The study from the IFPA shows that 18% of participants had suicidal thoughts and 9% attempted to end their lives because of severe depression. Patients tend to hide from the public as they become more self-conscious because of their condition.

People who are uneducated on psoriasis are hesitant to shake hands with someone who has psoriasis because they believe that the scaly skin patches are contagious. Psoriasis usually affects the skin on the elbows, knees, and scalp.

Although there are currently no known cures for psoriasis, there are numerous treatment options available from prescribed creams, gels, and ointments to drugs and vaccines. However, some believe that the lack of awareness about the disease is a bigger problem than no cure.

A decade ago, psoriasis was not a well-known disease, but with the media today more awareness is being created, especially with celebrities coming out to speak about their life with psoriasis. If you have psoriasis or know someone who suffers from psoriasis, do your part in educating the people who don’t know.

Psoriasis education is important. Psoriasis and depression do not mix well, so getting the word out may really help psoriasis patient’s quality of life. For more information about psoriasis and depression check out International Federation of Psoriasis Associations’ site.

Psoriasis support groups

Psoriasis support groups can be online or person. Ask your doctor if there are any psoriasis support groups locally. In-person support groups may get together at a hospital or a community center. Below are some suggestions for psoriasis support groups.

1. National Psoriasis Foundation: This foundation was started by people with psoriasis in 1968 to promote education about psoriasis for themselves and the public, and support research to find a cure for psoriasis. Branches of the National Psoriasis Foundation offer psoriasis support groups in cities around the United States.
2. Online: People with psoriasis who meet online are called a virtual community or an e-community. You can find many of these communities online by searching for psoriasis support groups.
3. Start your own: If there is no psoriasis support group in your area, think about starting your own. Ask your doctor if there are other people with psoriasis in your area. You don’t need a large group to get and give support!

Psoriasis support groups can give you with an opportunity to learn coping skills, share information, and voice common concerns with people who understand your situation. Whether it is online or in person, psoriasis support groups are always helpful for those who suffer from the condition.

Psoriasis occurs when the body’s immune system sends out faulty signals that speed up the regeneration of skin cells. Psoriasis scales usually begin appearing on the arms, elbows, and legs.

One of the worst things about psoriasis is that people don’t understand that they are not going to get the condition if they touch someone with it.

When treating psoriasis, it is important to hang on to your pride. This is because psoriasis influences how others treat the patient socially, emotionally, and even sexually. All these factors will affect how you feel about yourself. If you feel better about yourself, you may experience less stress.

In most cases, the lesions start to appear when a person is between the ages 15 and 35. Sometimes, the condition flares up because of injury to the skin or an adverse reaction to certain medication. Sometimes, it’s simply a case of being too stressed. Sometimes, when people take time off from work to relax, their condition improves.

Although there is no known cure for psoriasis, treatment help minimize its effects and how often the patient suffers a relapse. Many patients delay seeking treatment because they think nothing will help. Previously, treatment used to be messy and smelly, now there are creams, ointments, and gels on the market that are odorless.

People tend to harp on the incurability of psoriasis. They hope for a miracle, but don’t want to think about changing their lifestyle. However, if you are someone who experiences a lot of stress or your psoriasis tends to stress you out, it is important to focus on stress and psoriasis. The recognition of the often-negative link between stress and psoriasis may make all the difference in your treatment for psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a skin condition, which is a chronic inflammatory disease of the skin. Psoriasis usually appears as raised red patches on the skin covered with silvery scales. Psoriasis can impact a person mildly and severely. There are different types of psoriasis and each type has different symptoms and causes.

Some believe that a diet for psoriasis doesn’t matter and that he or she can eat whatever they want. However, a strict diet for psoriasis plays an important role in helping treat the condition. Some individuals find it beneficial to cleanse their body with a juice diet for two weeks in addition to their psoriasis treatment.

Vegetables like pumpkin, cucumbers, beets, and grapes can be used for making juices. You should remember not to use any citrus fruits like oranges and lemon in the juices. After the cleansing treatment, doctors may give a few basic diet for psoriasis suggestions. These kinds of diet suggestions usually include vegetables and fruit, nuts and grains, and raw seeds and nuts particularly pumpkin seed, sesames seed products, chia seed, and lots of organically developed raw fruits and vegetables. Fresh greens must be contained during lunch and dinner for diet for psoriasis. Fruits like apples, grapes and pears may be eaten during the day or during breakfast.

