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Pustular Psoriasis Facts and Treatment

February 1, 2011 0 Comments

Pustular psoriasis is an uncommon form of psoriasis. Psoriasis is a common skin disease that affects the life cycle of skin cells. Generalised pustular psoriasis is a rare form of psoriasis, which presents as widespread pustules on a background of red and tender skin. Pustular psoriasis is uncommon in the United States. Pustular psoriasis affects all races. The average age of those affected is 50 but the range is wide and rarely it can affect children. Generalized pustular psoriasis is often triggered by stopping topical or oral steroids. Oral steroids in psoriasis patients are actually dangerous. They do clear up the psoriasis while the patient is taking them, but after the patient stops, the psoriasis often comes back even worse.

People with pustular psoriasis have clearly defined, raised bumps on the skin that are filled with pus (pustules). The skin under and around these bumps is red. Large portions of your skin may redden.

Causes

As with other types of psoriasis, infections or stress may be a trigger factor in PPP. A strong association with smoking has also been identified, the mechanism of which is uncertain but may be linked to the products of smoking encouraging the inflammatory cells to accumulate in the epidermis (the top layer of the skin).

Around 6 per cent of the people who have psoriasis also get psoriatic arthritis in the joints. Psoriatic arthritis primarily occurs in fingers and toes, but is also quite common in the back bone.

Signs and symptoms

Initially the skin becomes dry, fiery red and tender. The patient may also have a fever, chills, headache, rapid pulse rate, and loss of appetite, nausea and muscle weakness. Within hours 2-3 mm pustules filled with non-infected pus appear on parts of the body especially the flexures and genital areas.

Pustular Psoriasis Treatment

As with all types of psoriasis, there is no cure for pustular psoriasis. There are, however, a number of treatments aimed at controlling the symptoms.

Topical medications are available over the counter and by prescription. Over-the-counter medications are designed for use on thick, scaly skin, not for use on blistering psoriasis. Prescription ointments may be used on blisters. They should be used with care because they may cause skin irritation and inflammation.

Phototherapy (ultraviolet B, UVB) and photochemotherapy (psoralent ultraviolet A, PUVA) are both used for widespread psoriasis. Many patients find that natural sunlight also helps.

Oral treatment with immunosuppressants such as ciclosporin (Neoral), or methotrexate (eg Maxtrex) or the vitamin A derivative acitretin (Neotigason) may be used for patients with severe, widespread or unresponsive psoriasis.

Psoriasis Severity

February 1, 2011 0 Comments

Psoriasis is a common skin disease that comes in different forms and varying levels of severity. It affects up to 3 percent of populations worldwide. Most researchers agree that it is an auto-immune disease. It is a common skin disease characterised by thickened patches of inflamed red skin, sometimes accompanied by painful joint swelling and stiffness.This skin condition most often appears on the scalp, elbows and knees. Psoriasis affects between 1-3% of the population. It varies in severity from mild to severe. Psoriasis can start at any age. Areas of the skin grow much faster than normal and form red, scaling patches.

Research shows that the signs and symptoms of psoriasis usually appear between 15 and 35 years of age. About 75% develop psoriasis before age 40. However, it is possible to develop psoriasis at any age. After age 40, a peak onset period occurs between 50 and 60 years of age.

Basis Facts about Psoriasis

Psoriasis most often occurs on the elbows, knees, scalp, lower back, face, palms, and soles of the feet; diagnosis may be difficult because psoriasis often looks like other skin diseases. Doctors generally treat psoriasis in steps according to the severity of the disease or responsiveness to initial treatments. This is sometimes called the “1-2-3″ approach.

Care if you are suffering from Psoriasis

Avoid scratching or itching that can cause bleeding or excessive irritation. Soaking in bath water with oil added and using moisturizers may help. Bath soaks with coal tar or other agents that remove scales and reduce the plaque may also help. Cortisone creams can reduce the itching of mild psoriasis and are available without a prescription.Some people use an ultraviolet B unit at home under a doctors supervision.

A dermatologist may prescribe the unit and instruct the patient on home use, especially if it is difficult for the patient to get to the doctors office for phototherapy treatment.

Reports from people with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis are mixed: Some say acupuncture helps their disease while others report no effect. People who try acupuncture and improve say it takes many treatments. Acupuncture has few known side effects.

Homeopathic remedies are usually so diluted that they will not cause major side effects. A consultation with someone trained in this practice will help guide the treatment and ensure your safety.

Psoriasis Treatment by Diet

People with psoriasis are individuals with different backgrounds, habits and medical histories, who respond to substances differently at different times. Moreover, people with psoriasis can have remissions that have nothing to do with changes in diets or treatments. These variables make it difficult to evaluate whether any specific dietary change is responsible for clearing or worsening psoriasis.

