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Kava and Psoriasis

maelstrom

Kava Curious
My severe psoriasis has drastically improved since I started my first real break from heavy kava consumption about five weeks ago. The improvement was noticeable to myself and others as early as three days after my last dose of kava. I initially found this to be somewhat paradoxical, as I'd have expected my stress and insomnia to be worse without kava, thus worsening my psoriasis symptoms. However, there's another post by someone on here about how kava made their psoriasis worse, too. In addition to that, I realized that my psoriasis was always-- for approximately twenty years-- mild until after I started drinking kava heavily. This is obviously anecdotal, but there's also a study (abstract here) which states:

We standardized culturally informed aqueous extraction methods and prepared extracts that were subjected to basic physicochemical analysis. Mast cells exposed to these extracts displayed robust intracellular free calcium responses, and concomitant release of proinflammatory mediators. In contrast, mast cells were refractory to single or combinatorial stimulation with kavalactones, including methysticin, dihydromethysticin and kavain. Moreover, we reproduced a traditional modification of the kava preparation methodology, pre-mixing with the mucilage of Hibiscus tiliaceus, and observed its potentiating effect on the activity of aqueous extracts in mast cells. Taken together, these data indicate that water extractable active ingredients may play a role in the physiological and pathophysiological effects of kava, and suggests that mast cell activation may be a mechanistic component of kava-related skin inflammations.
I'm not a dermatologist, but it's widely recognized that mast cells and their activation play a role in psoriasis.

Based on my experience, I'd recommend that anyone who has psoriasis and wants to drink kava should keep an eye on whether their psoriasis worsens, and cut back accordingly. Considering how debilitating psoriasis can be, it's worth it to be overly cautious.

It would be great to hear from others with psoriasis who also drink kava-- have you experienced a worsening of symptoms, no difference at all, or perhaps even an improvement?
 

The Kap'n

The Groggy Kaptain (40g)
KavaForums Founder
I've run across that same study recently. They're attempting to describe kava dermopathy, and I agree with you completely. Anyone with a skin condition should keep a very close eye when consuming kava daily. Thank you for posting this!
 

Agador

Today is only yesterday's tomorrow
I have to admit my psoriasis worsened when I was drinking kava daily after a fair time period. I now limit my kava sessions to social events or the weekend mainly and the psoriasis has waned accordingly. The psoriasis condition was pre-existing to my first kava use.

So yes a cautionary tale there, but one that can be controlled with moderated use.
 
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