Psoriasis information

More than 4.5 million Americans have psoriasis. People usually get it anywhere between the ages of 15 and 35. It can, of course, start at any age. The most common areas of the body for psoriasis to appear are the knees, elbows, scalp, and lower back. But as you may know, psoriasis may develop anywhere that you have skin.

There are many types of psoriasis. The most common type is plaque psoriasis. It affects about 80% of people who have psoriasis.

"Your skin is made up of many different cells. Your outer skin cells are constantly shedding, while new cells are being made. This process normally takes about 28 days. But with psoriasis, these skin cells multiply a whole lot faster.

In psoriasis, this process of making new skin cells can actually take only 3 to 6 days. The result of this is the red, inflamed build-up of skin you know as plaque psoriasis."

"Now, your T-cells are the main cause of psoriasis. These T-cells are actually part of your immune system. And they are most often associated with fighting infections. As with many other types of cells, T-cells sometimes get orders from different cells within your body. And they may also give orders to other types of cells, such as skin cells.

So what happens in psoriasis? The T-cells overreact and tell your skin cells to multiply. As a result of this, the skin cells just pile up—one on top of the other—and tend to flake off, causing these classic plaques of psoriasis. This is in addition to the burning and itching that you suffer from every day with psoriasis. As dermatologists, we offer many different options to treat psoriasis from topicals to systemic therapy. Many of the options we have today can put your psoriasis into remission.

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