayurvedic pharmaceutical companies in various parts of our country) and hence the efficacy and this always niggles at my mind.  I am not sure how this issue will be resolved in the near future and but this remains in my mind a stumbling block for ayurveda to become integrated with mainstream medicine. But there are ways to follow some of the simpler natural remedies prescribed in ayurveda by sourcing the natural ingredients and using them as home remedies as has been the case in many Indian families over the ages. In any case, this decision was taken out of our hands due to my daughter’s skin condition and I now look ahead in our family’s journey in dealing with eczema.

What kind of experience have you had in treating eczema with ayurveda (If any)? Please do let know your opinion on the same!

Eczema Support Group- our first meeting

I had mentioned that I was conducting the first Eczema Support Group meeting in Mumbai end of July. We finally had our first meeting early August and there were 4 of us, all mothers of children with severe eczema  residing in Mumbai who came together to share our experiences, stories, issues and most importantly our pain of watching our child suffer. Going ahead we will be sharing information and our own unique experiences in dealing with eczema, we will also have  experts talking to us on various topics associated with Atopic Dermatitis amongst other things. Incase you know someone residing in Mumbai who has a child suffering from moderate to severe eczema and wants to join our group, do ask them to get in touch with me at eczemaanindianperspective@gmail.com.

I had planned to write about some products that have been beneficial to my daughter and other children with eczema over the years but I realised that it is better if I write separately about that in my next post. Apart from natural supplements, moisturizer and creams, special therapeutic clothing (some formulated by other mothers whose children had severe eczema), there are some amazing books/CDs for children available  across the world which are immensely useful in dealing with eczema directly or indirectly by reducing the stress associated with this condition. These do much more than just provide information, they inspire and motivate children (and adults) in the face of eczema and other such difficulties. I will be putting up a post on this soon!

In the meantime, I leave you with a thought which is something that I try to live by and instill in my children-

“Happiness is not the absence of problems; it’s the ability to deal with them”– Steve Maraboli

Our journey continues….( a look at our ancient way of healing- Ayurveda and mindfulness meditation)

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I am back! I am back with more stories to tell, experiences to share and hopefully some tidbits of information which might help another parent to cope with their child’s eczema along the way. Only a parent who is a first hand witness to their child’ s suffering due to this skin condition ( and any other such chronic medical conditions)  will be able to empathise with another family’s pain, exhaustion and some times negative thoughts that can arise out of dealing with sleeplessness, social and psychological impact that eczema can have on on a child. And that is what keeps me going to share what works for us ( most of the time) and what products, methods etc help in dealing with my daughter’s eczema.

Our introduction to Ayurveda

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I had recently taken my daughter, Aiyana to an ayurvedic hospital ( IAIM Healthcare centre – an Institute of Ayurveda or Integrative Medicine) in the outskirts of Bangalore (the capital city in the southern state of Karnataka). I was not looking for a quick fix solution or a cure to her eczema, but just exploring other traditional methods of Indian medicine which go back a very long way and seeks to heal from within. My hope is to see if our traditional medicine has something to offer to help my daughter to control her eczema in the long run without the help of other powerful medications like she is on currently.

A rigorous process

At IAIM Healthcare Centre, she was first put on an increasing dose of medicated ghee ( it is a type of clarified butter made by simmering the butter made from the milk so that it gets caramelised which gives it the unique taste and aroma) along with a severely restricted diet. This was done to remove all the toxins from her body prior to starting medications, since Ayurveda considers ghee to be satvik ( in the mode of goodness)  and is the main ingredient in many traditional Ayurvedic medicines. She was given this for 4 days till her body was saturated with ghee (as they could make out from her stools). All this while she was ONLY allowed a diet of fruits (non citrus) and plain khichdi (which is a preparation made from rice and pulses); she was also not allowed to go out anywhere but stay in one place in a warm environment to facilitate this process. The 5th day was the day of purging and she was given a laxative in order to prepare her for the medicines to follow from the next day. All this while she was given a daily medicinal ghee massage and a warm bath mixed with herbs.

An interesting change

One very interesting change that took place during this time was that her skin condition was the softest and the smoothest I had seen in some time. While Aiyana’s immunosuppressive medication continued at the same level with no change, her skin condition improved dramatically with all the diet restrictions (and no other medicines). However, once the medicines started the next day and her diet restrictions eased up, her skin condition slowly came back to normal in the next few weeks. I guess her extremely restrictive diet played a key role in improving her skin condition during the first week at the ayurvedic hsopital (even though it is simply not possible to continue with this kind of diet for more than a few days).

