Experiment Day 1: Eczema Skin heavily treated with steroid cream.
Pre-experiment rash on legs. This was about the same type of rash I had on about 50% of my body. This was in my worst flare-up state. Notice the loss of hair here.
Day 27: This is what happens when going Cold Turkey off steroid creams.
But, by this time I had zero eczema conditions anywhere else on my body; and overall health was significantly improving.
Day 54: Skin on fingers fully recovered, and zero eczema elsewhere.
Day 188: Slight regression – no lesions, but note the inflammation above the metacarpal areas. Also, this is dry winter air; house moisture level is ~ 28%.
Rash has never returned on the legs, or anywhere on lower torso.
My second flare-up due to dry air; resulting in my left hand being more or less “cooked”. Do you think we are getting enough vitamin A in our diets???
My left hand; now recovered, and uncooked.
Basic Fluoroscope test with Retinol (Vitamin A from a pill) to verify that I have the correct absorption wavelength. The second position is just plain water (control). The others are from one 10,000 UI pill.
Fluoroscope image: Left hand while in “flare-up”. Note that the distorted appearance of the hand is just due to a magnifying lens in front of the camera. If you look very closely, you can see spots of florescence directly corresponding to where the eczema is forming small lesions. They almost look like distant stars in the night sky. The extra bright spots are just specks of lint, of course.
We have friends, named John and Mary, who have occasionally been eating liver. They are both age 45ish.
John’s abdomen: The fluorescent spots shown here are a lot more obvious to the eye than what the camera on my iphone is capturing. Nevertheless; they are clearly visible. Also, note that the regular fat is not fluorescent. He has no symptoms of skin disorders.
This photo (below) is of Mary’s hand (on the right) and her sister’s (on the left). Coincidentally, they are twins. Mary has been eating liver; her twin sister has not been. It is not a great quality photo, but it does show the purplish florescence difference between them. Mary does have some Rosacea, but no other skin disorders (yet).
Comparing the face of Mary and her sister, there is also a very big difference in the florescence. Mary’s face looks very purple by comparison. Once again, this is quite a bit more visible to the eye, than what my camera is capturing.
Oh, the horrors of vitamin A deficiency!
Do you want to know what really happens to animals that live with no vitamin A for extended periods of time? Well, the grand vitamin A deficiency theory states that they’ll be dead in just 8 to 10 weeks. But, here’s what really happens, after 28 weeks, and that’s 3X longer than what the “science” on it claims.
That’s right, nothing adverse happens to them. They remain perfectly healthy. If you want to read more about this topic, then please check out my post Vitamin A…. oh no it’s not!
My Microscope:
My Fluoroscope:
I am restarting photo therapy treatments after a 3-month period of mostly free eczema on my body. I have had only one session on this second period (yesterday) It popped into my mind that I might take a picture with my cell phone in the light box of my skin and then compare that to another picture I would take each week. I think I am doing the UVB long wave treatment. Do you think the pictures I take will show concentrations of Vitamin A?
I’m not sure.
Firstly, the exposure wavelength you are using for treatment would need to include the 335nm wavelength. If not, then there is no point trying to photograph the response.
Then, most standard digital cameras include filters to remove the lower wavelengths too. Therefore, the 485nm emission (the response) wavelength will not show up too well. However, the photos I took using my iPhone did at least capture some of the response light. But, it was much more obvious to my naked eye, so the iPhone was far less than ideal.
If you are particularly interested in this topic, then there are other specialized cameras that can be used. These could be used in daylight conditions.
