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Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease marked by periodic flare-ups of sharply defined red
patches covered by a silvery, flaky surface. In psoriasis, the epidermal cell cycle is
accelerated. Cell division in the basal layer occurs every 1.5 days and the migration of
keratinocytes to the stratum corneum occurs within just four days or so. Since the cells
move to the surface so rapidly, they do not differentiate and mature properly. The stratum
corneum is not fully keratinized, and epidermal cells build up abnormally and become
scaly. The epidermis in psoriatic lesions is three to five times thicker than normal.
Psoriasis is a single disease with several forms of expression and a range of severity.
The form that psoriasis takes in an individual person likely depends on genetic
influences, environmental factors (e.g., traumatic and climate), associated diseases
(especially infections), medications, and the status of the immune system.
The exact cause of psoriasis is unknown, but it is thought that the primary process lies
in the immune system with significant input from environmental factors. This is a focus of
research for new treatments.
The primary goals of care are control of the lesions, minimization of side effects from
treatment, and improvement in quality of life. Current treatment utilizes a variety of
topical medications as well as ultraviolet light therapy.
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The Medifocus Guide on Psoriasis provides answers to the following important questions and
medical issues:
What Your Doctor Reads:
This MediFocus Guide contains an extensive listing of citations and abstracts of
recent journal articles that have been published about this condition in trustworthy
medical journals. This is the same type of information that is available to physicians and
other health care professionals. A partial selection of journal articles that are
abstracted in this MediFocus Guide includes:
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