Psoriasis Treatment & Medications
If you're looking for information on this painful skin condition you've come to the right place...
► »What is psoriasis?
► »The causes and symptoms of skin and scalp psoriases?
► »A psoriasis cure - does it exist? Treatment, creams, shampoo - is there a natural herbal remedy or cure for healing this disease?
► »Psoriasis photos - guttate, plaque, pustular - what does it look like?
What is Psoriasis Psoriasis is a chronic disease which affects the joints and skin. Although it
affects primarily the epidermis its origins are thought to lie in the immune system. It
typically appears in the teens and many people who are affected note a family history of the
condition.
Causes and Symptoms The origin of the disease is not yet completely understood.
On the one hand it was once considered an affliction originating in the epidermis when skin cells
start to reproduce abnormally. However recently more research is suggesting that the problem lies
at a deeper level, in the patient's immune system.
Symptoms are typically patches of inflamed skin with whitish scaly skin called plaques.
Other symptoms might be pustules (pustular psoriasis) or small oval spots spread over large areas of the body (guttate psoriasis).
Sometimes symptoms may also affect the nails and joints (psoriatic arthiritis), especially a person's hands and toes.
Psoriasis Cures and Treatment Unfortunately at this time there is no
permanent cure. However a variety of treatments are available, topical, phototherapy, and systemic.
Topical treatments include ointments and creams, applied directly to the affected skin areas. Some of
the common ingredients in these treatments include retinoids, coal tar, Vitamin D3, and corticosteroids.
Phototherapy consists of exposure to ultraviolet light in the 280-315 nm range. In combination with
topical therapy this can yield great benefits in many cases
Systemic treatment consists of immunosuppresive drugs such as methotrexate and ciclosporin, and a new
class of treatment called biologics. These are synthetic proteins which specifically target the immune
functions associated with psoriasis. At present these are highly expensive and rare.
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