I appreciate your response. Since my treatment is phototherapy UVB with wavelengths of 311-312 then it appears that the Vitamin A response would not be visible with my Nexus 6P. I can though see variances and bright spots through my required goggles during treatment and just looking at my skin I see which I believe are spots of vitamin A??. But I’m just guessing. One anomaly …. I rub my hands together in the patient box and they glow? I told the dermatologist and said he never heard of that. I would think though if I strapped a second pair of goggles over my camera lens it would then see what I see? My Background. 79 year male in excellent health … relatively speaking. 160 lbs, very active, married for 54 years, hunted since I was 9 yrs old (tag-along at that age of course) walk 2.4 to 2.7 miles every day unless I’m sick in bed. Active at church as a trustee, commercial pilot (2.5 years), IBM retired, Johnson & Johnson retired, and Eastman Kodak retired and ran a computer shop since 1984 (fixing and building systems.) and almost never call in for repairs on my home for anything because I do a better job (usually) than they do. So that’s me, basically. My Health Stats (summarized) … good up until 2005 when an odd accident I broke my heel in 4 places just running. Weak bones I asked … they said no, but I wonder. Prostatectomy in 2009 when my PSA was 8.1 … doc said it was aggressive but how can a layman tell and who else would he trust? Then a few years later 39 treatments of radiation and after that Lupron. Last PSA in Sept was 4.6. Before that .014 and before that 24.3!! Weird. But … starting in the Fall of 2014 a rash appeared on my ankles. Steroid salve … ok for a month but reappeared. Biopsy showed nothing. 4 more trips to the same dermatologist (PA because I never saw the doc again) and all they did was give me prednisone and stronger steroids. In 6 months I was a basket case and changed dermatologists. Looks like Papular dermatitis he said … a shot, Clobetasol and UVB. In just a week I knew this was the answer and continued the UVB for about 2+ months and then off treatments. 4 months later my rash is coming back so I’m starting the UVB again. But this time I mostly started with the Vit A elimination “diet” (well 5 days now) and I’m hoping the total combination will bring me back to “normal” again. I say mostly because I thought jello and the cultured yogurt might help my system in being regular. I am though, ready for the chicken or lobster already! The bumps are shrinking and tend to scrape off easily (although they are still there if I rub) and are attempting to heal and they are still itchy. New ones are not popping up though and aggravating the hell out of me … at least in this short period of time. I told the doc about my research on Vitamin A and it seems my rash might be related. He immediately focused on me and told me it is not Vitamin A and then proceeded to tell me that my immune system was not functioning correctly and I have an Auto-immune disease. He did not tell me why I have this disease and said jokingly ” Why don’t rabbits get this disease since they eat a lot of carrots?” Then apologized. When I related Finland and Russia he paused … Hmm … that is very interesting. But initially he was just giving me the standard doctor answer. I sent him urls to look at and I’ll see at the next visit if he gave it any thought. You mentioned special cameras that might be suitable for pictures… any in particular? Just curious. Encouraging that I just got a phone call from somebody who got my email about your site and is ecstatic and thinks it may be his problem since he has been loading up on Vit A supplements for a few years and now has eczema. I just read about a young Canadian girl who life was almost destroyed by Steroid withdrawal, so much that her mother had to care for and feed her for over a year in her 10 year ordeal. When you see the pictures …. just devastating. Sorry for the long story but I just so appreciate what you wrote and my kids, grandkids and email contacts now have some insight to the effects of excessive Vitamin A. James Lindbloom
I forgot to mention: What about a Vitamin A test? Would that reveal a high level of Vitamin A? And we are told to keep our skin moist with lotions and doc said I should try Aloe Vera. I looked it up …. had Vitamin A. Is nothing safe?
Hello James,
Thanks for sharing your background and situation. In addition, thanks for sharing this information with your doctor too. Although, I’ve talked to a few doctors about this theory, there has been no genuine interest, and little curiosity shown to date. But, the next time you see your doctor, please correct him and tell him that rabbits do not normally eat carrots. Only rabbits in human captivity eat carrots. Rabbits in the wild do not.
Regarding the glowing of your hands under UVB, I can only speculate as to the mechanism.
The specialized cameras I referred to are called crime scene cameras. Nikon has several of them. I did not experiment with them since they are beyond my “research” budget.
Regarding the blow-back due to the withdrawal from steroids, it is indeed brutal. Although I was very lucky, since I only used steroids for about four months. Kids are far more susceptible to both the poisoning and this dead-end so-called treatment. I have a deep empathy for these kids.
