Since 2003, World Psoriasis Day has been celebrated every October 29 in order to raise awareness among the general public and to inform patients and their loved ones about the progress of research and treatments. The association for the fight against psoriasis “France psoriasis“, organizer of this world day, launched a national information campaign on the theme “Changing the view of others”. All day long, local actions will take place in France. Among other things, more than 1,000 pharmacies among those who joined the “Points Conseil psoriasis” operation, launched by the association in 2012, are mobilized this Tuesday, October 29 and are committed to listening, informing, guiding people affected by inflammatory, non-psychological and non-contagious disease.
This very common skin diseasewhich affects approximately 2% of the population in the United States and Europe according to estimates by the World Health Organization, is declared by the appearance of red spots accompanied by scales. “The localization of psoriasis is varied, but more frequently concerns areas of friction such as the knees, elbows, umbilicus and the lumbar region. The folds can also be affected as well as the scalp, hands and feet, nails and mucous membranes”, explains the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). The causes of this disease are not all known, but one out of two cases seems to be of family origin. “Research suggests that psoriasis also results from immune abnormalities,” adds Inserm. The disease progresses differently in each patient but can lead to various complications: psoriatic erythroderma, when the whole body is covered with plaques, pustular psoriasis, characterized by multiple pustules and finally, one in ten times, it progresses to an inflammation of the joints called psoriatic arthritis.
Until now, the treatments proposed are based on the implementation of techniques allowing a better adjustment of the therapeutic tools to the needs of the patients, with the aim of controlling the evolution of the disease by limiting the lesions. In February 2013, an article appeared in the magazine Chemistry and Biology reported on a study conducted by researchers from the Department of Life Sciences and the National Institute of Biotechnology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company Teva. Researchers have engineered a natural immune system receptor that could become a promising drug. Since then, scientists have been working constantly on this project, hoping to achieve concrete results within a few years.