Psoriasis – What it is, Causes and Treatment

Psoriasis – What it is, Causes and Treatment . Psoriasis is a skin disease whose main symptom is the appearance of red spots with a “flaking” aspect . Usually these red spots also have itching, burning or pain, which are usually part of the main symptoms of the disease. Despite the symptoms, psoriasis is not a contagious disease and is relatively common. It presents a condition that is easily treatable and normally poses no risk to the patient’s health.

Causes of Psoriasis: The exact cause of psoriasis is not known . What is believed so far is that in our immune system there is a cell known as a T cell, which travels throughout the human body in search of foreign elements, such as viruses and bacteria, in order to fight them. If a person has psoriasis , T cells end up attacking healthy skin cells , as if to heal a wound or treat an infection. Some factors that can trigger psoriasis are:

• Throat and skin infections
• Skin injuries , such as wounds, bruises, sunburn or other physical, chemical, electrical, surgical or inflammatory
• Stress
• climate variations
• Smoke
• Excessive alcohol consumption
• Medications, such as some prescribed for bipolar disorder, high blood pressure, and malaria
• Biochemical changes, that is, the metabolism of some substances in the Skin

Symptoms of Psoriasis: Symptoms, as well as the onset of the disease, often vary from patient to patient. However, they tend to be easily observed:

• Red spots with a peeling appearance;
• Dry and/or cracked skin (in more serious cases there are small bleedings due to this dryness);
• Itch;
• Burning;
• Ache;
• Joint problems – such as joint pain, swelling and stiffness;
• Nail problems – brittle and yellowed nails with an appearance of fragility are common;
• In some cases, psoriasis  also attacks the scalp, and for this reason it usually causes a strong discomfort with itching and burning. In some cases, there may be a drop in
• hair.

How and Treat Psoriasis: Treating psoriasis tends not to be complicated. In the vast majority of cases, topical medications are used in the areas injured by the disease, and the patient is also required to expose himself to the sun, which tends to help a lot in the treatment. In more extreme cases, it is necessary to use oral and/or injectable medications, treatment with exposure to ultraviolet light is also indicated, however, these cases tend to be much rarer and do not match most people who suffer from this disease.

In any case, treatment should also be indicated by a dermatologist. Self-medication is contraindicated as a treatment for psoriasis , given that the condition can get worse and the patient can still cause other skin injuries during the process.