The addition or elimination of one substance from the diet can be the remedy for one person and the culprit for another. There is certainly no harm in exploring how diet impacts your psoriasis, as long as your overall health is not compromised.

Dietary supplementation with fish oil is said to have a variety of favorable effects on both the cardiovascular and immune systems in laboratory animals. Psoriasis is an immune-mediated disease, so it follows that fish oil if it alters immune reactivity could improve psoriasis.

Pustular Psoriasis Treatment Tips

February 1, 2011 0 Comments

Pustular psoriasis is an uncommon form of psoriasis. Psoriasis is a common skin disease that affects the life cycle of skin cells. Generalised pustular psoriasis is a rare form of psoriasis, which presents as widespread pustules on a background of red and tender skin. Pustular psoriasis is uncommon in the United States. Pustular psoriasis affects all races. The average age of those affected is 50 but the range is wide and rarely it can affect children. Pustular psoriasis of the palms and soles is usually chronic and may be associated with bone or joint inflammation. The palms or soles are red with white or yellow pustules. Pustular psoriasis also can be generalized, covering most of the body. It tends to go in a cyclereddening of the skin followed by formation of pustules and scaling.

It is also known as sharp generalised pustular psoriasis of von Zumbusch. Von Zumbusch pustular psoriasis can be triggered by an infection. Initially the skin becomes dry, fiery red and tender. The patient may also have a fever, chills, headache, rapid pulse rate, and loss of appetite, nausea and muscle weakness. Psoriasis treatments aim to interrupt the cycle that causes an increased production of skin cells, thereby reducing inflammation and plaque formation. The ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun slows the production of skin cells and reduces inflammation. Sunlight helps reduce psoriasis symptoms in some people. Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) and narrow-band UV-B light: UV-B light is also used to treat psoriasis. UV-B is light with wavelengths of 290-320 nanometers (nm).

Topical treatments are corticosteroids, vitamin D-3 derivatives, coal tar, anthralin, or retinoids. Topical calcineurin inhibitors such as tacrolimus and pimecrolimus have been effective in some cases of pustular psoriasis limited to the palms and soles. Anthralin (Dritho-Scalp or Psoriatec) can remove scale and smooth skin, but it stains virtually anything it touches, including skin, clothing, countertops and bedding. Oral retinoid such as acitretin, derived from vitamin A. Other medications such as methotrexate, colchicine, ciclosporin, tioguanine and hydroxyurea have been used with some success. Biological therapies such as alefacept, etanercept and infliximab have been used with success at times. Oral retinoids, methotrexate, cyclosporine, 6-thioguanine, and hydroxyurea have been used with success.

Pustular Psoriasis Treatment and Prevention Tips

1. Sunlight helps reduce psoriasis symptoms in some people.

2. Soriatane, cyclosporine or methotrexate are often prescribed.

3. Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) and narrow-band UV-B light: UV-B light is also used to treat psoriasis.

4. Oral retinoid such as acitretin, derived from vitamin A.

5. Topical treatments are corticosteroids, vitamin D-3 derivatives, coal tar, anthralin, or retinoids.

6. Calcipotriene (Dovonex) is a prescription cream, ointment or solution containing a vitamin D analogue.

Psoriasis -the Best Ayurveda Can Provide..

February 1, 2011 0 Comments

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease characterized by eruptions of superficial papules and larger patches with phenomena of chronic inflammation. The name Psoriasis seemingly emerged from the Greek word ‘Psora’ meaning ‘itch’. The aetiology of Psoriasis is unknown.Various investigators have suggested many theories to explain the origin of the disease. The theories of nervous origin have been given the best substantiation. According to this theory, psoriasis is caused by the disturbances in the functions of the nervous system. It is very well known that psoriasis or its relapses sometimes develop after psychic traumas or mental stress.

Psoriasis is one of the more serious skin diseases. Incidence of Psoriasis is on the rise in the recent times. It is believed that there are 6 million Psoriasis patients in North America alone and 2.5 lac new cases are being reported every year. It is not a contagious or an infectious disease but a life style induced disease. Psoriatic patients suffer from systemic disorders in which the immune system sends faulty signals that speed up the growth cycle process of the skin. Once the disease in triggered, the skin cells pile up on the surface of the body faster than normal. Normally, skin renews itself in about 30 days. It takes 30 days for the new skin cells to work its way up from the innermost layer of skin to the surface. In psoriatic condition, these cells reach the top in just about 3 days. The result is raised areas of skin called plaques. After the cells reach the surface, they die like normal cells, but there are so many of them that the raised patches turn white with dead cells peeling off.

