A Powerful, Beauty Enhancing Oil from Morocco Natural News.com, AZ - Nov 28, 2008 Because this oil is completely natural and chemical free, it is fantastic for problematic skin conditions such as rosacea, eczema, and psoriasis. ...
Source: Google News
Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: psoriasis + 0.23 + web Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/5/2008)
August is Psoriasis Awareness Month MarketWatch - Psoriasis is a noncontagious, chronic disease of the immune system that appears on the skin, causing red, scaly patches. Many of the estimated 7.5 million ...
Manhattan Falls Short on Phase II Trial for Psoriasis FDA news (subscription), VA - Manhattan Pharmaceuticals? Phase IIa clinical study of topical PTH (1-34) for the treatment of mild-to-moderate plaque psoriasis failed to improve patients? ...OTC:MHAN
When health problems are skin deep Chester DailyLocal.com, USA - Aug 4, 2008 Psoriasis, a chronic skin disorder, is one such condition. August is National Psoriasis Month, and several area medical professionals recently shared their ...
NullHap - a versatile application to estimate haplotype ... 7thSpace Interactive (press release), NY - As an example of application we used Nullhap to reanalyze published data on distribution of KIR genotypes in Polish psoriasis patients and controls showing ...
Model Focus Vogue.com, UK - I used to have psoriasis until about 12 years ago, which has always kept me humble. But every model goes through turbulence so you have to work out what ...
Subcutaneous Blood Flow in Psoriasis. - P Klemp - Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 1985 - nature.com ... of the lateral crus in LS and NLS of 10 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and ... using
the obtained values gave a significantly higher SBF in LS, 3.57 0.23 ml/100 g ...
The Burden of Psoriasis Is Not Determined by Disease Severity Only - VMR Heydendael, CAJM de Borgie, PI Spuls, PMM … - Journal of Investigative Dermatology Symposium Proceedings, 2004 - nature.com ... pain (r=-0.23 and r=-0.28, respectively) and between desquamation on the scalp and
mental health (r=-0.29). In conclusion, we found that psoriasis patients had ...
Impact of Obesity and Smoking on Psoriasis Presentation and Management - MD Herron, M Hinckley, MS Hoffman, J Papenfuss, CB … - Archives of Dermatology, 2005 - Am Med Assoc ... your Web browser does not support basic Web standards ... in early life were compared
with psoriasis patients without ... years of age (OR, 0.64 [95% CI, 0.23-1.76]; P ...
Lymphoma Risk in Psoriasis: Results of the PUVA Follow-up Study - RS Stern - Archives of Dermatology, 2006 - Am Med Assoc ... your Web browser does not support basic Web standards ... having had ionizing radiation
therapy for psoriasis were not ... PUVA treatments (IRR, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.23-5.38 ...
Source: Google Scholar
Soothing Combinations for Psoriasis
Although the dog days of summer can be uncomfortably hot, a little sunlight can help clear psoriasis, a chronic skin condition. But because this immune disease is characterized by flaky, red patches that can bleed and cause pain, some people with the condition are reluctant to expose their skin in T-shirts and shorts.
Fortunately, new medications that address the immune system dysfunction responsible for condition, as well as combinations of new and old therapies, are making it easier for doctors and people with psoriasis to control the disease. Below, Alan Menter, MD, a clinical professor dermatology at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, and Gerald Krueger, MD, an associate professor of dermatology at The Rockefeller University in New York City, discuss how new combination therapies can help clear psoriasis for longer periods of time, so that people can enjoy their summer, and a more comfortable quality of life overall. What is psoriasis?
ALAN MENTER, MD: Psoriasis is a common disorder that affects approximately 2 percent of the US population. It causes red, thick and scaly patches on the skin, but it's a disease of the immune system.
GERALD KRUEGER, MD: In the immune system, specialized white blood cells called lymphocytes circulate by traveling from the blood stream into the lymph nodes and into the skin. In psoriasis, these cells break out into the skin. They become activated in the process, causing inflammation and making the skin scaly and itchy.
How does having psoriasis affect quality of life?
ALAN MENTER, MD: Quality of life is tremendously impacted by psoriasis. It affects so many aspects of people's day-to-day activities, such as their personal interactions with their loved ones, their interactions in the workplace, or even being unable to wear the clothing they'd like to wear. Their skin is sore and flaking. And the emotional impact of psoriasis is as devastating as that of any other chronic disease.
