Chronic Skin Disease: Psoriasis

Psoriasis A long term chronic skin disease which causes skin cells to grow too rapidly is known as Psoriasis. The results are thick silvery, white, or red patches to appear on the surface of the skin. Areas affected are generally the elbows, knees, scalp, back, palms, face, and feet. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, it’s estimated that about 7 million people in the United States alone are suffering from the skin disease, a vast majority being Caucasians. Conditions can flare in people typically around old age, but it can still be diagnosed from ages 15-30 or also around the common ages of 40-60. Methods for diagnosing the disease would involve a doctor having to examine the skin. In some cases, Psoriasis can be confused with

For cases like Psoriasis Arthritis, also called Psoriatic Psoriasis, you would need to be examined via x-ray and have blood drawn to determine the source of the disease. There are 7 forms of Psoriasis that can be diagnosed: Plaque, Guttate, Inverse, Pustular, Erythrodermic, Nail, and Psoriatic. Plaque Psoriasis, or psoriasis vulgaris, is the most common type says, Cathy Cassata in her article “What Is Psoriasis”. She adds that about 8 in 10 people are diagnosed with this form of Psoriasis. The elbows, knees, lower back, and scalp are areas where the symptoms would flare. Symptoms include red itchy or burning patches, raised or inflamed red skin covered in white silvery scales. Guttate Psoriasis is a common form that typically affects children or young adults. Guttate Psoriasis will simply cause small, pink-red spots to form on the scalp, thighs, trunk, and upper arms. Inverse Psoriasis can affect areas like the armpits, groin, folds around the genitals and buttocks, and under the breasts with bright red shiny spots. These areas can worsen with

Possible triggers can be a contribution of stress, cold weather, and previous infection of strep throat, certain medications, smoking and alcohol. Most treatments are difficult considering that Psoriasis is long term, genetic, and up until recently non-curable disease. Depending on the intensity of the infected areas, ointments, lotions, shampoos, oils, and mild exposure to sunlight are all possible treatments. A prognosis shows that as research continues on all the forms of Psoriasis, it’s discovered that simple treatments are becoming useless attempts to care for patients as they simply become resistant to the treatment. Recently, research has been done to prove whether two untried drugs, Brodalumab and Secukinumab (Cosentyx), can treat Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis. In the article, “2 Experimental Drugs Offer Hope Against Psoriasis,” Steven Reinberg says that in one study, Brodalumab reduced Psoriasis symptoms 100% in more than 40% of patients. In the other report, Cosentyx slowed progression of Psoriatic Arthritis. “Forty-four percent of patients using Brodalumab had 100% of their Psoriasis cleared, compared with 22% of those receiving Stelera,” said Dr. Mark Lebwohl about the final phase in the study. The clearance rate was better with Brodalumab, but the time it took until clearance was achieved was less compared to Stelara. Brodalumab is an appreciated new advantage to treat