Serum levels of vitamin A are not at all a good indicator of storage levels. Additionally, what western doctors think are “normal” levels, are by no means normal for the overall human population, and human history.
Depending upon how interested you are in this topic, I’d highly recommend you read the following two research papers:
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/2/1/147/htm
https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/results/pubs/longterm/reports/longterm/tr500580/listedreports/tr568/index.html
You’ll need to apply the special BS filters when reading the second one. To me it reeks of scientific fraud.
A couple of thoughts about my experiencing certain weird symptoms before I give an update on my photo therapy.
1. When I am in the eczema stage I get the facial skin crawling sensations like parasites looking for a new home when I lay down at night to sleep. Why at that time only and my face only I have no idea and after a few minutes of rubbing and light scratching it is gone! Weird.
2. Symmetry. When I am in the eczema stage the sudden appearance of an itchy bump on one part of the body is often repeated a short time later by a similar itchy bump on nearly the same area on the opposite part of my body. I got a funny look when I told the doctor that. Ankle to ankle, knee to knee and hand to hand.
3. Loss of hair. Now this has only happened once and I noted it and forgot about it. A bald spot on a portion of one of my calves. It may or not be related … at the time I thought it might be part of being old! Round and oval shaped about the size of an egg.
Since I started trying to dramatically reduce my intake of fortified vitamin in my diet I seem to have diminished my nearsightedness, that is, I used to be able (4-5 months ago) to read my email on my cell phone without glasses. Now I cannot. In the back of my mind I deduced that since I am paring down my Vitamin A intake … maybe, just maybe that is related. It may have nothing to do with it at all … but I thought I would throw that in.
Rabbits …. I saw the dermatologist in the hallway last Wed and told him about his theory on rabbits and carrots and your comment that rabbits only eat carrots in captivity. He laughed … and then proceeded to tell me that he read your article “Extinguishing the Fires of Hell” and it is very interesting to him. He also commented that your title is very appropriate … I’m hoping this might open a door, at least to him.
After a concentrated focus of fortified Vitamin A avoidance and 8 treatments of UVB I have no bumps and no itches and no rash. So for the short term this has worked for me and treatments will end in about another 3 weeks. But my continued focus has to be on totally watching what I eat with the hopes that with that type of nourishment my body will find a way to heal and readjust so that I can live a normal type life .
Well gee ….. I should proof read more often. Rabbits eat carrots ONLY in captivity. I did not see a way edit after I posted? If you can edit it correctly …. that might be good for another victim searching for answers …
Hello James, Thanks for the follow-up. I’m curious. Did you read my e-book or just the blog posting?
re: the skin crawling sensations. This matches with my experience. I believe it caused by the dendritic immune cells probing the tight junctions. They are hunting for the phantom pathogens.
re: Symmetry This matches my experience too. This one aspect, even by itself, kind of rules out the entire theory of autoimmunity. It may have got your doctor thinking about that.
re; hair loss This matches my experience too. For the most part, it has grown back. However, I still have bald spots on my calves. The hair on my head is thicker. One thing I did not want to write about in my e-book because it is almost unbelievable, is that in late 2013 I had around 95% gray. Now, I am about 90% back to my original hair color (black).
re: vision I too had cyclic changes (good-poor-good-fair-bad-good etc.) in my vision. I also had quite a bit of inflammation within the eye. This inflammation caused pressure and shape changes in the eye. The most noticeable change in my vision occurred over the first six months of my diet. This change was that everything just became so much brighter. The lens was permitting more light to get into the eye as my early cataracts cleared.
Naturally, vision is a huge topic, and it is probably the biggest reason we believe vitamin A is important. I’ve been researching this topic quite a bit. All I can say as this point is that I have zero doubt that cataracts and xerophthalmia are both caused by vitamin A toxicity. So, I can only speculate that the vision changes you are experiencing are due to pressure, and shape changing in the eye, and not due to VAD.