However, Ayurvedic medication demands that one follows a restricted diet since certain food types do not go well with the ayurvedic medicines. Hence, Aiyana has been asked to stay away from fermented products (inc yeast based bakery items) like yogurt, dosa, idli etc; all citrus fruits and vegetables like oranges, lemons, tomatoes; root vegetables like cauliflower, potatoes; other processed and refined foods like white rice and refined sugar; leafy green vegetables. She has also been advised to have everything cooked in ghee. As you can make out it IS a difficult way of life to follow since it does not involve only medication but also a whole lot of changes in one’s diet. In any case, she has been very cooperative and we have been able to follow most of the food restrictions so far.

Our goal

The goal of Ayurvedic medicines according to Dr Gangadharan (who is the Head of the Dept. and treating my daughter) was to strengthen her immune system from within so that over time her body was naturally able to bring the severity of her eczema within a manageable level. I will keep you posted on her progress and any changes as far as Ayurveda is concerned. We have been back in Mumbai for 3 weeks now and her skin condition has come back to normal. I will however have to continue with her Ayurvedic medication for some more time if I want to give it a chance to work. I will also be taking her for a follow-up to IAIM Healthcare Centre next month in order to assess her progress, change in medication etc.

The good, the bad and the ugly

It is always a case of a mix of good days and bad days for her even with her medications. And since there are various triggers to her flare ups, it is nearly impossible to pin point and avoid the the same completely. This leads to a  yoyo like swing in her moods making it difficult for her and all of us especially on those bad (and ugly) days and nights with her itching and inability to sleep. I have already touched upon this psychological impact (which can lead to lack of self-confidence and social skills) and I have described how I have been dealing with it in my daughter’s case in my post Beauty is not just “skin” deep- helping your child cope with eczema.

Let them sleep, for when they wake…they will move mountains

We have been grappling with sleepless nights ever since she was 1-year-old (even though her condition was mild at that time) and when you add to that the mild eczema that my 4-year-old son has as well, you can see that it leads to a lot of sleepless nights and fatigue for the entire family. It is an aspect of eczema ( and Atopic Dermatitis in particular since it affects children) that severely impacts a child’s well-being leading to lack of concentration in school and a lack of self-confidence amongst other problems. It also one issue the entire family (which has children suffering from Atopic Dermatitis) will have faced some time or the other. As a result I have been searching for a way to improve our quality of sleep (without further use of medicines) by reducing stress levels and learning relaxation techniques.

Mindfulness Meditation

mindfulness

To this end I have been reading about a form of stress reduction technique called ” Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction”  (MBSR) program developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. It is meant to work by making one more “grounded” or “aware” of the present moment and simply means paying attention in a particular way: “on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” as described by Dr Kabat- Zinn. In this post, I will be just touching upon this topic since we have just started following the same ourselves.

My goal in trying to incorporate it in our daily life is very simple – to help my daughter reduce her stress and frustration levels and hopefully cope with her medical condition better with time and practice. The good thing is that one does not have to be a Buddhist to practice this though it has its roots in Buddhism, Taoism and yoga. Mindfulness is the art of conscious living so that you live a life being who you are already and not try and be someone that you are not. Hence, one’s religious beliefs does not interfere with this practice.

Meditation and coping

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I am using the book and CD combination- “Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children“ which is based on Thich Nhat Hanh’s (a Zen Buddhist monk) thirty years of teaching mindfulness and compassion. They are designed to help relieve stress, increase concentration, nourish gratitude and confidence, deal with difficult emotions and improve communication.

While we have just started practising this, Aiyana has been enjoying our daily sessions of “deep relaxation” before bedtime since it is helping to calm her (and me) down quite a bit and relax. While it is too early to comment on the results of practising this, I can say that it has made a slight improvement in her sleep quality. And anytime that she wakes up feeling itchy, the music is soothing enough to lull her back to sleep most of the times. I am also planning to use another well-known book for practising mindfulness meditation with children – “Peaceful Piggy Meditation” by Kerry Lee Maclean for the same purpose.

Be happy for this moment, this moment is your life

And in the end, this is what matters. How well we lived our life, how well we loved, how we counted our blessings along the way; how we learned to accept the things we simply cannot change and faced our most difficult moments. This is the lesson I strive to teach my children, one lesson that I am myself learning every day of my life.

 

 

The only journey …is the journey within

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I have been juggling a lot of balls in the air lately and in the midst of doing that I have fallen behind in my blogging lately. But I am happy to say that there have been some developments at my end with regards to my daughter. Her schooling is one of the things we have been dealing with and thinking about for the past six months or so. As I have mentioned earlier, Aiyana is currently on a low dose of immunosuppressive medication to control her eczema. I am sharing our experiences in the hope that it might help other children who are in a similar situation in some way.

Education and eczema

Inspite of the immunosuppressive medication, her eczema becomes worse when she sweats since her itching increases considerably. Aiyana’s school, Bombay Scottish in Mumbai, has been very supportive. She is excused from any outdoor activities including the school assembly, helped with her moisturisation and medications as and when required and generally taken care of as a whole. We make sure that she is picked up from school in the afternoon by car and does not have to travel in the hot sun while coming back home. But even that is not enough to help with her to cope with the sweating and itching and scratching at school.

