Parsley,Celery and Bergamot Oil Can also help Vitiligo Patients

Pepper may help disfiguring skin condition - Skin and beauty- msnbc.com

Psoralens are currently used to treat patients with Vitiligo and Psoriasis. They are used as photosenstizers, markedly increasing skin reactivity to long-wavelength ultraviolet radiation 320 to 400 nm, an effect used in photochemotherapy or PUVA [psoralen(P) and high-intensity long-wavelength (u.v.A) irradiation].

Methoxsalen (8-Methoxalen,Ammoidin, or Xanthotoxin) reacts with DNA and inhibits cell division. Methoxsalen may increase pigmentation by an action on melanocytes (pigment producing cells).

Plants that contain psoralens include Ammi majus which contains the above mentioned 8-Methoxsalen, in addition to Parsley, Celery, common Figs, and Bergamot oil which contain 5-Methoxsalen.

Ammi majus (a plant that is cultivated in North Africa) extract is used in Egypt in the form of paint and oral tablets to treat Vitiligo and Psoriasis, since about 40 years ago.The patient applies the paint and exposes himself to the sun for about 30 minutes, or he is exposed to PUVA in a Dermatology clinic.

The oral form has a heavy impact on the disordered liver, leading to severe complications as experience about its use accumulated. There is a report of pruritus, pigmentation and tendency to sunburn in a 70-year old woman with chronic liver disease after eating about 170 g of Parsley, which contains 5-Methoxysoralen, daily for 30 years (British Medical Journal,1982,285,1719).

The new finding expands the base of the choice, yet it is the same idea.