?Psoriatic patches can occur anywhere, but they tend to predominate on the face, scalp, elbows, knees, back, limbs, and around and on the genitals, and although this is not nearly as much of a concern as it once was when we knew so little about this condition, it’s still very important to point out that psoriasis is not a communicable disease – those patches are not catchy.
.....Do we know why anyone gets psoriasis? Not really, but in a fair number of people, it is clearly genetically-controlled, meaning that we will eventually find a few genes that play a large role in determining one’s risk of getting psoriasis, although as with most genetic disorders, I am sure we will also find that certain environmental factors (perhaps a virus early in life, perhaps a toxin, perhaps some dietary abnormality) allow the disease to develop, which is why, of course, only some people who carry the genes for psoriasis actually end up with the disease.
.....Psoriasis is also notorious for waxing and waning, that is, for flaring up and dying down.
Factors that may aggravate psoriasis include some of the usual suspects for other skin problems, namely, stress, temperature changes, smoking, skin injury, and infections.
.....It’s also quite important to note that some drugs (including common ones such as some high blood pressure medications and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory meds) can trigger a psoriatic flare-up.
.....One of the main problems associated with psoriasis is when the immune disorder affects the joints in what is known as psoriatic arthritis.
.....This only happens in about 10-15 % of people with psoriasis, but psoriatic arthritis can be a particularly nasty form of arthritis and difficult to control.
.....Also, since psoriasis is an immune disorder, it’s been linked over the last few years to other similar problems such as a higher risk of developing other auto-immune disorders, a higher overall rate of premature death (and before everyone with psoriasis panics about this link, this is probably the case only in people with long-term severe cases), and a recent study also found that young people (anyone under the age of 50) with severe psoriasis have a significantly higher risk of heart attack than people without psoriasis, a heart attack rate that’s comparable in fact to people who have diabetes (although it’s likely that some of the newer therapies – see below – can significantly soften these links).
.....Treating psoriasis involves so many potential
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