Patients experiencing severe psoriasis must have a gluten free diet for psoriasis. Gluten is a starch compound generally found in grasses such as rye, wheat and barley. Some other food which should be avoided in a diet for psoriasis are foods that contain hydrogenated fats or white sugar, refined or processed foods, coffee, tea, tobacco and alcohol.

Coconut water and fresh buttermilk is very good for patients struggling with psoriasis. Seafood oils and fatty acids have also been shown to help those with psoriasis. An effective diet for psoriasis may help to reduce the symptoms of the disease. There many treatments for psoriasis, but a diet for psoriasis is a great supplementary treatment.

• Kim Kardashian: Who was recently diagnosed with psoriasis expressed concerns that her career would be affected from the news. She said things like, “People don’t understand the pressure on me to look perfect… When I gain a pound, it’s in the headlines. Imagine what the tabloids would do to me if they saw all these spots?” Kim’s dermatologist suggested she take a break from her fast-paced lifestyle because sometimes psoriasis flare-ups can be triggered by stress.
• LeAnn Rimes: This two-time Grammy winning artist has been in the spotlight for more than half of her life, but until recently, she kept her struggle with psoriasis under wraps. In 2008, she decided to open up about her experience as part of the “Stop Hiding, Start Living” psoriasis awareness campaign sponsored by Abbott.
• Jon Lovitz: The Saturday Night Live alum has a great sense of humor, but wants people to know that psoriasis is not joke. Last year, he also shared his story as a part of the “Are You Serious?” national awareness campaign sponsored by Janssen.
• Jerry Mathers: Is best known to fans as Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver on the 1950s sitcom, Leave It To Beaver. Mathers has a relatively mild form of psoriasis, but that doesn’t mean he’s escaped the discomfort and embarrassment that may accompany severe outbreaks.
• Stacy London: This What Not To Wear co-host has certainly made a name for herself, but she knows better than anyone that beauty is not just skin deep. Diagnosed with psoriasis at age 4, London experienced years of painful itching and scaly outbreaks. As an adult, she became a spokesperson for the National Psoriasis Foundation’s PATH program, which offers tips on living with the condition and maintaining good health and spirits.

Above are five popular celebrities who live life with psoriasis. Just like you, they know that life with psoriasis can be huge challenge and hassle, especially when they are constantly in the public eye. If you live life with psoriasis, do as these celebrities have done… create awareness and educate people!

Research done in Sweden found that preventing psoriasin from developing in the body might stop the chain reactive leading to other disease.

Psoriasis, which is a painful skin disease that can also cause patients intense mental anguish, occurs when skin cell division goes into overdrive. When new blood vessels form in deeper skin layers, the surface skin cells continually divide, causing the scaly, itchy red patches on the skin. The new blood vessels are formed because of a different protein celled vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).

VEGF normally helps replenish the oxygen in tissues with poor circulation and creates new blood vessels following exercise or an injury. However, if VEGF gets out of control, it can intensify conditions like breast cancer or psoriasis.

The team of researchers tried blocking the formation of psoriasin in breast cells in laboratory conditions. They discovered that decreased psoriasin lead to decreased VEGF. This means that if researchers can find a way to reduce the formation of psoriasin in humans, it may be possible that doing so will reduce VEGF; therefore, reducing symptoms of psoriasis.

For breast cancer patients, this means that researchers may have another way for targeting and preventing the progression of the disease. Right now, the manipulation of cells has occurred in the lab, so it is too early to determine the long-term implications of this method for either disease.

The study discussed above was released in December in the journal for Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. The protein called psoriasin may be linked to the treatment for psoriasis and the treatment for breast cancer. With the new discovery of the link between breast cancer and psoriasis, there may be a treatment for psoriasis and breast cancer sooner than expected.