Are there different degrees of psoriasis?
ALAN MENTER, MD: Psoriasis is divided into mild, moderate and severe psoriasis. In the mild cases, there are a few little red, scaly patches on areas like the elbows, knees and scalp. Mild psoriasis covers about 2 percent of the body's surface area. So you would have enough patches to cover an area equivalent to the palms of both of your hands.
With the more moderate cases of psoriasis, patients have 20 to 40 patches, covering up to 10 percent of their body. Severe cases account for approximately one-third of the patients with psoriasis. This is psoriasis that is physically disabling, and may involve joints.
What do physicians use as the criteria for beginning therapy?
ALAN MENTER, MD: When we decide as physicians what therapies to use, we usually look at the extent of the psoriasis, whether there is any psoriatic joint disease present or not, whether it's mild, moderate or severe.
In the mild cases, ointments and creams may be sufficient to treat patients. When we get to the more moderate to severe cases, we will have to consider other therapies such as light therapy called PUVA, systemic oral mediations such as methotrexate or cyclosporine—which work throughout the body—or some of the new systemic injectable therapies. These injectable drugs, known as biologics, target the abnormal immune system cells and drive them back into the bloodstream and away from the skin so that they do not cause the inflammation that we recognize in psoriasis.
What is meant by remission?
ALAN MENTER, MD: The ultimate aim of treatment is to get what we call remissions, which means clearance of psoriasis or as little psoriasis as possible. The question is how long can we keep them clear and how long will this clearance last?
I look at psoriasis like I look at diabetes, Crohn's disease or rheumatoid arthritis. These are chronic diseases that also affect the immune system. People may be able to come off treatment when their psoriasis clears after a course of treatment. They may stay clear for three months, six months. But then inevitably the disease is going to come back in almost everybody so we'll need to work out schedules of treatment that keeps them clear for the long term.
What factors do you consider when deciding to treat a patient?
ALAN MENTER, MD: A patient's lifestyle is very important in our decision-making process for treatment. For example, if a patient is a busy person who travels a lot, light treatment is not the best option. It doesn't pay to come in for a week and have three light treatments and then not be available for the subsequent couple of weeks.
GERALD KRUEGER, MD: The way I usually start off is by first of all finding out whether there are some financial issues. The second thing I try and find out is how convenient is it for them to come and see me every week or every month. The third thing that I like to determine is expectations. Do people want comfort only? Do they want to have no psoriasis? And then fourthly, I ask them what kind of side effects they are willing to put up with.
When would you use combination therapy for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis?
ALAN MENTER, MD: Traditionally in dermatology, we have used combination treatment whereby we combine one treatment with a second treatment, either simultaneously, or as we're getting somebody off one treatment, we'll start a second treatment in order to maintain the remission. The advantage of combination therapy is that you can maximize the good effects and reduce the potential side effects of each treatment. For instance, with methotrexate therapy, we may only get the patient 60 percent to 70 percent clear. We will then add a little bit of light treatment and get them clearer. And if you add light treatment to methotrexate, you can reduce the total amount of methotrexate that is given.
There is also very good data out there that shows adding a light treatment to biologic treatment improves end results and short-term results; because biologic treatment, which is a once-a-week injection, takes a few weeks to kick in, a four-week course of light treatment may provide a quicker response. We can possibly get even longer remissions if we add a little light treatment once they get off the biologic.
Are there any risks to combining therapy?
GERALD KRUEGER, MD: There are some unholy combinations in combination therapy. The number one bad combination that we know about is cyclosporine and light therapy. The likelihood of getting skin cancers increases some five to sixfold with that combination. Now that doesn't mean that everybody is going to get a skin cancer. It just means that if you've got a 1 percent risk, it's now going to be a 5 percent to 6 percent risk.
ALAN MENTER, MD: One has to be careful when combining therapies because drug interactions can occur. I think dermatologists who are experienced in psoriasis treatment know very well what risks are involved in combination therapy. We've devised what we believe are very safe combination therapies that maximize the benefits and reduce the risk. Studies are ongoing to look at the risks involved in combining two systemic agents or even two biologic agents.
The big advance in treatment is that we can now keep patients' skin clear for longer periods of time, and then give them second or third courses of treatment that will continue to keep their psoriasis under control.
