Indigo naturalis cream may help ease psoriasis

If you're feeling blue about psoriasis, Taiwanese researchers suggests that Indigo naturalis, a dark-blue plant used in traditional Chinese medicine, may offer some relief.

Psoriasis is a chronic incurable skin disease that afflicts more than 7.5 million people. The most common form is plaque psoriasis, which appears as raised, red patches or lesions covered with a silvery white buildup of dead skin cells, called scale, according to the National Psoriasis Foundation.

Indigo naturalis, if used systemically, has caused some adverse side effects, such as intestinal tract irritation.

Looking to retain the healing qualities of the plant, and eliminate the side effects, researchers at Chang Gung University developed a topical cream.

In a randomized observer-blinded trial conducted at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan, doctors gave the ointment containing the Indigo plant to 42 patients who had had the condition for at least two years.

The patients applied the ointment to a plaque on one side of their body, and a different non-medicated ointment to a plaque in a similar location on the opposite side of their body.

After 12 weeks the plaques treated with Indigo naturalis ointment showed significant improvement in scaling, redness and hardness, compared to the other plaques treated with the non-medicated cream, according to the study which is published in the latest issue of Archives of Dermatology

Of the 34 people who actually completed the study, none ended up worse after using the cream, the study said, while 25 saw the plaques completely or nearly cleared.

The researchers recommend more research be conducted to produce a stronger version of the ointment.

The study did not compare the Indigo cream to other existing medications and did not use a more powerful, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.