Psoriasis and Arthritis

Psoriasis is a chronic disease of the skin which causes marks of red patches that are covered with scales. These can appear everywhere on the body, including the scalp, elbows, knees, and even the genital region. Nail changes are also common, and psoriasis can also even cause hair loss.
In regards to the correlation between arthritis and psoriasis, there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration. For instance, in regards to the matter of arthritis and psoriasis, one can easily trigger the other, and so it is incredibly important that if you suffer from either one that you make sure to see your physician as soon as possible so that they can properly diagnose you and help you to find the best remedy possible.
The matter of arthritis and psoriasis is an incredibly important one that must be taken into the most serious consideration, and since arthritis and psoriasis are so closely correlated, you may not even recognize the symptoms of one or the other before it is too late. Thus, it is important to get regular checkups so that hopefully your physician will notice the signs and symptoms of either and then appropriately tell you the proper treatment in regards to the diagnosis.
By: John Ugoshowa

Treating Psoriasis With Dermatitis-Ltd

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The Effects Of Nail Psoriasis

About 50 percent of people with active psoriasis have psoriatic changes in fingernails and/or toenails. In some instances psoriasis may occur only in the nails and nowhere else on the body. Psoriatic changes in nails range from mild to severe, generally reflecting the extent of psoriatic involvement of the nail plate, nail matrix (tissue from which the nail grows), nail bed (tissue under the nail), and skin at the base of the nail. Damage to the nail bed by the pustular psoriasis can result in loss of the nail. Nail changes in psoriasis fall into general categories that may occur singly or all together:The nail plate is deeply pitted, probably due to defects in nail growth caused by psoriasis. The nail has a yellow to yellow-pink discoloration, probably due to psoriatic involvement of the nail bed. White areas appear under the nail plate. These are air bubbles marking spots where the nail plate is becoming detached from the nail bed (onycholysis). There may be reddened skin around the nail.The nail plate crumbles in yellowish patches (onychodystrophy), probably due to psoriatic involvement in the nail matrix.The nail is entirely lost due to psoriatic involvement of the nail matrix and nail bed.

Cardiovascular Risks For Psoriasis Sufferers

Psoriasis sufferers have an increased frequency of a variety of cardiovascular risk factors including diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, elevated blood cholesterol levels, and smoking, results of a study confirm.
In particular, the current results suggest that psoriasis is associated with key components of the metabolic syndrome -- a clustering of heart risk factors -- and that this association is stronger in cases of severe psoriasis.
This finding is important, say the investigators, given that individuals with as few as one or two metabolic syndrome risk factors are at heightened risk for death due to cardiovascular disease.
"Our other studies suggest that, independent of other risk factors, severe psoriasis itself may be a risk factor for heart attack," Dr. Joel M. Gelfand from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia told Reuters Health. "Therefore, patients with psoriasis should be screened for cardiovascular risk factors, and if these risk factors are present, they should be managed appropriately."
Gelfand and colleagues identified 127,706 patients with mild psoriasis and 3,854 with severe psoriasis. Each psoriasis patient was matched to up to five psoriasis-free control subjects.
Diabetes was present in 7.1 percent of patients with severe psoriasis and in 4.4 percent of those with mild psoriasis compared with just 3.3 percent of controls.
High blood pressure was present in 20 percent of patients with severe psoriasis, 14.7 percent of those with mild psoriasis and 11.9 percent of controls. Elevated cholesterol or "hyperlipidemia" was documented in 6 percent, 4.7 percent, and 3.3 percent, respectively.
Nearly 20.7 percent of individuals with severe psoriasis and 15.8 percent of those with mild psoriasis were obese compared with roughly 13.2 percent of controls. Thirty-one percent of those with severe psoriasis were smokers compared with 28 percent of those with mild psoriasis and 20.7 percent of psoriasis-free controls.
Compared with controls, patients with mild psoriasis had higher adjusted odds of diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and smoking. Patients with severe psoriasis had higher adjusted odds of diabetes, obesity, and smoking.
Additionally, diabetes and obesity were more prevalent in patients with severe psoriasis than in those with mild psoriasis.
Patients with psoriasis should be encouraged to identify and manage their modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, the authors conclude.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, December 2006.

The History Of Psoriasis

Psoriasis is probably one of the longest known illnesses of humans and simultaneously one of the most misjudged and misunderstood. Some scholars believe psoriasis to have been included among the skin conditions called tzaraat in the Bible.
Tzaraat was a punishment for sin whose cure could only be found in repentance and forgiveness. In more recent times psoriasis was frequently described as a variety of leprosy. It became known as Willan's lepra in the late 18th century when English dermatologists Robert Willan and Thomas Bateman differentiated it from other skin diseases and provided the first rational nomenclature based on the appearance of lesions. Willan identified two categories: leprosa graecorum and psora leprosa.
While it may have been visually, and later semantically, confused with leprosy it was not until 1841 that the condition was finally given the name psoriasis by the Viennese dermatologist Ferdinand von Hebra. The name is derived from the Greek word psora which means to itch.[3]
It was during the 20th century that psoriasis was further differentiated into specific types.

Psoriasis Awareness Week 6th - 10th November 2006

Psoriasis is a relapsing skin condition that affects around 2% of the population in the UK. Unlike normal skin, with psoriatic skin the cells renew every 2-3 days compared to normal skin cells which mature every 21-28 days. This fast turnover of cells can result in raised itchy red patches of skin covered with silvery scales.
Psoriasis can have a major impact on many different aspects of day to day life. Coping with treatment, dealing with other people's reactions to the condition and even doing things we take for granted like swimming and sunbathing can be awkward for sufferers.

