Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a skin disease in which skin cells are reproduced too quickly. Normally skin cells take about a month to replace themselves. With psoriasis, it happens in just a few days because the cells grow too fast. Normally there is a constant shedding of dead cells; however in psoriasis because of the acceleration of the replacement process both dead and live cells accumulate on the skin surface. Often this causes red, flaky, crusty patches covered with silvery scales, which are shed easily. It can occur on any part of the body but it is mostly found on the elbows, knees, scalp, lower back, face, palms, soles of feet and other parts of the legs. It can cause intense itching and burning. The condition is not contagious and most people have only small patches of their body affected. There is a great variation in the severity of the disease.

Types
Psoriasis can range from mild to moderate to very severe. The various forms of psoriasis disease are:

• Plaque psoriasis
• Nail psoriasis
• Guttate psoriasis
• Pustular psoriasis
• Inverse psoriasis
• Erythrodermic psoriasis

Causes
The exact cause of psoriasis is unknown. It begins in the immune system, mainly with a type of blood cell called a T-cell. These cells help protect the body against infection and disease. With psoriasis, T cells are put into action by mistake. They become so active that they set off other immune responses. This leads to swelling and fast turnover of skin cells. People with psoriasis may notice that sometimes the skin gets better and at the other times it gets worse. The factors that cause the skin to worsen include:

• Infections
• Psychological factors
• Weather Changes
• Certain Medicines

Diagnosis
Psoriasis is hard to diagnose because it looks like other skin disease. Also there is no blood test for the disease. The doctor can at most examine the skin under a microscope and has to make the diagnosis from the appearance of the affected skin.