There is much more emotional than physical suffering by the patient and he/she is forced to withdraw from most of his/her social activities due to the physically unappealing appearance on the skin. Ignorance and inadequate information about the disease lead to social ostracism of the patient in his/her social circles. Let us have a correct perspective of Psoriasis through Ayurveda.

SIGNS, SYMPTOMS AND TYPES:

Generally the disease appears as a papulation – eruption of small circumscribed solid elevation of the skin in ones and twos. They may be discrete or confluent and silvery scales will appear on the papulations. The lesions usually occur at first on the elbows, knees, scalp and lower limbs and later spread all over the body. Psoriasis patients are likely to develop psoriatic arthritis which gives joint discomfort, swelling, stiffness or throbbing. Psoriasis usually goes through cycles of relapses and remissions. In Ayurveda, Psoriasis is termed as ‘Sidhmam’. Though there are many types of Psoriasis, the two recognized as the most common and widespread are:

1. Dry, circumscribed papulations with very prominent silvery scales.

2. Moist and/or suppurating papulations with scales.

As per Ayurvedic science, type 1 is the result of the combined effect of ‘Vata’ and ‘Kapha’ doshas of the body and type 2 is the result of combination of ‘Vata’ and ‘Pitta’ doshas of the body.

CAUSES:

Human skin, though simple, is a complex system comprising protective, circulatory, sensory, lubricatory and thermo-regulatory components. Psoriasis is a condition of the skin related to the imbalance of the blood chemistry (Rakthadooshyam). Climate, food habits, anxiety, depression, heredity, etc in singly or in different combinations are considered to be the causative factors of Psoriasis.

Incompatible life styles, which could initiate the disease, among others, are: -

a) Exposure to extreme climatic and weather conditions.

b) Alternate exposure to cold (air conditioned) and natural environment.

c) Drinking of very cold water/beverages when the body is warm.

d) Faulty food and drink habits.

e) Heavy physical activities on a full stomach.

f) Mental stress & strain, job pressures, anxiety, depression, effects of psychic trauma etc.

The above conditions affect the physiological homeostasis (balance of functions of the internal organs) and upset one’s temperature regulatory mechanisms. An area of the brain called Hypothalamus controls a person’s body temperature. In persons with Psoriasis, it has been observed that the temperature regulatory mechanism of the Hypothalamus is upset. Clinical studies by reputed Ayurveda hospitals and Ayurveda Medical Colleges in Kerala have recorded a higher body temperature of the patients at the time of admission for treatment. Mentally stressful conditions of the patient contribute very largely to this higher body temperature and the mental trauma experienced by him/her due to the disease aggravates it further. After treatment the body temperature has been observed to revert back to normalcy.

The higher body temperature cause lesions on the skin to appear and when the scaly epidermis is peeled off and discarded, the underlying dermis and its complex systems of blood vessels, nerve endings etc are affected adversely.

The food constituents in excess that could trigger the onset of the disease are:

a) Hot, salty, spicy, acidic food.

b) Freshly harvested grains and sesame seeds in particular.

c) Milk and milk products, particularly yogurt and buttermilk.

d) Fish, honey, jaggery (crystallized/ partly dehydrated molasses).

e) Alcohol.

TREATMENT:

Ayurveda provides a promising treatment for the disease. A very important part in the treatment of psoriasis is played, in addition to general therapy, by a proper regimen and elimination of harmful factors from the patient’s working and living conditions. The patient’s regimen must provide for at least 7-8 hours of daily sleep, vitamin-rich food and regular outdoor hours (not less than 1 to 2 hours a day). The patient should be very thoroughly examined and in cases of internal or nervous diseases, should be given corresponding treatment. It is very important to safeguard the patient against any nervous shock.The patient should avoid allergy causing food and should take sufficient

quantity of water. Any soap or shampoo should not be applied over the lesions.

Traditional Ayurveda treatment addresses the

a) Purification of blood.

b) Rejuvenation of the complex systems of the skin, the nervous system in particular.

c) Temperature regulation of the body.

d) Strengthening of the body immunization system, and

e) Psychological stabilization.

Time-tested Ayurveda procedure, Panchakarma chikitsa (Panchakarma treatment which encompasses five distinct treatment procedures) is the best course of treatment. Of the five ingredients of Panchakarma treatment, three are used to treat Psoriasis. They are: -

1) Snehapanam (consuming medicines with ghee as its base)

2) Vamanam (taking medicines that induce vomiting)

3) Virechanam (taking medicines that act as purgatives)

The treatment purifies the entire system and stabilizes the metabolism of the patient. The body immune system is built up through intake of specially prepared herbal potions.

