Psoriasis: what is it and how to treat it

Psoriasis is called skin disease, which has a chronic course and is very difficult to treat. It looks very unaesthetic, it can affect not only the skin, but also nails and joints, significantly worsening the quality of life of a sick person.

How is psoriasis transmitted? What is this - multifactorial disease?

A specific reason could not be found. The main role in the emergence of psoriasis is hereditary predisposition to it. This disease occurs most often in young people, in the family of whom someone has cutaneous manifestations of the disease. By inheritance, it is not the "psoriasis gene" itself that is transmitted, but the "breakdown", the predisposition of the organism to the wrong division of the skin cells .

Such a disease, which is also called psoriasis I, often occurs in 16-25 years, the probability of "getting it" if only the mother is sick - 8%, if the father is slightly more (up to 14%), but if both parents are sick, Then the "chance" increases at times - up to 60%.

There are also "psoriasis II", which appears more often in people older than 40 years. Its causes are called stresses, frequent use of spirits, skin and joint trauma, and infectious diseases.

Is psoriasis contagious ? What is this - psoriatic lesion of the nails? Does it arise from the fact that a person combs his skin plaques?

Psoriasis is the result of an incorrect functioning of the body, as a result of which the skin cells divide much faster than normal, and do not have time to tear themselves away. This disease is not contagious. As a result, the so-called psoriatic plaques are formed, which eventually becomes more and more, they merge and itch. Combing the skin rash does not provoke a nail disease . Nails can be involved in the process by themselves, due to all the same broken cell division rate.

If it happened that one person first fell ill in one family, and then another, it means that the second had its own risk factors for the disease. And before blaming: "Now I have psoriasis! What is this ?! ", it is necessary to remember whether the second person likes to drink, whether he lives in constant stress, whether his immediate relatives are ill and whether his work is related to traumatizing the skin with physical and chemical means.

What does psoriasis look like, what is psoriatic plaque?

Usually, psoriasis is the elements of a flat red rash that protrudes slightly above the surface of the skin. These spots are prone to fusion, covered with whitish scales, often appear on the site of skin injuries. This is psoriatic plaque. Such plaques are more in winter, by the summer they usually spontaneously disappear.

If you take a pure glass and lightly scrape the plaque, then at first it becomes a stearin stain. If you scrape further, the film will be visible, and if you completely clean the plaque, there will be a spot bleeding area.

Psoriasis on the legs is usually located in the area of the knees, on the hands - in the area of the elbows. Plaques can appear on the head, and in the groin, and on the buttocks.

Psoriasis: treatment methods

It is not always possible to immediately select for a person the treatment that will be optimal, often it is necessary to change the therapy more than once and not twice, to combine its methods. The most effective at the moment is the use of ultraviolet irradiation - PUVA-therapy. Various ointments are also used, for example, cream "Skin-cap", also a means of "Psorkutan" is considered very effective. Hormonal ointments can be used .

From systemic drugs used drugs made from vitamin A - retinoids. In rare cases, there is a sense of consumption of hormonal tablets or injections.