Most Effective Complementary, Alternative Medicine for Psoriasis

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies with the most robust evidence of effectiveness in the treatment of plaque psoriasis are indigo naturalis, curcumin, dietary modification, fish oil, meditation, and acupuncture, according to a systematic review published online in JAMA Dermatology.

Among the 57 trials and 3 meta-analyses included in the review, researchers found the strongest evidence for efficacy in the following CAM approaches:

• application of topical indigo naturalis, which showed significant improvements compared with placebo across 5 randomized controlled trials with 215 participants;
• treatment with curcumin, which showed statistically and clinically significant improvement in psoriasis plaques across 3 randomized controlled trials with a total of 118 participants, 1 nonrandomized controlled study, and 1 uncontrolled study;
• daily treatment with fish oil, which showed benefit in most of 7 uncontrolled studies that investigated it (although it failed to show significant improvement in most of the 12 randomized controlled trials that also evaluated its use);
• meditation and guided imagery, which showed modest efficacy in 3 single-blind randomized controlled trials with a total 112 patients with psoriasis; and
• acupuncture, which showed significant improvement compared with placebo in a meta-analysis of 13 randomized controlled trials.

“This review will aid practitioners in advising patients seeking unconventional approaches for treatment of psoriasis,” researchers wrote.

—Jolynn Tumolo

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