Psoriasis - Treatment and Information

As many as 2% of the population are affected by psoriasis, and the degree of illness differs widely, from single, small elements to large portions of the skin being covered by plaques or smaller, guttate elements.

psoriatic arthritis

psoriatic plaque on elbow

Plaque psoriasis is the commonest type of this disease.

Psoriasis is not only a skin disease,- it is a systemic disease that can also affect the joints and produce psoriatic arthritis, or inflammation of the joints, especially the distal finger joints. It is a genetic, hereditary skin disease, and like most skin diseases it is very susceptible to the emotional balance of the individual, aggravating when the patient is emotionally out of balance or stressed one way or the other.

The elements are large plaques or small elements of red, inflamed and itching skin partly or wholly covered by a silvery or white layer of scaling, hyperkeratinic layer. This represents the overgrowth of skin cells, resulting in the typical appearance. The red inflammation is sharply defined and demarcated against the normal, surrounding skin. This applies to all types of the disease, and the the different types varies only in their location, the dimensions and the number of the elements or the affected areas, and by the elements being covered by a keratinic layer or not.

Apart from the appearance of the skin, what represents the greatest problem for most sufferers is the itch that torments the victims day and night.

Luckily some advances have been made in recent years with regard to treatment, and the suffering has thereby been reduced for most patients.

Before treatment

and after a weak of treatment with tamanu oil.

Due to abnormal immunologic processes, the cell divisions and cell maturation that normally take about a month in normal skin, takes about 4 days in the psoriatic patients skin. As the skin develops from the basal membran of the dermis and progresses upwards as the cells matures, enormous amounts of keratinic cells are surfacing, producing the thick, whitish keratinic layer that is so characteristic of this disease.

Treatment should be taken care of by a doctor, and consists of prescription medicines, and ranges from cortisone creams, Daivonex and Daivobet to systemic chemo-therapy in the form of Cyclosporine and Methotrexate.

Sun bathing and UV radiation is effective for the patients, and for people with large areas covered by elements, this is a regular part of the treatment. Coal tar is also applied topically, both in hospitals and at home. Systemic treatments: Amevive, Enbrel, Raptiva and Remicade are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating psoriatic symptoms. . Enbrel, Humira and Remicade are FDA-approved for the treatment psoriatic arthritis, along with non steroid anti inflammatory drugs.

Among the natural treatments available, tamanu oil. is considered very good (see pictures).

Consider also the herbal medicine Skin Dr. It is known to bring psoriatic skin manifestations to silence for long periods.

If emotional symptoms of stress are predominant, and cause aggravations, consider Mind Soothe as well.

And don't forget the essential oils! They work wonders!