Secretariat, Taipei City Government

According to the statistics of the National Health Insurance Research Database, about 50 - 100 thousand people suffer from psoriasis and seek medical treatment every year; it usually occurs among people in their 20s to 50s. Xie Xu-dong, doctor of the Department of Chinese Medicine in the Renai Branch of Taipei City Hospital, says that the symptoms of psoriasis are protruding red plaques, accompanied by silvery-white scales of different thicknesses. Psoriasis is different from normal skin diseases; symptoms include intolerable itching and desquamation after scratching, thus seriously influencing one’s appearance.
A patient who is nearly 70 years old has suffered from psoriasis for over 10 years. The patient had only a few skin rashes in the early period, which was diagnosed as psoriasis by the Dermatology Department and prescribed with external application of steroids. However, the symptoms didn’t improve and the application of steroids on the whole body was required every day. Moreover, additional phototherapy was still needed three times a week.
Dr. Xie points out that the patient is of a phlegmatic and damp type constitution, so the decoction for clearing away gallbladder-heat was chosen as an additional treatment. The red plaques on the lateral side of the limbs faded three months after taking the medicine. The difficulty in falling asleep owing to the itching during the treatment period can be eliminated by steam bathing therapy and the patient said that he could sleep through the night after the treatment; the red plaques on the internal side of the limbs gradually faded this May. Meanwhile, the daily use of steroids was stopped. And the phototherapy has been reduced from three times a week to one or two times a week. The patient who dared not go outside before can now walk around in summer wearing short sleeves and short pants.
Dr. Xie suggests that patients suffering from psoriasis should eat less onion, ginger, garlic, barbecue, nuts and seafood. Everyone is unique and people with the same disease may have different symptoms due to different constitutions. Only after the diagnosis by professional physicians can the food which is appropriate and inappropriate for people with different constitutions be identified.