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A chronic skin condition
Short summer dresses, trips to the pool, top up your tan on the beach: if you’re a psoriasis patient, you’ll probably say thank you…
Because that means being exposed to the eyes of others. To those who look at the scaly rash on your body with awe. And you don’t need that much.
Skin growth disorder
Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease that causes thick, red, scaly patches on your body. This is due to a skin growth disorder. Normally, your skin renews itself every month. Old skin cells shed and new skin cells grow.
In psoriasis, the production of new skin is much too fast. As a result, a thick layer of immature skin cells builds up. When those immature skin cells reach the outermost layer of skin, they look like white flakes. And because the skin becomes irritated by the accelerated skin production, the spots become thick and red.
Forms of psoriasis
There are different forms of psoriasis. Most people mainly suffer from spots on their elbows and knees. That form is called psoriasis vulgaris (common psoriasis). If the disease is mainly in the skin folds, it is called psoriasis inversa. Think of places like your groin, your armpits or under your breasts.
Psoriasis unguum only affects the nails, while guttate psoriasis causes small scaly patches all over the body. All these types of psoriasis can also affect your joints. It’s called psoriatic arthritis.
Genetic predisposition
Psoriasis occurs at all ages, but most patients first develop it between the ages of 15 and 35. Hereditary predisposition plays a role, because children of a patient have a 10 percent chance of getting the disease. If both parents have psoriasis, that chance is even 50 percent.
There are even more risk factors. Certain drugs can trigger or worsen the disease. For example, beta blockers (medicines that lower heart rate and blood pressure). Smoking also has a bad influence: smokers are up to three times more likely to develop psoriasis than non-smokers. In the Netherlands there are an estimated 300,000 people with the disease.
Not contagious
Can you infect someone else with psoriasis? The answer to this question is succinct: no. Psoriasis is absolutely not contagious. This means that you cannot spread the spots further over your own body if you have touched them.
The disease may not be contagious, but it can get worse. Stress, in particular, causes the condition to temporarily worsen. Hormonal fluctuations, alcohol consumption and infections also have an influence. Furthermore, there is not much to say about the course of the disease. That’s because doctors still don’t know exactly what causes psoriasis.
Suppress Symptoms
Unfortunately, there is no cure for psoriasis. So you can only suppress the symptoms. There are various treatments available for this. The dermatologist usually prescribes corticosteroids – hormone cream. Such a cream, ointment or lotion suppresses the inflammation and makes the psoriasis spots less thick and red. In addition, the doctor often opts for treatment with vitamin D3. This vitamin tackles the disease at the root and inhibits the production of skin cells. The skin cells that do develop also develop better.
Furthermore, different forms of light therapy are possible. Such a light treatment, like D3 cream, inhibits the growth of new skin cells and has an anti-inflammatory effect. Normally, your doctor does not opt for one treatment method, but opts for a combination.
Hide the disease
If you’re a psoriasis patient, it’s probably not just a physical problem. It can also be tough emotionally. Because your appearance often determines how you feel and then it is not pleasant to walk around with battered skin.
Many patients have therefore become champions of camouflage the symptoms. They prefer to wear covering clothes than airy summer outfits. If the disease is visible to others, they do not feel comfortable.
Some people are so ashamed that they do less and less with others. Their social life is coming to a standstill. If you know or are such a person, it might be an idea to contact a peer group. The Psoriasis Association Netherlands (PVN) can help you with this.
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