Just so that you know, I’m now 28 months on my “diet.” My current plan is to go at least three years. Although my vision is still very good, it varies a bit too.
re: title Thanks for the feedback, this is the first person to tell me that they like the title.
re: UVB treatment
I’m glad this is working for you. It is quite intriguing too. I attempted my own UV treatment via sunlight, and it was a HUGE mistake.
One last thing. I am getting a better understanding of is the importance of having enough fat in the diet. It is critically important to maintain, and it can affect your eyes (mostly based upon my vision-related research). I used olive oil in my diet, and it worked for me. However, there may be better choices.
Thanks again for the support and feedback.
Grant
I use olive oil exclusively but am suspicious. 90% of the olive oils in grocery stores are not olive oil, just blends of various oils of unknown origins. Italy imports oils from everywhere ( often Turkey) and blends and ships out as Italian olive oil.
New York Times had a BIG article on this about 5 years ago. Bottom line is that we have no idea what we are consuming these days, where it is from or what it is cut with. I wonder about margarine especially. Years ago I did to eat it for health reasons. Of course the stuff is deadly.
I think this is the type of smokescreen that attempts to justify?
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v58/n10/full/1601973a.html#bib55
The interesting part is that when you drill down into the data at nature.com site that they keep repeating “Insufficient Data” / “No studies as of yet” / “Estimated” / “Need to validate”, “Based on assumptions”, “Unpublished sources”, etc. To me it’s as if they don’t know but are just estimating that their might be a lack of Vitamin A and they should start a program boosting Vitamin A just in case. (I’m guessing that is that they have just the supplements needed). Also Interesting as these reports are almost all tied to CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society. Pretty suspicious to me.
Jim
Grant, Thanks for your reply and tips about getting enough fat. I read both your e-book and everything else I could find on your blog (as well as others). I think doctors have been brainwashed right along with the masses who are currently about to vote. They are often unable to think on their own. They have been taught a certain way and it’s difficult for them to think out of the box. When I had cataract surgery some 15+ years ago I asked my doc questions that caused him to raise his eyebrows. I guess he didn’t know how to use the “search” function of the Internet! When I told my prostate cancer doctor that Lupron was giving me sharp pains lasting a few minutes (in the middle of the night) right at the apex of my solar plexus and he also said he had never heard of such a thing! It doesn’t take too long on the Internet to find a few forums where people who have and are experiencing the same thing are looking for answers. It seems many people do not like to have their current thinking and thought processes challenged.
I’ll keep you posted as I get further down the road.
Take Care,
Jim
I think this is the type of smokescreen that attempts to justify?
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v58/n10/full/1601973a.html#bib55
The interesting part is that when you drill down into the data at nature.com site that they keep repeating “Insufficient Data” / “No studies as of yet” / “Estimated” / “Need to validate”, “Based on assumptions”, “Unpublished sources”, etc. To me it’s as if they don’t know but are just estimating that their might be a lack of Vitamin A and they should start a program boosting Vitamin A just in case. (I’m guessing that is that they have just the supplements needed). Also Interesting as these reports are almost all tied to CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society. Pretty suspicious to me.
Jim
Grant, I was trying to Google up when and why Vitamin A was introduced to our foods and found it illusive. No dates, but one explanation for the reason was that it “enhanced the flavor of milk” ….. Seriously?? I liked milk the way it tasted before. They said they needed to replace what was lost …. Hmmmm …. then why was Vitamin D added? It wasn’t there in the first place was it? And I thought … what about all the other food products?? Bread, canned chili, chicken pot pies, and what about all the other byproducts of milk … cheese, yogurt, butter …. are they trying to enhance the flavor of butter? It points high heaven to marketing to me. I found these:
What is vitamin A palmitate in milk? | Reference.com
Why Synthetic Vitamins Should Be Avoided Whenever Possible | Natural Society
No doubt, we are being systematically poisoned by both ignorance at the government level and intentional “scientific” medical fraud. And more recently in my case by a well meaning but unlearned naturopath who put me on high levels Omega 3. That put me hanging with one foot in the grave where life wasn’t worth living at that point. Fortunately a double dose of Kenalog brought me back to a point where now if I watch out to avoid VA I can manage without mutilating my skin.