GB2218906A

GB2218906A - Medicament for treatment of skin disorders

Info

Publication number: GB2218906A
Application number: GB8912373A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Anne Mcmanus
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-05-27
Filing date: 1989-05-30
Publication date: 1989-11-29
Also published as: GB8912373D0

Abstract

Finely ground eggshells are formed into an oral or topical pharmaceutical composition preferably also comprising vinegar, essence of almond, paraffin, various waxes and petroleum jelly. The compositions are useful for treatment of skin disorders such as eczema and allergic conditions.

Description

Medicament for Various Skin and Ulcer Disorders Description This invention relates to a medicament particularly for topical application.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided the use of eggshells in the preparation of a medicament.

Although it is thought that the medicament may be taken orally for ulcers and the like, preferably it is used topically for a range of disorders, particularly those as follows. A wide range of skin conditions regardless of cause such as eczema; dry, flaky or itchy skin; or allergies caused for example by industrial, biological or botanical irritants (it should be noted that the inventor does not claim to treat successfully all skin disorders). The invention is also effective for the treatment of ulcers particularly varicose ulcers and pre-varicose ulcer conditions. It also appears that the rodent ulcer could be treated.

Although the eggshell alone could be used in the aforementioned treatments, preferably it is made up as a pharmaceutical composition. This composition preferably comprises at least petroleum jelly, or wax as a pharmaceutical carrier, advantageously in the following form and amounts: paraffin wax from 10% to 30%, other wax at from 5% to 20%, and petroleum jelly at from 3% to 10%.

The precentage amounts throughout this specification as expressed as weight by weight (w/w) of the total pharmaceutical composition.

The composition preferably also includes vinegar and essence of almond and paraffin advantageously present respectively at from 3% to 10%, 3% to 12%, and 30% to 50%.

The eggshells are preferably processed by heating in a microwave and then grinding. The size of the eggshell particles depend on the intended treatment. Thus if taken orally, it is advisable to grind the eggshell to a fine powder for taking, for example, in tablet form. On the other hand for some forms of topical application it is preferable to retain a more abrasive size of eggshell particle, whereas in other topical applications a powderlike form will be best.

The invention can also be used as a method of obtaining a cosmetically beneficial increase in appearance of a skin disorder.

The invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying examples.

ExamPle 1 Eggshells were heated in a microwave oven for six minutes, then ground finely to a powder and a composition made up with the following components.

w/w liquid paraffin 46.5% paraffin wax-soft 18.5% bees wax 5.0% emulsifying wax 7.5% essence of almond 4.3% vinegar 5.7% petroleum jelly 5.9% ground eggshell 6.6% Example 2 As for example 1 except that the paraffin wax is replaced by liquid paraffin, which is present at 6.5% w/w .

The compositions were applied topically to a range of skin conditions and ulcers as discussed heretofore and it was found that there was an encouraging alleviation in the conditions.

Less liquid paraffin may be balanced by a corresponding increase in softer waxes, such as paraffin wax or petroleum jelly. Thus the formulation of the composition can be adapted to the application required.

For example a more liquid cream which still retains to some degree an abrasive eggshell, is more beneficially applied to sensitive or raw skin such as commonly found on young babies or old people.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided use of paraffin in the preparation of a topical medicament.

Preferably the paraffin is present in about 5% to 90% by weight, but most preferably is present in about 14% to 18%.

The invention can be in the form of a cream, a gel, a salve stick or any other suitable form for topical application. Preferably, however, it comprises wax, petroleum jelly and a suitable diluent, advantageously an oil based diluent.

Most preferably the diluent comprises a mixture of olive oil, sunflower oil, and glycerine and is preferably present from about 40% to 80% by weight. Advantageously the olive oil is present from about 14% to 30%, the sunflower oil from about 20% to 40%, and the glycerine up to about 8% most preferably 6% to 7% by weight. If the glycerine is present in too high a quantity, the cream or the like becomes sticky and tacky.

