Did you know?

A common fallacy is that psoriasis is a skin disease. In reality, psoriasis is an autoimmune disease (disease of the immune system) and is not something you can catch. When you have psoriasis, your immune system is overactive. This creates inflammation inside the body, which is a cause of the symptoms you see on the skin.

With normal skin, your body takes about 28 to 30 days to produce new skin cells and shed the old ones. When your body has plaque psoriasis, your immune system is overactive, triggering skin inflammation and causing skin cells to be produced faster than normal. New skin cells are pushed to the skin's surface in 3 to 4 days instead of the usual 28 to 30. Your body simply can’t shed skin cells that quickly, so the cells build up on the surface of your skin. The thick, red patches you see on your skin (called plaques) are actually a buildup of excess skin cells. Like most chronic illnesses, psoriasis may be associated with other health conditions such as psoriatic arthritis, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

What causes psoriasis?
The exact cause of psoriasis isn’t fully understood, but scientists believe psoriasis is the result of several factors, including genetics, environmental factors, and the immune system.

• Genetics: One out of 3 people with psoriasis reports having a relative with the disease. Researchers say that up to 10 percent of the general population may inherit one or more genes that predispose them to psoriasis, though only 2 percent to 3% percent of people with the gene actually develop the disease.
• Environmental factors: Certain environmental factors may trigger the psoriasis genes, causing the disease to become active. These environmental triggers vary from person to person, and what causes psoriasis to develop in one person may have no effect on someone else. Some triggers known to impact psoriasis symptoms include:
  • Stress
  • Injury to skin (cuts, scrapes, bug bites, severe sunburns)
  • Infection (such as strep throat or thrush)
  • Certain medications (including lithium, antimalarials, quinidine, indomethacin)
• Immune System: Because psoriasis is an autoimmune disease, it has been linked to other health conditions but is not thought to cause these conditions or vice versa. Patients with psoriasis have a greater likelihood of being diagnosed with other auto-immune diseases and/or health conditions, such as:
  • Psoriatic Arthritis
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • High blood pressure
  • Crohn's Disease
  • High cholesterol
  • Depression
  • Ulcerative colitis
  • Celiac disease
  • Lupus

A study published in November of 2012 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology concluded that people with psoriasis are nearly twice as likely as people without psoriasis to develop additional autoimmune diseases. If someone has both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, the risk for additional autoimmune disease increases even more. The study concluded that there may be a genetic or environmental cause that is shared across the spectrum of autoimmune diseases.

Symptoms
Not everyone with psoriasis experiences the same symptoms, which can vary from person to person based on the severity and type of psoriasis. However, common symptoms may include:

• Raised, red, inflamed lesions
• Silvery scaly plaques
• Small, red, individual spots (more common in children and young adults)
• Dry skin that may crack and bleed
• Itching, burning, or soreness of the skin
• Pitted nails or separation from the nail bed

Treatment
Most people with psoriasis go through cycles where their symptoms seem almost to disappear for a period, then flare up again. Although it may not be possible to control them completely, certain behaviors may worsen existing symptoms or cause flare-ups, including smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, and cold weather. Making lifestyle changes, like eating healthy or not smoking, can positively impact life with psoriasis.

The primary goal of treatment is to stop the skin cells from growing so quickly. While there isn't a cure, psoriasis treatments may offer significant relief. Lifestyle measures, such as using a nonprescription cortisone cream and exposing your skin to small amounts of natural sunlight, also may improve your psoriasis symptoms.

Because psoriasis is an autoimmune disease, keeping the immune system functioning optimally by maintaining a healthy lifestyle may help keep it at bay, especially if there are no genetic factors at play.

Here’s what Silver IBO Galina Lupascu has to say: “I had battled psoriasis for 33 years. I did everything I could and sometimes the rash covered my whole body. It was truly horrible. In the beginning of 2014, I learned about LifePharm Global Network and Laminine. After four months, my skin was really starting to improve for the first time in decades. I always share my own experience with my friends and new people. These days, there aren’t that many people who are completely healthy, so I want them to learn about the benefits that LPGN products can bring.”