Psoriasis is a chronic immune disease in which the skin of the person surrenders to swift cell production. The regions of the plaques can vary from redness, scaliness, itchiness, and painfulness that can appear anywhere in the body. Though psoriasis cannot be cured, it can be managed through the administration of treatment, thus offering a better quality of life.
Understanding Psoriasis
Psoriasis is an immune disorder, especially T cells that commonly fight the infection. In psoriasis, the wrong way-round inflammation caused by T cells results in multiplying rapidly. While mature normal skin cell takes several weeks to mature, the impact of psoriasis develops within only days, piling up and turning them into scaly patches.
What are the Types of Psoriasis?
Psoriasis is common. This disease may be inherited thus the condition can cross from one generation to another. It may not be, however, experienced at any age but mainly during adult age. Such a disease is never contagious. Other causes of such a disorder may include stress, infections, injuries on the skin, smoking, overuse of alcohol, and other drugs.
There are five main types of psoriasis. Each of the above has distinguishing characteristics:
- Plaque Psoriasis: It presents in the most common form, affecting approximately 80-90% of cases. These lesions are found as patches with inflamed red skin covered with silvery-white scales.
- Guttate Psoriasis: It is characterized by small droplike lesions, the disease usually follows a bacterial infection, for example, strep throat.
- Inverse Psoriasis: These lesions are caused by red, smooth, shiny ones, especially in folds, like armpits, groin, and under the breasts.
- Pustular Psoriasis: A severe type that is often described with white pus-filled blisters or pustules on red skin.
- Erythrodermic Psoriasis: A rare and very dangerous type that includes widespread redness and peeling of the skin.
Psoriasis Symptoms
The symptoms for each type of psoriasis are a bit different, but common symptoms include some or all of the following:
- Red patches covered with silvery scales
- Dry, scaly, and cracked skin that bleeds
- Itching, burning, and soreness
- Nail thickening and pitting, also known as nail psoriasis
- Swelling and stiffness in the joints, and is sometimes referred to as psoriatic arthritis
It can also affect a patient's psyche since it embarrasses a patient, gets them angry or leaves one with the feeling of being socially ostracized because of the condition.
Treatment of Psoriasis
Even though this disease cannot be cured, all symptoms can be made manageable either by treatment or prevention of happening. The treatment options for the method are solely based on the severity of the psoriasis, its location in the body, and how the patient will respond to past treatment types.
Topical Treatments
The very first line of defence in terms of managing the occurrence of psoriasis is topical treatment. They can hit the skin directly, which is why they are a great source of help for patients with mild to moderate cases of psoriasis.
- Corticosteroids: Anti-inflammatory creams, ointments, or lotions may also be prescribed. The creams used for redness, swelling, and itching are less potent on sensitive areas such as the face or genitals. Prescription is stronger for use on thicker skin areas that contain the scalp or elbows.
- Vitamin D Analogues: Calcipotriene and calcitriol are man-made versions of vitamin D that decrease the rate at which the skin cells proliferate. Either can be used alone or with corticosteroids.
- Topical Retinoids: Medications from vitamin A retinoids such as tazarotene inhibit inflammation and also decrease the proliferation rate of the cells in the skin. Retinoids can irritate the skin and thus are mostly combined with other drugs.
- Coal Tar: A traditional medical drug, it has been around for years and calms scaling itchy and inflamed states. It comes in shampoos, creams and oils, though it can get very messy with some of the smelliest odours.
- Salicylic Acid: Most often used as part of other topical applications, salicylic acid aids in exfoliating scale out of the skin's surface and allowing it to be sanded down.
- Moisturizers: Moisturizers don't heal psoriasis; they just remove the dryness, scaling, and itch from your skin owing to their moisturizing action.
Light Therapy or Phototherapy
Phototherapy lets a doctor expose your skin to UV light. Phototherapy works very well for the patient in case of a failed topical treatment if they fall into the middle to severe range of psoriasis.
- UVB Phototherapy: Narrowband UVB light slows down the rate at which the skin makes cells. The treatment will be done mainly two to three times a week. Most cases have been proven to experience long-lasting clearness of the skin after the treatment process under UVB phototherapy.
- PUVA: Here, a medicine called psoralen is applied to the patient in such a way that their skin will be sensitive to UVA light. PUVA is given in severe types of psoriasis which are not responsive to UVB alone.
- Excimer Laser: This is a novel form of phototherapy that emits a beam of UVB light at some exact area, which allows the region to receive better treatment with no harm to other skin regions.
