Pagano’s approach in successfully treating psoriasis involves spinal adjustments, internal cleansing, and nutrition
Patients travel from as far as Japan and Europe to Englewood, NJ, to see John Pagano, DC, who specializes in the treatment of psoriasis. He became interested in this during his internship when he worked on a patient who had been fighting the disease for more than 20 years.
He estimates that 90% of his patients suffer from the chronic inflammatory skin disease. “Psoriasis has dominated my practice because people are so desperate for help,” he says. “And this is the most effective, safest, and cheapest way to treat it. As far as I’m concerned, psoriasis, eczema, and even psoriatic arthritis can be treated effectively by a chiropractor or osteopath with my natural approach.”
Before and after with the Pagano approach to psoriasis.
Getting Under the Skin
During his research, Pagano came across the work of Edgar Cayce, the renowned American psychic who died in 1945, who believed that there was a cure for psoriasis. “Most of this is found in diet,” Cayce said. “There is a cure. It requires patience, persistence—and right thinking also.”1 In addition, Cayce said one of the factors that could cause psoriasis was spinal misalignment.
When subluxations of particular vertebrae break down the normal integrity of nerves that supply the walls of the intestines, Cayce found that “Over time, that wall will begin to break down on a microscopic level,” Pagano reports. Once the intestinal walls lose their integrity, toxins are permitted to pass through into the lymphatic system and the bloodstream. Then, when the liver and kidneys become overwhelmed, the body diverts the toxins through a secondary eliminatory organ—the skin, Pagano says.
He believes Cayce’s explanation of toxins “seeping through thin intestinal walls” was an early identification of the condition now known as leaky gut syndrome or intestinal permeability. Other factors Cayce believed contributed to the condition were poor diet, drinking insufficient quantities of water, and constipation.
The skin was not designed to eliminate inner toxins on an ongoing basis. While most people’s skin replaces itself about once every 28 days, psoriatic skin tries to regenerate as frequently as every 3 or 4 days. This results in thickened, red patches, silvery scales, peeling, and even bleeding in severe cases. Intense itchiness is a frequent complaint.1
Pagano estimates that the majority of patients who follow his approach are able to heal their skin. However, he says, “Of all the patients who come to me, 50% don’t come back after their second or third visit because they don’t want to follow the diet. Of those who do follow through, I’d say I have at least an 80% to 90% success rate.”
Most psoriasis patients see results within 3 or 4 months, but some have waited as long as 2 years. One of Pagano’s patients cleared up a 30-year condition within 1 month, although such a quick response in a long-established condition is highly unusual. Staying on the diet is probably the most difficult part of the regimen. Yet success is most likely for those who embrace the approach with a commitment to do whatever it takes.
The regimen Pagano prescribes for his patients was devised from careful study of the relevant Cayce material, as well as his own work with patients. Besides the special diet, it includes daily use of herbal teas and, for the more difficult cases, a schedule of colon irrigation.
The Skinny on Psoriasis • Psoriasis is considered an incurable, chronic skin condition. Researchers now believe it is an immune-mediated disorder. • The disease is usually characterized by raised red patches, often on the elbows, knees, torso, and scalp. Most cases of psoriasis are fairly mild. However, the illness can be severe, with virtually the entire body covered with inflamed plaques or lesions. • About 7 million Americans suffer from psoriasis. Each year, about 150,000 to 260,000 new cases of psoriasis are diagnosed, about 400 people receive social-security disability status for psoriasis, and another 400 people die of psoriasis-related illness. • Several forms of the disease exist, including guttate, pustular, inverse, and erythrodermic psoriasis. Plaque psoriasis is the most common. Up to 30% of people with psoriasis will also develop psoriatic arthritis. • As much as $3.2 billion is spent every year to treat psoriasis, and up to 56 million hours of work are lost by those who suffer from the disease. —Source: National Psoriasis Foundation, www.psoriasis.org. | |
Well Adjusted
Spinal adjustments are an integral part of the regimen. Pagano notes that a discourse by Cayce states, “One subluxation can cause psoriasis by the effect an impinged nerve or nerves would have on the normal blood circulation to the walls of portions of the intestinal tract.”1
For psoriasis treatment, Pagano concentrates primarily on the sixth and seventh dorsal vertebrae. Subluxations of these vertebrae can adversely affect the nerve supply to the walls of the upper intestinal tract. Pagano also adjusts the third cervical, the ninth dorsal, and the fourth lumbar vertebrae because these areas affect the lymph centers and their neural and circulatory connections.
Healing of the intestinal walls is supported and speeded up by increasing the health of the nerve supply, he says. Restoring normal nerve function through chiropractic is the only way psoriasis patients will achieve a lasting cure, according to Pagano. However, he adds, the diet and internal cleansing measures are also needed to clear accumulated toxins from the body.
For those patients who cannot be adjusted, whether due to age, the nature of their spine, or the presence of another condition such as osteoporosis, Pagano uses various techniques to stimulate nerve function. “I work paravertebraely—on both sides of the spine—with the palms of the hands, and stimulate those areas without any harm to patients. You can also use nerve-goading, which is effective and pleasant for most patients,” he adds.
Pagano also uses a heavy-duty vibrator to loosen up the whole spine. After the adjustment or stimulation, the patient turns over to lay on a muscle-stimulator pad for 15 to 20 minutes to ensure the sixth and seventh dorsals are stimulated.
