Erica Heilman
Approximately 10 million people in the United States live with psoriasis, a chronic skin condition that causes scaly, itchy and sometimes painful patches on the body's outer layer of skin. For some the condition is simply irritating and easily managed with topical treatments. For those with moderate to severe psoriasis, the disease can be debilitating. Not only is it painful, it can cause loss of work and limit a person's ability to move freely and participate in physical activities. Psoriasis can also have a devastating effect on self-esteem and social relationships.
Doctors once believed that psoriasis was a chronic disease of the body's epidermis, or the outer layer of skin. But in 1979, doctors found that when people who happen to have psoriasis received a drug used to suppress the immune system as a treatment for another illness, their psoriasis symptoms improved. What had been thought of as a simple disorder of the skin had turned out to be a problem of the immune system.
This knowledge has led to a radical change in the way some cases of psoriasis are treated. Systemic drugs designed to target faulty signals in the immune response are resulting in fewer side effects, and longer remission periods than any treatments before. According to psoriasis expert Dr. David Pariser, professor of dermatology at Eastern Virginia School of Medicine, these drugs, called biologics, are offering new hope to long-time sufferers of the disease.
Copyright 2009 NBC Health
Click here to read the rest of the article at HealthVideo.com
