Topical Steroid Addiction and Red Skin Syndrome – The Elephant in the Room - 4/8

Topical Steroid Addiction and Red Skin Syndrome – The Elephant in the Room – 4/8

“An elephant in the room” is an English metaphorical idiom for an obvious truth that is either being ignored or not being addressed. The idiomatic expression also applies to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss. It is based on the idea that an elephant in the room would be impossible to overlook. In 1814 a poet named Krylov wrote a fable titled “The Inquisitive Man” which tells the story of a man who goes to a museum and notices all sorts of tiny things but fails to notice an elephant in the room.

The world gets better every day and then worse again in the evening.

Kin Hubbard

I strongly suggest that an elephant has been living in dermatology clinics for over 30 years. There is no such entity as “bad” eczema, “bad” psoriasis, or “bad” seborrheic dermatitis, only corticosteroid addiction and the resulting Red Skin Syndrome. The simplicity of this observation has allowed me to cure over 3200 patients.

Physicians are focusing on the little things and do not see the elephant in the room. They focus on disparate symptoms and do not see the elephant that connects them. In each case, whether psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis or atopic dermatitis, the elephant that connects the seemingly different conditions is the Red Skin Syndrome that inevitably develops after long-term steroid use. The escalation to anti-mitotics and immunosuppressants further compromise the patient, the National Eczema Association NEA disingenuously claims that RSS is a rare condition, the drug companies continue to “study” RSS patients with expensive more powerful and side-effect ridden drugs, and the physicians continue to prescribe the dangerous new drugs while still maintaining the steroid usage. This will never work.

The elephant in dermatology clinics is the Red Skin Syndrome confirmed by the 3200 patients that I have cured, the approximately 10,000 patients cured as reported in support groups, and the massive army of patients who have discontinued steroids on their own accord after searching the Internet for a cure (approximately 80,000 Koreans who are in TSW as reported to me by a member of the group). These numbers should influence even the most doubtful practitioner to reconsider his/her conventional diagnosis and treatment.

By Dr Marvin Rapaport, MD|2021-10-19T03:16:49-07:00November 18th, 2015|Information on Red Skin Syndrome, Topical Steroid Withdrawal, White Paper|Comments Off

About the Author: Dr Marvin Rapaport, MD

In 1978 I initiated and set up the contact and photo dermatitis clinic at UCLA. There was a need to evaluate a large group of patients who exhibited severe eczematoid rashes, especially on the face. Patients were referred from all over Southern California. All patients underwent a lengthy history and examination. Further evaluations included blood studies, allergy patch testing, special sunlight (photo) testing and skin biopsies. From the start it was apparent that most patients experienced a mild dermatitis on various parts of the body that progressively worsened. Their histories always included numerous doctor visits, multiple physicians, and therapy consisting of an increasing amount of corticosteroids. My testing failed to reveal any specific culprit chemicals, cosmetics, perfumes, workplace or recreational exposures. It became increasingly clear that the physician’s therapy, the corticosteroids, was invariably causing the problem. I wrote 7 scientific articles that were published in the most august peer-reviewed dermatologic journals and I gave many lectures at various dermatology meetings. To this day an unfortunate reluctance exists on the part of most physicians to accept this simple concept.