Other procedures used to stimulate the body functionary systems and stabilize the mental and psychological condition of the patient are: -

a) Application of medicated oil on the head.

b) Applying medicated pack on the head.

c) Dhara (pouring medicated fluid/other liquids on the head in slow unbroken stream for a specified time).

d) Therapeutic Yoga, Meditation, Reiki and Pranic healing sessions.

The net result of the treatment is

a) Blood purification by Snehapanam.

b) Stimulation of hypothalamus by Dhara resulting in temperature regulation of the body.

c) Stabilizing the blood chemistry by ensuring balanced nutritious food, which are more alkaline than acidic.

d) Immunization of the body.

e) Achieve a psychological state of mental well being by application of Yoga, meditation, Reiki, Pranic healing etc.

“We are aimed at Redefining Ayurveda by propagating the ancient traditions of Ayurveda to the modern world, and practicing the Genuine, Shastroktha & Purest form of AYURVEDA from the past 9 years. Today, we are known for conceptualising ayurvedic cures to diseases like sciatica, slip disc, arthritis, spondilitis, herniated disc, degenerative disc, skin problems, psoriasis, sexual problems, infertility, parkinsonism, paralysis, psycho somatic conditions etc. For my work in the field of ayurveda I was awarded KRRUSHI RATNA AWARD, AYURVEDA TAPASWI AWARD, VAIDYA RATNA AWARD.” Says Dr. Kranthi Vardhan Chief Physician & Managing Director, The Kerala Ayurvedic Care. For details contact Cell: 98666 66055, 92461 66636 & 66101140 on all days from 8am to 8pm strictly with a prior appointment

Psoriasis and Self Esteem

February 1, 2011 0 Comments

EMOTIONAL SETBACKS

Psoriasis can be difficult emotionally and physically, and have a big effect on your self-esteem but it doesn’t have to get the best of you. It’s not uncommon to experience a sense of shock, frustration, confusion, and anger about what’s happening to your skin. Having these feelings may lead to deep sadness or depression.

One of the hardest things about living with psoriasis is that you encounter cycles of strong emotions, usually when the psoriasis goes into remission or reappears. The disease is unpredictable, and the emotions it triggers may reoccur. Common triggers are embarrassment, anger and guilt. You may be afraid that your psoriasis returning or getting worse, or being rejected by others. It is important to respect your feelings as they occur and to learn to face them, so they do not make you a prisoner of your emotions and put your life on standstill.

Some people show little emotion over having psoriasis, while others react intensely and this doesn’t depend on the extent of the case. Emotional responses are never the same. Getting beyond these emotional setbacks is possible, but it may take sometime to achieve. Therapy, support groups, and treatment are all possible options but most importantly you must understand that Psoriasis is not a death sentence, but an just an issue like any other, to be dealt with.

WHAT IS PSORIASIS

Psoriasis [pronounced sore-EYE-ah-sis] is a noncontiguous, chronic skin disease. According to the National Institutes of Health, as many as 7.5 million Americans have psoriasis.

The most common form, plaque [plak] psoriasis, appears as raised, red patches or lesions covered with a silvery white buildup of dead skin cells, called scale.

There are 5 main types of psoriasis

Plaque: Most common form of the disease

Guttate: Appears as small red spots on the skin

Inverse: Occurs in armpits, groin and skin folds

Pustular: White blisters surrounded by red skin

Erythrodermic: Intense redness over large area

COPING

Do not worry about the future. Your skin doesn’t have to be the deciding factor in life’s important decisions, like your choice of work, whether to attend college, responsibilities for being on your own and the kind of person you want to be. People who have psoriasis have normal lives.

IMPORTANT PRACTICAL TIPS ON REBOUNDING YOUR SELF-ESTEEM AND DEALING WITH PSORIASIS

1.The more people know about and understand psoriasis, the better and easier it will be for you. Be willing to discuss your psoriasis with others, to the point that you are still comfortable.

2. Real friends will want to know about you and will want to help. They won’t be put off by psoriasis.

3.There is nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about. You didn’t do anything wrong. Skin disease has no meaning other than what it is, even if other people attribute odd things to it .It is natural to feel anxious, angry and depressed. Friends can help.

4.People around you can be very supportive. You can help your friends support you by letting them know that psoriasis is not contagious and that it’s the result of skin cells rapidly reproducing.

5. With God, there is hope, help, and healing to be found. When you have the most important relationship you will ever have in tact, everything else will be trivial.

Itching All Over

Pustular Psoriasis Facts and Treatment

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Psoriasis Severity

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Psoriasis -the Best Ayurveda Can Provide..

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Psoriasis and Self Esteem

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