Psoriasis: Causes, Symptoms, and the Latest Breakthrough Treatments
Psoriasis is an incurable chronic skin disease that affects 7.5 million Americans. It causes thick, raised, scaly red patches on the body. Any portion of the skin can be involved, but the elbows, knees, scalp, and nails are most often affected. It can be itchy or painful and impact daily activities and sleep. This disease can wax and wane and can be triggered by stress, surgery, injury to the skin, smoking, infection, obesity, and certain medications. Twenty to 30 percent of patients with psoriasis will also have psoriatic arthritis, which is a destructive arthritis that needs aggressive treatment to prevent permanent damage to the joints.
It is not totally clear what causes psoriasis. We do know psoriasis is a disruption of the immune system, causing inflammation and an increase in the rate of skin cell growth. Psoriasis is partially hereditary, but is also impacted by environmental factors.
Psoriasis can have pronounced psychologic impact on a patient. People with psoriasis are more likely to have depressed moods, feelings of embarrassment and shame, and suffer from poor self-esteem. This disease can lead to trouble with personal relationships and employment, due to discrimination after observing the disease on the skin. People with psoriasis might be viewed by others as having a contagious condition, which is incorrect.
There is no cure for psoriasis, thus long-term management by your dermatologist is necessary. Thankfully, it is an exciting time for psoriasis treatment, as research in this area has been booming. We have a multitude of treatment options that have emerged in the last several years. Treatments include topical creams (steroids, vitamin D analogues, roflumilast, tapinarof), light therapy, oral medications (deucravacitinib, acitretin, methotrexate), and targeted immune modifiers (injectable biologics).
For decades, our topical treatment options remained stagnant, but in the last two years, promising novel topical options are available for use. The mechanism of action of these new topical creams is different from our prior options, so it is exciting that our patients that have not responded to topical steroids might have another topical option.
In addition, injectable biologics have really been a game changer for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis in terms of efficacy and ease of treatment. There are several different commercially available biologics that target various parts of the inflammatory process of psoriasis. Some of the injectables are only administered once every three months, allowing control of the disease with just four injections each year.
Each treatment carries a different side effect profile, and the appropriate treatment will be patient dependent. The variety of treatment options empower patients to take control of their health and successfully treat their psoriasis. For more information, talk to the Skin Wellness Physicians team by calling or contacting us online.
