Molluscum contagiosum is a skin infection. It is caused by a virus. Molluscum causes small bumps or lesions to appear on your skin. Most of them are less than half an inch in diameter. They have a hard white core. Some lesions have a small dent or dimple in the center. The lesions are the same color as normal skin, but they look waxy. They usually dont hurt or itch.
The molluscum contagiosum virus is very common, and almost everyone has it. A healthy immune system will control molluscum so that if lesions appear, they do not last for a long time. People with weakened immune systems can develop molluscum lesions that spread, last for a long time, and are very difficult to treat. About twenty percent of people with AIDS will develop molluscum.
Molluscum can be spread by direct skin contact. It often spreads through sexual activity. Molluscum can infect any part of the skin, but it is common on the face or in the groin and pubic areas. It can be spread from existing lesions to other parts of the body or to other people. It can be spread by objects that came in contact with a lesion. Men with HIV often develop molluscum on their face. Shaving with a razor blade can spread it.
Because the virus that causes molluscum is so common, it is not possible to avoid being exposed to it. However, if you have molluscum you should make sure that the lesions dont touch anyone else. You should also be careful not to spread molluscum to different parts of your body. Be careful not to scratch the lesions or to cut them while shaving. Some doctors think that using an electric shaver helps prevent the spread of molluscum.
Molluscum is not a serious health problem. However, many people find the molluscum lesions to be very unattractive. This can cause serious emotional or psychological problems. A doctor can easily identify molluscum lesions. They are waxy, flesh-colored bumps that do not hurt or itch. There are only one or two other infections that cause skin problems that look at all similar to molluscum.
Molluscum lesions are treated the same way as warts. Unfortunately, the lesions often return and need to be treated again. They can be frozen with liquid nitrogen. This is the most common method of treatment. Molluscum lesions can be burned with an electric needle or a laser. This treatment can be painful and sometimes leaves scars.
Molluscum can be treated with chemicals used on warts such as trichloroacetic acid, podophyllin, or podofilox. These chemicals can not be used on sensitive skin or near the eyes. They can be cut or scooped out surgically. This treatment can be painful and can leave scars. Another approach is to use the antiviral medications cidofovir, cantharidin or imiquimod. These drugs are applied directly onto the lesions. They can cause local skin irritation.
Molluscum lesions can be treated with drugs used to treat acne such as tretinoin or isotretinoin. This is a newer approach. These drugs reduce the amount of oil in the skin. The top layer of skin dries out and peels off. These drugs can cause redness and soreness. Tretinoin is a cream that is put onto the lesions. Accutane is taken in pill form.
The acne drugs tretinoin and isotretinoin tend to dry out the skin. Dry skin is also a side effect of the protease inhibitor indinavir and some other antiretroviral medications. If you take use tretinoin or isotretinoin to treat molluscum along with antiretroviral medications that can cause dry skin, your skin problems could get worse.
Plant medicine for molluscum is composed of naturally occurring high intensity antiviral extracts which have a lethal effect against the virus. This molluscum treatment provides maximum and rapid penetration of antiviral agents into cell membranes without damaging healthy skin tissue. As a result, this treatment for molluscum enjoys a well earned reputation for its curative effects.
As is known, chemical synthetic drugs have a very strong side effects and can cause canceration and malformation to the body, damage of physiological function, and even paralysis and death. While the ingredients of plant medicine are all biological organics and essential materials that are harmless to human selected and left by long-term practice. Thus, plant medicine dissolves molluscum without damaging healthy tissue. To learn more, please go to http://www.naturespharma.org.
Tag Archives: HIV
The Effectiveness Of Revivo Herbal Tea In Treating Hiv
The HIV-1 virus infection which is responsible for AIDS is as virulent as ever and continues to evade both a cure or even a vaccine for which billions of dollars of research money has already been spent. In the meantime the treatment options though life-saving leave much to be desired in terms of their side effects and relatively high cost. Herbs, however may hold the solution….
As with conventional pharmaceuticals it cannot be said that any herb has been found that is a cure for AIDS or that can destroy the HIV virus completely, There are however compelling studies that have shown many herbal medicinals and their chemical constituents to interfere with the replication of the virus, and hundreds more than can deal with the associated symptoms and other side-effects of conventional AIDS drugs.
In one such study two researchers, one at the University of California at Davis and another at the Chinese University of Hong Kong screened 27 herbs against the HIV virus which are generally used within chinese medicine for the treatment of infections. Out of these 27, 5 almost completely stopped HIV in laboratory cells and 6 others showed significant inhibiting activity.
Enter Revivo, Revivo is a name given to the herbal formulation developed by Aconite Herbals based in South Africa and comprising the best of these 11 medicinals together with a host of other medicinals which are regarded as “assistants” in the formula that treat other symptoms of HIV infection and also reduce the side-effects of ARV therapy.
The Revivo formulation is a trademark of Aconite Herbals and contains the following medicinals:
* Arcitum Lappa
* Coix Seed
* Momordica Charantia
* Hypericum Chinensis
* Nelumbo Nucifera
* Prunella Vulgaris
* Zizyphus Jojoba
From the above medicinals Nelumbo Nucifera, Arctium Lappa and Prunella Vulgaris are among the 11 that showed significant activity against the HIV virus in the laboratory study conducted by the two researchers. (R. Shihman Chang and H.W. Yeung, “Inhibition Of Growth Of Human Immunodeficiency Virus By Crude Extracts OF Chinese Medicinal Herbs”, Antiviral Research, 9 (1988), pages 163-176.)
The same three medicinals have been used for centuries in Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat the following:
* Infections
* Sore throat
* Lumps and nodules
* Skin rashes
* Diarrhea
* Bleeding
* Dizziness
* Pulmonary TB
* Infectious Hepatitis
The remaining medicinals have been used in Chinese Medicine for treating:
* Insomnia
* muscle spasm
* Diarrhea
* Pulmonary abscesses
* Por circulation
* Abdominal pain
* General pain
The herbs in the formula work by various means, some contain specific chemicals such as MAP30 and betulinic acid which interfere with HIV replication, others are used based on their understanding within the Chinese Medicine framework such as Coix Seed which is known as being Cool, sweet and bland and having the function of strengthening the digestion, clearing heat from the lungs and draining dampness. The framework of Chinese Medicine has been developed over a period of 2000 years and based on that empirical knowledge makes for a wonderfully effective healing methodology which has also been shown effective for HIV.
Users of Revivo report inceased CD4 counts, decreased viral loads and general decrease of symptoms such as night sweats, insomnia, pain etc. Though no full clinical studies have been conducted the results so far are encouraging and because of the low chance of side-effects with this herbal formula it comes as a recommendation from many complementary medicine practitioners to make use of such a formula to assist in the fight against HIV.