Understanding Plaque Psoriasis

Plaque psoriasis is the most common form of psoriasis. It is characterized by raised, inflamed (red) lesions covered with a silvery white scale. The scale is actually a buildup of dead skin cells. The technical name for plaque psoriasis is psoriasis vulgaris (vulgaris means common).

Plaque psoriasis may appear on any skin surface, though the knees, elbows, scalp, and trunk are the most common locations. Sometimes the patches of infected skin are large, extending over much of the body. The patches, known as plaques or lesions, can wax and wane but tend to be chronic. These can be very itchy and if scratched or scraped they may bleed easily. The plaques usually have a well-defined edge and, while they can appear anywhere on the body, the most commonly affected areas are the scalp, knees and elbows. However, if the scalp is involved, you may develop psoriasis on the hairline and forehead. The actual appearance of the plaques can depend on where they are found on the body. Plaques found on the palms and soles can be scaly, however they may not be very red in color. This is due to the thickness of the skin at these sites. If the plaques are in moist areas, such as in the creases of the armpits or between the buttocks, there is usually little or no scaling. The patches are red and have a well-defined border. Chronic (or common) plaque psoriasis affects over 90% of sufferers. It appears usually on the scalp, lower back, elbows, arms, legs, knees and shoulders. It is very much an adult condition.

Psoriasis Linked to Higher Risk of Heart Attack

Psoriasis sufferers may face an increased risk of having a heart attack, a new study suggests.
The risk appears to be most pronounced among younger patients with more severe forms of the disease, according to a paper appearing in the Oct. 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"This study is really quite important," said Liz Horn, director of research for the National Psoriasis Foundation. "There have been a few other studies, but this one is important because it uses such a large database. This is just one more very important study that gives more evidence."
While more studies are needed to confirm the findings, "the potential is there for someone who has severe psoriasis who is in their 50s or 40s, of having a heart attack," said lead researcher Dr. Joel Gelfand, an assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in Philadelphia.
"The relative risk due to severe psoriasis is similar to the relative risk of having a heart attack from having diabetes," he said. "But the absolute risk [to any one person] is low. If you have severe psoriasis and are in your 40s, the risk of having a heart attack due to psoriasis is about one in 600 per year."
Psoriasis is thought to be an autoimmune disorder, occurring when the body inexplicably begins overproducing skin cells. The extra cells pile up on the surface of the skin before they have a chance to mature, creating bright red patches that cause itching, burning and stinging. The disease affects 2 percent to 3 percent of the adult population.
Some previous studies had shown an association between psoriasis and cardiovascular diseases but those studies could not rule out obesity, smoking and other risk factors as the true culprits.
In this study, the authors examined medical records from a large sample of patients aged 20 to 90 in the United Kingdom. The sample included more than half a million controls (people without psoriasis), more than 125,000 patients with mild psoriasis and almost 4,000 with severe psoriasis.
Heart attacks were more common in patients with severe psoriasis (five heart attacks per 1,000 person-years) and mild psoriasis (four heart attacks per 1,000 person-years) compared with the controls (about 3.6 heart attacks per 1,000 person-years).
Individuals who were younger and had more severe disease had the highest relative risk, with a 30-year-old patient with mild disease having a 29 percent greater risk than a person without psoriasis. A 30-year-old patient with severe psoriasis had about triple the risk and a 60-year-old patient with severe disease had a 36 percent increased risk.
It is thought that earlier-onset psoriasis (before age 40) is more severe than later-onset disease (after age 40). About three-quarters of patients will develop psoriasis before they turn 40.
"People with psoriasis have a bigger tendency to smoke, be obese, have high blood pressure and other things we know are risk factors for cardiovascular disease," Gelfand said. "The thing we've done, which hadn't been done before for psoriasis, was to control for these risk factors. We found that psoriasis still increases the risk of having a heart attack."
The common denominator may be inflammation, the researchers said.
"Immune activity is important for establishing atherosclerosis or blockage of the arteries and promoting them to rupture into a heart attack," Gelfand explained. "The same immune cells involved in this are involved in psoriasis. Other diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis -- which share common immune factors -- [also] have an increased risk of heart disease. This is a scientific theory that has been evolving over the last decade or so but still needs additional studies to confirm."
In the meantime, patients with psoriasis should not be alarmed but should see a physician and be screened for cardiovascular risk factors, Gelfand said. And, if you do have risk factors, you should treat them according to current guidelines. This includes stopping smoking and losing excess weight.
"There needs to start being a conversation between patients and physicians about the risk of cardiovascular disease and what psoriasis patients should be doing to decrease risks," Horn said.
"This is really important information," she said. "But it's still very early in understanding what all this means. I do think general health issues about cardiovascular disease and lifestyle modification is probably a good starting place."
"This study is of great concern and it underscores why we believe the National Institutes of Health should be increasing research on psoriasis," Michael Paranzino, president of Psoriasis Cure Now, said in a staement. "Unlocking the apparent link between psoriasis and heart attack risk may help us improve treatments both for psoriasis and heart attack prevention. The 'heartbreak of psoriasis' is supposed to be a tired punch line, not a literal truth."
"This study suggests that estimates of the impact of psoriasis, both in terms of dollars spent and lives lost, may be undercounting the true burden of this disease," Paranzino added. "With NIH funding having doubled over the last decade but psoriasis funding down 20 percent, this study should serve as a wake-up call that increasing psoriasis research funding should become a national priority. One of the key questions that patients need answered is whether aggressive treatment of psoriasis can reduce this increased heart attack risk."