A number of waxes are suitable and are preferably present from about 0.5% to 2% by weight. Most preferably, however, bees wax is used at about 1.5% by weight. The petroleum jelly is preferably present from about 5% to$25% by weight, most preferably about 16% to 18% by weight.

The invention has a number of uses. For example, it has shown encouraging results for treating arthritis and possibly rheumatism; and is an anti-inflammatory.

The cream can be used as a sun cream or moisturiser.

Furthermore, the invention can be used to soften hard lumps of flesh and has even been found useful for treating such disorders as athletes foot.

The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the following example.

A cream was formulated as follows: gs WAX - Bees 5 1.5 Paraffin 50 15.6 Petroleun Jelly 55 17.2 OIL - Olive Oil 70 21.9 Sunflower 120 37.5 Glycerine 20 6.3 It was found that the cream had a number of applications, such as discussed It will be appreciated that the teaching from the second aspect of the invention can be applied to the first aspect of the invention, and visa-versa. Thus when paraffin is present in a composition including eggshells, it will still act substantially as disclosed in the second aspect of the invention, and the teaching of percentage weights and treatments thereof should be applied with the necessary changes to the first aspect of the invention.

Claims

1. Use of eggshells in the preparation of a medicament.

2. Use of eggshells as claimed in claim 1 as in the preparation of a topical medicament.

3. Use of eggshells as claimed in claim 2 in the preparation of a medicament for the therapeutic treatment of skin complaints or ulcers.

4. Use of eggshells as claimed in claim 3 wherein the skin disorders are allergies and eczemas, and the ulcers are varocose ulcers, pre-varacose ulser conditions, or rodent ulcers.

5. Use of eggshells as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the eggshells are in powder form.

6. Eggshells whenever used as a medicament.

7. A pharamaceutical composition comprising eggshells as a therapeutically active agent, and an pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

8. A pharmaceutical composition as claimed in claim 7 wherein the pharmaceutical carrier includes at least petroleum jelly or wax.

9. A pharmaceutical composition as claimed in claim 8 wherein the carrier, expressed as w/w of the pharmaceutical composition includes paraffin wax at from 10% to 30%, other wax at 5% to 20% and petroleum jelly at 3% to 10%.

10. A pharmaceutical composition as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 9 and further including at least vinegar, essence of, almond, or paraffin.

11. A pharmaceutical composition as claimed in claim 10 wherein, where there is vinegar, essence of almond, and liquid paraffin, it is present at respectively 3% to 10% 3% to 12%, and 30% to 75%, preferably 45% to 65%.

12. A pharmaceutical composition substantially as described with reference to the examples 1 and 2.

13. A method of obtaining a cosmetically beneficial improvement in a skin condition comprising applying eggshells as defined in claims 1 or 4 or a pharmaceutical composition as defined in any one of claims 7 to 12 to the affected skin area until a cosmetically beneficial improvement in appearance is obtained.

14. Use of paraffin in the preparation of a topical medicament.

15. Use of paraffin in the preparation of a topical medicament for use as a sun cream, skin moisturiser, anti-inflammatory, and for the treatment of arthritis, rheumatism, athletes foot and skin disorders.

16. Paraffin whenever used as a topical medicament.

17. A pharmaceutical composition comprising paraffin as a therapeutically active agent, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

18. A pharmaceutical composition as claimed in claim 17 wherein the paraffin is present in about 5% to 90% w/w, preferably 14% to 18% w/w of the total composition.

19. A pharmaceutical composition as claimed in claims 17 or 18 wherein the carrier includes at least petroleum jelly, wax, an oil based diluent, or glycerine.

20. A pharmaceutical composition as claimed in claim 19 wherein there is present olive oil at from 14% to 30%, sunflower oil at from 20% to 40%, wax at from 0.5% to 2%, and petroleum jelly at from 16% to 18% w/w, and glycerine at up to 8%, based on the pharmaceutical composition.

21. A pharmaceutical composition substantially as described with reference to example 3.