Source: Medwire News

Many researchers have observed that HDL levels may be lower in states of inflammation, such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and obesity. Yet, these new findings suggest that in addition to lower levels of chronic inflammation associated with conditions like psoriasis may change the composition and decrease the function of HDL.

In the study done by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, cholesterol levels in 78 people with symptoms of psoriasis and examined the number and size of the cholesterol particles. The results were compared to those of 84 people who didn’t have psoriasis. The researchers found that patients with psoriasis had a greater number low low-density lipoprotein or bad cholesterol. Particles unrelated to other risk factors or obesity.

In a second study, researchers examine how well the participants HDL removed cholesterol from cells involved in hardening of the arteries. The findings reveals that having symptoms of psoriasis was associated with a reduction in the protective benefit of good cholesterol by about 25%.

Researchers have been able to show that the symptoms of psoriasis are an important risk factor for vascular disease, and now they may be able to identify and treat the pathways by which increases these risks. The symptoms of psoriasis may cause those who suffer from the condition to have lower levels of good cholesterol. If you are concerned about your symptoms of psoriasis and cholesterol levels, it is best to consult your doctor!

Source: Wellness Beach

Psoriasis and smoking

People with psoriasis develop thick, red, scaly patches on the skin, which are often itchy or sore. Experts believe the disease is caused by an abnormal immune system attack on the body’s own cells. Some studies have suggested that smokers are more vulnerable to psoriasis, possible because the habit can affect immune activity.

In previous studies, most researchers have studied people at only one time-point, which makes it hard to be positive that the smoking came before the psoriasis. However, for the new study, researchers used data from three large, long-running studies of U.S. health professionals.

Of the 186,000 men and women followed for 12-20 years, 2,410 developed psoriasis during that time. The risk was greater among both the current smokers and former smokers.

People who were current smokers at the study’s start were almost twice as likely as lifelong non-smokers to develop psoriasis. Past smokers had a 39% higher risk than non-smokers. Yet the findings do not prove that smoking, itself, causes psoriasis in some people.

Smoking seems to be a risk factor for new-onset psoriasis. Other studies have pointed to some reasons that smoking could contribute to psoriasis, its effects on the immune system activity and inflammation. Smokers, tend to have to have higher levels of immune defenses that are mistakenly aimed at the body’s own cells.

This new research has shown that psoriasis and smoking may be more than just a reason for flare-ups. Because of the risks of the psoriasis and smoking, it is best for psoriasis patients and those at risk for psoriasis to stop smoking.

• Pay attention to your emotions. You should note how your symptoms of psoriasis are affecting your quality of life. Is your psoriasis keeping you from social activities you once enjoyed? It is affecting your ability to sleep or concentrate? Does it make you feel isolated or depressed? These factors may help your doctor come up with the best treatment plan possible.
• Keep a daily record. Write down key events of the day- what you ate, how you slept, what caused you stress. If you have a flare-up, you can look back at the preceding days for clues to discover what may have triggered your symptoms of psoriasis. Sometimes a flare-up doesn’t appear for 10 to 14 days after a triggering event, such as a skin injury from a cut, scratch, or severe sunburn. With a diary, you’ll have an accurate account of what might have triggered the flare-up.
• Ask yourself standard questions. Think of anything that could be a clue to finding triggers. Was I under a lot of extra stress recently? What was the weather life? Have I recently missed any of my medication? Have I changed any of my skin care products? Have I eaten anything unusual? These answers will help you in the long run.
• Establish a journaling time. Some people find it helpful to write in their diaries at the same time every day, for example just before bed or right after lunch. Find out what works best for you. If you miss a day or two, don’t worry just fill in the blanks the best you can!
• Write in detail about any flare. Record specifics when flare-ups occur: where the lesions occurred, what they looked like, how they felt, how long they lasted, and anything you did that may have helped or hindered their healing. Try to be as specific as possible. What was your pain level? What is a burning, shooting, or aching sensation? What this flare-up different from others? All of these factors are really important for your doctor to be aware of.

Be sure to take this journal of your symptoms of psoriasis with you to your doctor’s appointments. This information may help him or her find the best treatment for psoriasis for you. Remember that everyone’s symptoms of psoriasis are different, so the more detailed your diary is, the better!