Internal Affairs
Bowel abnormalities can contribute to psoriasis, but chronic constipation is a far more common culprit, Pagano says. Some of the patients he met were unaware that normal bowel function means eliminating at least once a day. He recalls one who believed that a bowel movement every 3 or 4 days was normal.
Following a high-fiber diet itself helps promote regularity, but Pagano also refers many of his patients to professional colon irrigation technicians, particularly if the healing process seems slow. Colon irrigation helps flush out impacted wastes that may adhere to the lining of the large intestine, he says. Since many lymphatics are directly attached to the outer walls of the colon, irrigation can have an immediate effect on the level of toxicity in the body.
Fruit fasts can also help cleanse toxins from the intestinal tract, and are especially effective before a colon irrigation, he adds. Pagano also advocates drinking a minimum of six to eight glasses of water per day, using natural laxatives if necessary, taking steam baths, and exercising regularly. Pagano sums up his basic approach to the disease in three words: “Purify the system.”
Food for Thought
Diet is the most important factor, both in healing psoriasis and in preventing its recurrence, Pagano says. His diet requires psoriasis patients to ensure that 70% to 80% of foods in their daily diet are alkaline-forming, in order to maintain the blood in the optimum slightly alkaline (7.3 to 7.5 pH) range. These foods include most of the more watery fruits and vegetables. Meats and grains, which generally form acids within the stomach, should be kept to 20% to 30% of the diet.
In addition, Pagano advises taking care in choosing foods that will be combined in the same meal. Sugar, white flour, vinegar, alcoholic drinks, the nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers, paprika, and tobacco), preservatives, and other additives should be avoided as much as possible. Omega 3 fish oils and flax oil are used to help to build up the integrity of the intestinal wall.
Herbal teas are also integral to the diet. Pagano suggests American yellow saffron tea to flush toxins from the liver and kidneys and to promote healing of the intestinal tract, as well as slippery elm bark powder tea, which soothes the intestinal lining and aids in evacuation.
| Case Study Robert Freidman, a 48-year-old New Haven, Conn-based businessman, when diagnosed with psoriasis in 1999, said, “I felt like my body was under attack. I had spots or scabs or lesions, about the size of a thumbnail, all over my body—on my eyelids, cheeks, and neck.” Although Freidman first experienced a worsening of his condition, as Pagano had warned him might occur, his symptoms then gradually improved. Within a year, his skin was completely clear. Freidman believes following Pagano’s diet was the most effective tool in his struggle to overcome the disease. Freidman asked his dermatologist whether his diet or the alcoholic drinks he enjoyed might be the culprit. No, he was told. “He said they do not know what causes it, and they don’t know how to cure it, but he would give me stuff to make me comfortable,” he says. Freidman started using cortisone creams, but his condition worsened. The next step was steroid injections—up to 50 or 60 per month. Desperate for a more effective treatment, he joined the Psoriasis Foundation. Although most of the material he read claimed diet played no part in psoriasis, he did come across one reference in a National Psoriasis Foundation pamphlet to “the Pagano diet,” which had helped some people. A year later, when he returned to the dermatologist whom he had visited monthly for 18 months to tell him he had cured himself through diet, the doctor said he was probably “just in remission.” His family doctor was more open-minded, however, Freidman adds. “Dr. Pagano has touched my life in a very special way, and I could not thank him enough,” he adds. “Not enough people know about him and his work. And I’m a guy who, 4 years ago, used to make fun of chiropractors—now I’m a true believer.” |
Just a Matter of Time
Those who smoke should quit, Pagano says, because inhaling tobacco introduces more toxins to the lungs, further stressing an already overloaded eliminatory system. It is now estimated that 25% of all psoriasis cases are caused by smoking.
Pagano also advises the external use of castor oil (for thicker lesions) or a combination of olive oil and peanut oil to help heal the lesions. Hydrophilic ointment can be used as a moisturizer to hold the oils in place.
Finally, positive thinking, time, and patience are needed, he says. “Keep your mind fixed on the healing of the disease, and not on the disease itself,” he tells his patients. “That helps you psychologically. There’s no substitute for time and patience. It takes 3 to 6 months on average before patients see improvement.”
In many cases, the condition will worsen before it improves, as the body begins to throw off the accumulated toxins, and Pagano takes care to prepare them for that possibility. “This is the most difficult time for the doctor and patients,” he says. “Every pore in the body may be inflamed; there may even be pus. But you must keep their confidence up. They think they’re getting worse instead of better, but the opposite is true—they’re getting well.” Colonic irrigations can be especially effective at this stage, he adds.
There is danger of infection for patients with severe cases of psoriasis. Pagano sometimes discourages patients from his treatment, or brings in a dermatologist who respects the natural treatment to keep a close watch on the patient.
Over the years, Pagano has received accolades and gratitude from many patients whose psoriasis or eczema has been completely alleviated, sometimes after years or decades of suffering. But the work is not particularly profitable, he says, because the treatment is time-intensive.
In addition, he has found dealing with insurance companies very frustrating. Even when he has helped a patient to clear a long-established psoriatic condition within just a few months—a condition the insurance company may have paid as much as $200,000 toward treating over the years—the company may refuse to cover his bill of a few hundred dollars.
Grace Golightly is a contributing writer for Chiropractic Products.
John Pagano, DC, practices in Englewood, NJ, is the author of Healing Psoriasis: The Natural Alternative, and lectures internationally. He can be reached at 800-919-4001 or via his website: www.psoriasis-healing.com.
Reference
1. Pagano JOA. Healing Psoriasis: The Natural Alternative. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: The Pagano Organization; 1991:21–23, 75, 130.
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