Systemic treatments
It is the systemic treatment given when there is moderate to severe psoriasis or large areas of the body have involved psoriasis for which topical and phototherapy treatments do not work. It is available for an oral as well as injectable route and is distributed throughout the entire body.
- Methotrexate: It is an immunosuppressant that lowers the production of cells in the skin while degrading the immune response; it is very effective but one has to monitor this drug for itself as it can cause liver damage or bone marrow suppression.
- Cyclosporine: This is also an immunosuppressant whose effectiveness in the reduction of symptoms of psoriasis is undeniable, but usage is short-term as it can cause kidney damage and elevated blood pressure.
- Biologics: The drug is targeted with specificity on different parts of the immune system, administered by injection or intravenous infusion. Biologics include adalimumab, etanercept, and infliximab. Most patients with a more severe course of disease or moderate to severe psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis would be treated with the use of biologics if other treatments mentioned above fail.
- Apremilast: Oral therapy, which works through the inhibition of an enzyme that is involved in inflammation; useful in both moderate to severe psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis; fewer side effects as compared to systemically acting agents. Nausea, diarrhoea, and weight loss are some of the adverse drug reactions.
Lifestyle Modifications and Self Medications
Patient care also involves lifestyle modification aimed at reducing the stimulus and frequency of attacks. The following have been helpful strategies in this regard
- Moisturizing Cream Daily: Hydration of skin may remove dryness and cracking, thus exacerbating the psoriasis.
- Stress Reduction: A stressor is found to trigger flare-ups of the disease. Practice like yoga, meditation, and deep breathing may reduce the level of stress.
- Balanced Diet: No diet is known to "treat" psoriasis, but an anti-inflammatory balanced diet and fruits, veggies, and omega-3 oils may help alleviate symptoms. Some foods should be avoided, such as processed foods, sugar, and red meat.
- Bathe with Epsom Salts: Adding Epsom salts or colloidal oatmeal to bath water will calm the itchy and irritated skin.
New Therapy: Excimer Laser for Psoriasis
Treatment of psoriasis with the Excimer laser is exciting. It does indeed administer focused ultraviolet light that straightens out lesions on areas of psoriasis without affecting the adjoining normal skin whatsoever. It reduces side effects and lets patients come into relief more quickly and with fewer treatments than with conventional phototherapy. The most valuable place for the Excimer laser is to treat smaller body areas like the scalp, knee, and elbow regions.
When to Seek Medical Care
You will realize that you have psoriasis when the skin appears silvery or when you realize that your symptoms are becoming worse. You should schedule a visit with our doctor at the Royal Medical Center at the earliest if:
- The symptoms of psoriasis are very severe and have become so problematic that they begin to interfere with daily activities.
- Joint pain or stiffness is common, and it is one symptom of possibly associated psoriatic arthritis.
- You have no control over the symptoms of the therapy you have been receiving.
- Manifest infection at the region, which can include redness or tenderness of the skin region where the lesion has developed.
FAQs
Q: Is Psoriasis Infectious?
A: No, it is not contagious. It cannot be passed from one person to another.
Q: What are some of the Common Symptoms of Psoriasis?
A: Red patches on the skin with thick silvery scales and there is itching, burning, and soreness.
Q: How Can Psoriasis Be Diagnosed?
A: Typically, it involves physical examination of the skin and medical history at times even a skin biopsy.
Q: What options are there for psoriasis treatment?
A: Topical treatments, phototherapy, and systemic treatments. Depending on the severity and extent of the disease.
Q: Do lifestyle changes help in the treatment of psoriasis?
A: Healthy lifestyle stress monitoring with avoiding and reducing flare-ups.
Q: Can you treat psoriasis?
A: Psoriasis cannot be cured but treatments currently available are potent to decrease symptoms and bring improvement into life.
Conclusion
Psoriasis is very hard to live with, but an appropriate treatment plan can still make it possible to live an unlevelled life. Treatment options range from topicals and phototherapy to biologics and systemic medications; the extensive choice of treatments ensures tailored care and, hence a very individualized approach, depending on each patient's needs.
Thus, patients with psoriasis need to collaborate with our doctors at the Royal Medical Center and make a treatment approach that would help tackle the disease correctly and improve their well-being at large.
Therefore, Royal Medical Center ensures continuity in a continuum of care with current options available for treatment so that individuals living with psoriasis would be able to achieve clearer skin and quality of life.
