Psoriasis

What is psoriasis?

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disorder that causes areas of thickened, inflamed, red skin, often covered with silvery scales.

How does psoriatic lesion look like?

Psoriatic lesions are reddish, raised thick covered with silvery white scales. They commonly occur over knees, elbows and lower back

Who can get psoriasis?

Anybody can get psoriasis. Children and adolescents can develop psoriasis, but it occurs primarily in adults. Women and men are equally affected. In few cases it is familial.

Is psoriasis contagious?

Psoriasis is not an infection, and it is not contagious.

What is the cause of psoriasis?

The exact cause of psoriasis is not identified. However, it is believed that the disease develops due to a combination of immune, genetic, and environmental factors.

The T cells which are a type of white blood cells are wrongly activated in psoriasis which lead to excess of cell turnover in the skin. This leads to development of thick whitish scaly lesions
Around 30% of cases have positive family history of psoriasis.

Others factors like infections, stress, changes in weather, certain medicines can worsen or trigger psoriasis.

What are the treatments available?

• Adequate moisturization
• Topical medicines containing urea, salicylic acid, steroids, calcipotriol which reduce the thickness of psoriatic lesions
• Oral medicines like methotrexate, azathiaprine, retinoids, etc
• Phototherapy