No-meat diet cured unsightly skin disorder

Your paper has recently published a number of seemingly unrelated articles that to myself seem exceedingly interconnected, enough to drive me to comment.

On April 29, in a medical advice column your commenting physician discussed alternative means of relieving the suffering of eczema patients, than the use of prescribed steroid creams. On May 3, Postmagazine featured a whole article on dieting. Last week we had the latest in a line of meat related health scares, and on May 6 an article described David Tang's pain with another dermatological disorder.

Whilst not being a crusader for the great veggie cause, I would like to recount my own experience taking up vegetarianism, that may help relieve some readers of their own suffering.

For 24 years I also suffered from eczema, on my body, face and scalp. I unsatisfactorily managed to keep it under control with the daily application of a well-known steroid treatment. A day without the use of this steroid, however, would cause the eczema to flare up and become unsightly.

Five years ago I gave up eating meat and fish, within two to three months, my eczema had completely cleared up. I stopped using the steroid and switched to a moisturiser. After another month I didn't need to use anything, and I haven't suffered from eczema since.

Eczema, like any skin disease is quite insufferable. Not only can the itching reach such intensity it drives you nearly insane, but the cosmetic damage can also leave psychological scars.