Underestimating the Future

I USED to know someone working in the Cebu City Postal Office who had psoriasis in the forearms and elbows.

The person responded very well to an aloe vera-based skin gel in a matter of three weeks, if my memory serves me well. But since there are many types of psoriasis, I can only assume it was a case of plaque psoriasis, the most common form of the menace.

Plaque psoriasis appears as red and white scaly patches on the skin. Rapid accumulation gives it a silvery-white appearance. It is usually graded as mild (affecting less than three percent of the body), moderate (affecting three to 10 percent of the body), or severe (affecting more than 10 percent of the body).

Although its cause is yet to be fully understood, many believe that the so-called Koebner response partly triggers it. Koebner response is an irritation resulting from exposure to agents such as molluscum contagiosum (a skin viral infection), warts and toxicodendron dermatitis (an irritation caused by the poison ivy), and injury through self-scratching. Obesity is also a risk factor in the development of psoriasis.

A latest update indicates that in 14 studies from 1994 to 2009, psoriasis shows a serum profile that includes... [Read more]

This article appears in SunStar Cebu newspaper on 13 April 2011 as "Understanding the Future of Psoriasis."

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