Psoriasis Medication Treatments

Psoriasis is chronic skin disease (disorder of the immune system), characterized by thick, red, silvery, scaled patches. Researcher believe abnormal immune system produces too many of the immune cells, called "T cells," in the skin. These "T cells" trigger the inflammation and excessive skin cell reproduction seen in people with psoriasis. The disease effects both male and female equally, and common during the first fifteen to thirty years, however may appear later in life. About two to three percent of the population suffers from this skin disease, which is fifty percent genetically attributed. In the United States approximately 5.5 million people have this disease, and 150,000 to 260,000 new cases occur annually. This skin disease is less common in tropics and in dark skinned people. Between ten to thirty percent of those developing psoriasis, get related form of arthritis called "psoriatic arthritis," which causes inflammation of the joints. This skin disease is not contagious.