• Question: Will there ever be a treatment which will terminate psoriasis?

    Asked by anon-220632 on 12 Jun 2019.
    • Photo: Rachel Hardy

      Rachel Hardy answered on 12 Jun 2019:

      Hopefully there will be one day. Psoriasis an autoimmune disorder, and arises because the bodies immune system is tricked into believing that our skin cells are harmful. This means that they begin to attack our skin cells, causing inflammation. The red, flaky skin that people experience with psoriasis is a result of this inflammation. This condition can be difficult to treat with drugs, as these are often designed to reduce the immune response. However, we need a strong immune system to help us fight off infections and keep healthy. Therefore, drugs that weaken the immune system are likely to cause unwanted side-effects. Research is going into new treatments for psoriasis, meaning that one day we will hopefully have better drugs for severe cases – even if these are not a cure.

    • Photo: Rebecca Moon

      Rebecca Moon answered on 12 Jun 2019:

      I am pretty certain there are people working on improvements for psoriasis now although I dont know exactly when they are doing. I hope they do find something useful as psoriasis is a really common condition and quite unpleasant for sufferers.

    • Photo: Kaitlin Wade

      Kaitlin Wade answered on 13 Jun 2019:

      I imagine so!

    • Photo: Nina Rzechorzek

      Nina Rzechorzek answered on 14 Jun 2019:

      Thanks for the question, for anyone who is not sure on what psoriasis is, there is a good basic overview here:
      https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/psoriasis/
      And more detailed information here:
      https://www.psoriasis-association.org.uk/psoriasis-and-treatments/faq

      Immune-mediated disorders like psoriasis can be very challenging to treat and in most cases end up being chronic (lasting a long time, or even a lifetime). An important thing to remember about these disorders is that they are not contagious (they cannot be spread from one person to another). Unfortunately there is no ‘cure’ currently for psoriasis, but there is some exciting research going on into this condition (see below) and I am very optimistic that with enough support, researchers will find better treatments and perhaps even long-term cures for psoriasis and a whole range of other immune-mediated disorders.

      https://www.psoriasis-association.org.uk/research/currentresearch/meet-our-researchers

    • Photo: Kate Timms

      Kate Timms answered on 17 Jun 2019:

      I certainly hope so! I sometimes get it on my wrists if I’ve worn lab gloves for too long or too often, but thankfully not for a couple of years. Once it starts, it’s really hard to get rid of. And mine is a super mild case, so I can’t imagine what it’s like for people who have it worse.

    • Photo: Matthew Bareford

      Matthew Bareford answered on 24 Jun 2019:

      I would very much like to think so! with psoriasis being an auto-immune disease, it is certainly something which personalized medicine will hopefully be able to look at in the future and work on. With advancements in immune system research and therapies, in the interim, hopefully the treatment options will also increase and be much more effective.

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