One in every 40 people suffer from psoriasis. People will try any possible “cure” to get rid of the red, scaly lesions that could crack and bleed. Sunlight may be nature’s own best medicine, while more new treatment options may soon be available.
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Do parts of your body feel like pot scourers? You may have psoriasis. It mostly affects young adults, but can strike anyone at any time. It cannot be cured and can put in a guest appearance when you least expect it.
Suffering from psoriasis is no picnic. If you have psoriasis, your immune system causes your skin cells to move from the deeper layers to the upper layers of your skin within 3 - 4 days instead of 28. This accelerated process causes a kind of pile-up of skin cells, which form red, flaky, scaly patches on the skin of your knees, elbows, trunk and scalp. In a way, your own immune system is waging war on parts of your body. No one is quite sure what triggers this.
Treating psoriasis not easy
Studies have shown that up to half of all psoriasis patients are dissatisfied with the treatment they receive.
Small wonder that people suffering from this skin disease will take desperate measures to attain some form of relief. Travelling to the Middle East for a swim in the Dead Sea and covering their bodies with coal tar ointments do not seem like too much trouble for some if it will bring them relief.
Coal-tar ointments - as well as other ointments such as cortisone ointment and anthralin, a new synthetic form of Vitamin D3 - may indeed provide relief for some people with small spots of psoriasis. And swimming in the Dead Sea really helps.
This body of water is one of the most salty lakes in the world, has no outlet and lies 400 m below sea level. But it is not just the water here that is special; the sun's rays here also have similar effects to ultraviolet light therapy, which is used for treating stubborn psoriasis. It is especially effective when the patches are spread over a large area of skin and has not gone away after using ointments, according to Cape Town dermalogist Dr Leonore Van Rensburg.
Coinciding with the fact that these more natural treatments seem to work, doctors are no longer keen to prescribe methotrexate, a suppressor of the immune system which is also used for cancer treatment, because of its unpleasant side effects.
However, this does not mean that psoriasis sufferers have to do without medication. Three new types of treatment now promise relief for those with psoriasis. Be warned: it may be a while before most of them hit your pharmacy shelves.
The following three promising options are currently in the news:
A study reported in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, has found that glycerine can help to treat psoriasis by helping skin cells mature properly. Glycerine helps to direct skin cells through their four normal stages of growth. If this turns out to be true, it would be a real breakthrough, as glycerine is cheap and freely available.
Researchers from the University of Manchester have found a gene that a gene regulating the development of blood vessels, is found in high levels in the skin of patients with psoriasis. Drugs that block the activity of this gene could be used in the future to treat psoriasis.
A substance called alefacept, has been found to clear three-quarters of psoriasis outbreaks. This treatment was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in March. It works by stopping the overproduction of skin cells by destroying those immune cells that cause psoriasis in the first place. The great thing is that this medication attacks a very specific part of the immune system, and does not affect the rest of the body. This means that it can be used for a long time, without having grim side effects, unlike some of the other available treatments.
Prevention
Until the genetic drug and alefacept are available in South Africa, ointments, glycerine, UV-treatment, and prevention may be the key to keep you as free as possible from psoriasis.
Hereditary factors play a major role in psoriasis. It may also be triggered by some factors and made worse by certain lifestyle factors or foods. While someone cannot alter his/her genes, he/she may be able to avoid triggers and lifestyle factors.
Triggers include a systemic infection such as a streptococcal infection of the throat, a skin injury, an immune system response to disease, stress, a reaction to certain medications or vaccines, alcohol, too much sunlight and exposure to certain chemicals such as paint thinners and disinfectants. Avoid these if possible.
Things that can make your psoriasis worse, but are probably not direct triggers, include certain eating habits, smoking and doing no exercise. These things will put pressure on your immune system and can lead to your psoriasis getting worse. Bad psoriasis is often seen in Aids patients, whose immune systems are under huge pressure.
Take a look below at what you can do to make things much better for yourself:
Avoid certain foods and eat healthily. Although bad eating habits are not considered as a trigger, some studies suggest that it can may psoriasis worse. Foods to avoid include tinned foods; foods with lots of preservatives, such as packets of chips and processed meats; foods with a high fat content, such as pies, pastries, stews, hamburgers; foods with a high sugar or high salt content; sweets, cakes or chips and popcorn; strong, spicy foods (such as curries or food with chilies); coffee creamers; fatty red meat; more than two eggs per week; alcohol.
Eat these daily and be healthy: two or more fist sized portions of fruit; at least two portions of vegetables; two slices of wholewheat bread; a quarter cup of bran with breakfast; fish or chicken rather than red meat; two cups of low-fat milk and a small portion of low-fat cheese; at least six glasses of water.
Exercise, exercise, exercise. The good news is that you don't need to do all that much of it. Walking around a few street blocks for half an hour could do the trick. Preferably every day, not once in three weeks. Cycling and swimming are also good.
Learn to de-stress. Stressing yourself out to breaking point also doesn't help, so learn some relaxation techniques, such as yoga or Tai Chi.
Quit smoking. A pack-a-day smoking habit does not benefit you in any way, so it may be time to bite the bullet with a quit-smoking programme.
Doing all of these things will help your immune system and will stop your psoriasis from getting worse. Or even better, it might stop you from having that first outbreak.
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