Warts !

In this feature we will be addressing the question of warts ! What we have discovered may be a surprise to most people who have been raised with a pre-conceived idea about these skin welts.

True warts are very common, contagious skin tumors ( benign [noncancerous] ), "bumps", or "growths" which are caused by at least thirty five different viruses ( human pappillomavirus ). Some warts can turn into cancerous tumors. However, this term, wart, is loosely used for many benign, skin, "wartlike" structures that are not caused by a virus, such as a raised, darkened skin tumor, common in the elderly, called a senile wart or verrucae, that is actually nonviral and more related to aging.

Symptoms :
Warts may occur singly or in clusters. Their appearance and size varies tremendously depending on where they erupt on the body and the degree of irritation or trauma they receive through daily wear of the skin.The most common wart (verrucae vulgaris) is a very well-defined, rough suraced, roundish, or irregular growth that may be light grey, brown, greyish-black, or yellow, and is usually firm to the touch. This wart most commonly appears on the knees, elbows, fingers, face, and scalp.

Periungal warts occur around the nail beds. Plantar warts occur on the sole of the foot, are very common, and often appear flattened due to the pressure of walking on them. They are distinguished from other foot growths (corns, calluses) by the fact that when they are scratched they "pinpoint" bleed. They may be incredibly painful but this does not necessarily indicate something serious. When there are several plantar warts close together, they form a plague-like appearance called mosaic warts.

Warts that appear on a stalk (predunculated) are common as humans age, particularly around the neck, chest, face, scalp, and armpits. Warts that are common on the face (eyelids, lips, neck) may appear as yellowish long, narrow, small growths.

Warts usually go away on their own without any treatment, within several months. However, in some individuals, they may continue for years or reoccur at the same or different parts of the body.

Occurence :
The most common wart ( verrucae vulgaris) is universal, occurs in almost everyone, and is usually not serious. Warts in general are more common in older children and usually do not occur in elderly individuals. However, the elderly are prone to other nonviral skin growths such as "aging spots", moles, and mole changes.

Special Notes :
Mole is a "loose" term applied to almost any pigmented skin blemish or "growth" that is not viral in origin and may be congenital (from birth) or not. They are usually not serious unless irritated constantly or change color, turn darker, or start to bleed.Moles are not warts and should not be treated as such.

It is possible that immune functioning has something to do with healing and immunity to future warts since immunosuppressed (poor immnue functioning secondary to serious illness such as diabetes or AIDS) individuals are much more susceptible to a wide variety of viral infections, such as warts.

Natural healing of warts may require one to two months of care, with the warts disappearing suddenly in one to three days.

Alternative treatments

Diet :
Diet is mainly the issue here if warts reoccur or do not regress, indicating the immune system may be slightly compromised. The more whole foods that are consumed, the better possible enhancement of immune functioning. Thus, avoid stressor foods as much as possible. Foods good to emphasize are those high in Vitamin A, such as dark green and yellow vegetables, cold water fish, and eggs. Sulfur-containing foods such as onions, garlic, brussel sprouts, cabbage, and broccoli are also excellent. Excess protein and fats may be discharged in the form of warts, moles, callouses, acne, and boils.

Nutritional Therapy :

• Vitamin A (100,000 IU for 5 days the reduce to 25,000 IU for one month)
• Beta Carotene (50,000 IU for several weeks)
• Vitamin C
• L-cysteine (500 mg twice daily, for 1 month with amino acid blend once daily as "back-up")
• Vitamin B complex
• Zinc
• Vitamin E

Apply two times daily for ten days mixture of : garlic oil, Vitamin E, castor oil, Vitamin A (squeeze these oils from capsules onto the skin) with a drop of zinc oxide cream and paste from one garlic clove crushed. Be careful not to get onto surrounding areas and cover well after applying. If surrounding skin seems to get irritated then try eliminating the fresh garlic paste.

*** Megadosing with Vitamin C has shown itself to be effective against numerous viral and bacterial infections, although before undertaking any self-medicating program you should consult with a naturopathic or holistic medical practitioner. - LRU ***