Posted on Oct 29, 2007 | Comments 0
Psoriasis is a skin condition characterized by red, thick scaly plaques that itch and cause bleeding sometimes with discomfort and emotional stress for patients.
In addition to dealing with the symptoms of psoriasis, a new research suggested a link between psoriasis and a serious medical condition.
The medical condition that is associated with psoriasis is heart disease.
Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease which occurs when the immune system attacks the body’s own cells. This results in large, itchy patches on the surface of the skin.
Effects of psoriasis can go skin deep causing inflammation throughout the body. Some of the abnormalities of the immune system that cause psoriasis also influence heart disease. Inflammation is a natural response produced by the body whenever immune system is at work fighting an infection.
As psoriasis causes chronic inflammation, it can adversely affect heart and blood vessels. Immune activity is important for establishing atherosclerosis or blockage of arteries and promoting them to rupture into a heart attack.
People with psoriasis have a tendency to be obese, smoke, have hypertension and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Psoriasis patients should visit the physician and screened for cardiovascular risk factors.
If you have risk factors, treatment includes guidelines to treat heart disease. The guidelines include losing weight and stopping smoking. The doctor also recommends for psoriasis treatment to reduce the risk of cardiovascular problems.
Pain in joints can lead to psoriatic arthritis:
If the psoriatic patient has pain in the joints, they like to have psoriatic arthritis. Psoriatic arthritis affects 15 percent of people with psoriasis and is more frequent in those with cutaneous disease. Patients with severe joint pain should visit rheumatologist and decide which treatment is best for them.
The treatments can be phototherapy or light therapy, systemic treatment such as biologic agents, methotrexate or some combination. Sometimes, it can be treated with topical treatments like corticosteroids (cortisone-like gels, sprays, ointments or creams), coal, vitamin D3 derivatives, retinoids and anthralin.
Each drug has side effects, so they are taken in rotation or combine them. There is no best drug for the disease, so life style factors like medical history, gender, age, extent and type of the disease are important in the treatment.
These treatments are effective in reducing psoriasis symptoms, but they will not make the symptoms disappear completely. If a person is having moderate psoriasis, medications turn red, scaly patches into pink, flat, non-scaly lesions, but you can not get the regular skin.
New drug is safe and effective for psoriasis:
A new drug for psoriasis, self-injected for every three months is safe and effective for psoriasis. The drug, Ustekinumab, is a monoclonal antibody that targets interleukin 12 and interleukin 23, which are produced by the immune system’s inappropriate response in the body. The drug is found to be well tolerated and had better outcomes in psoriasis patients.
Posted in: Skin Disorders