Psoriasis

Seen those red patches on the skin of certain people? Well, that's psoriasis vulgaris. It's actually an autoimmune skin disease that attacks the skin as well as joints of the body. This disease is NOT contagious. The scaly patches that you observe on the skin are known as psoriasis lesions or plaques. These are areas where the skin produces excess cells and inflames. The excess skin cells accumulate at a fast rate and form a white silvery patch on the affected area.

In normal condition, it takes 28 days for the complete process of formation and shedding of skin cells. But, in this diseased condition, the process gets 7 times faster! The outer cells of the skin are neither developed fully nor are shed properly. This leads to their accumulation, thus, forming a scaly patch.

Generally, plaque gets formed on the knees and elbows, but it can attack any part of the body, including the face, scalp, and even genitals. This is a chronic recurring disease. It can either be mild, affecting only a particular patch of skin, or severe, enveloping the complete skin of the body. Psoriatic nail dystrophy occurs when the finger and toe nails are affected by this condition. This is not all. About 10-15 percent of patients suffer from psoriasis arthritis.

Psoriasis may sound to be a horrible condition. Imagine how a person with white patches on his or her face would feel! For years, medical scientists have been trying to figure out the exact cause of this skin condition. Factors that are believed to aggravate the condition include smoking, excess consumption of alcohol, systemic corticosteroid withdrawal, and stress. Although there is treatment for this condition, due to its recurrent characteristic, psoriasis is no less than a challenge for doctors to control it.

Now, there are some people who are more vulnerable to this skin disease than others. Experts in the field of genetics at the University of Nottingham have discovered a ground-breaking fact in their research. According to them, the absence of genes LCE3B as well as LCE3C in people makes them more vulnerable to psoriasis. These genes help the skin to respond to damaging elements. In other words, the genes act as a shield to the skin, protecting it from diseases. In people who lack these genes, the skin is left with no protection against infection, damage, and inflammation. Thus, they are more prone to getting scary skin diseases like psoriasis. (The experts have published their research in the science journal "Natural Genetics".)

Since long, medical experts have been toying with the idea that genes had something to do with the development of psoriasis. It was also found that about 30 percent of psoriasis cases had a family history of this skin disease.

Psoriasis is a disease that not only affects the skin, but also the self-esteem of the patient. The confidence crumbles like a cookie and the sufferers tend to cover themselves with layers of clothing to hide their "patchy" condition. The good news is: treatment is available. The bad news is: it may or may not work.