As you would be aware, Mumbai has a tropical climate and is humid almost the throughout the year being close to the sea. She started missing school on a regular basis due to heat rashes and eczema flare up ( in India, only schools following an international curriculum are air conditioned). She would itch all over and therefore scratch in the class with a constant fear of being seen by her classmates. After consulting her doctors we finally decided to move her to a school with an air conditioned environment which we hope which would be more comfortable for her. To this end we did a 2 week trial in a school (based on international curriculum) with an air conditioned environment. This was possible entirely due to her dermatologist who helped to arrange this for her. At the end of 2 weeks it looked like it did seem to make a difference and she was quite comfortable in this environment. However, it still took us a while to decide on and finalise a school for her and our son (who starts school this summer).  This process is finally over and just last week we secured admission in an international school closer to home. Both my children start school in July and I am hoping that my daughter will be able to attend school regularly without the discomfort of constant itching due to sweat and subsequent scratching and pain.

A medical condition like this does not end with medications and visits to the doctor. Life is a constant struggle to carry on with routine activities on a daily basis under the onslaught of an unbearable itch (especially when there is a flare up). My 7 year old daughter used to be in constant fear of being seen by classmates while feeling the unbearable urge to scratch in odd places.  As I read somewhere recently, “eczema can be compared to a bully who sometimes keeps going for days on end, then leaves, only to reappear“.

Sleep deprivation is an added burden to bear for such small shoulders due to the itching and scratching at night at times. Even though Aiyana’s medications keeps  her eczema under control most of the times, there are frequent phases when it becomes worse due to stress, illness or other triggers. Antihistamines do not seem to help much in her case at night time and it is a difficult time for us as a family. It in fact happened very recently due to her illness and seems to get aggravated during times of ill health due to any reason whatsoever. While those nights (and days) seem to be a never ending cycle of itching and scratching, it is very important to provide constant support and keep your child’ spirits high. I try to make sure that I do not portray a defeatist or negative attitude and distract her as much as possible and find ways to make her itching more bearable (like rubbing instead of scratching).

Ayurveda- an ancient Indian way of life and healing

I am taking Aiyana for 2 weeks to I-AIM Health Care Centre near Bangalore (in the southern state of Karnataka) for an Ayurvedic check up and treatment. It is founded and run by Padmasrhi Darshan Shankar, known for his outstanding contributions in the field of revitalization of traditional systems of health-care in India. Ayurveda is not simply a healthcare system, but a form of lifestyle adopted to maintain perfect balance and harmony with nature thus making it a wholistic system of medicine. I am hoping that our traditional and alternative form of healthcare is able to complement and control my daughter’s eczema and help her in the long run. I will write more about it later once we are back from our trip. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nutritional supplements- worth a try

Through interaction with other parents whose children have eczema, I have come to know that in some cases  nutritional supplements like Omega 3 oils, probiotic ( probiotics are organisms such as bacteria or yeast that are believed to improve health and are available in supplements and foods) and multi vitamin supplements have helped to lower the incidence of flare ups in childhood eczema and bring some under control. There is no concrete scientific evidence as of now to prove this conclusively and studies are going in some of these areas. Due to this, doctors rarely prescribe these as part of the normal course of medications for Atopic Dermatitis. But after reading up on these and consulting Aiyana’s doctors about the same I decided to try the Omega 3 and the probiotic supplements for some time for my daughter.

Probiotic

Omega 3 oilI did a lot of research on a suitable and safe product (and brand) for Aiyana ( there are many brands and types of Omega 3 oils and probiotic supplements worldwide) and based on the reviews, some literature etc I shortlisted the 2 products as given below-

 Nordic Naturals Omega 3-6-9 Junior and Rainbow Light Probilicious  Gummies  for children.

Aiyana has been taking these supplements for a few months now. I will be able to share our experience only after a reasonable period of time as these kind of steps usually work in the long run and the impact might not be immediately visible.

 

Its time to turn life’s stumbling blocks into stepping stones

A cnikihronic medical condition like eczema is rarely only a physical struggle, a lot has to do with an immense amount of inner strength that is required to cope with this on a daily basis. My daughter has to deal with the obvious consequences like physical discomfort, sleeplessness, fatigue as well as the social, emotional consequences of dealing with this condition everyday. It is as much my responsibility to make sure she is as comfortable as possible at a physical level as it is to ensure that she is equipped to deal with this condition at an emotional level keeping her self-confidence intact. She has grown stronger emotionally as a person since her traumatic month long ordeal in the hospital last summer due to an unforseen reaction to a medication given to control her eczema. (I have written about our experience in the post- “…the tough get going- part 2”)

I know that I have succeeded to a large extent in my endeavour when friends, families and even complete strangers praise my 7 year old’s cheerful smiles, her sweet and caring manners and her emotional strength.