A skin condition in which the skin cell grows very quickly because of flawed signals in the body's immune system is a disease called psoriasis. In this situation, the cells pile up on the skin surface because the excess skin cells are not shed, and can cause painful lesions. This is a highly common immune mediated disease that affects people in many countries worldwide. In the United States alone, it is estimated that more than seven million people are affected and new cases are diagnosed every year.
This disease can only occur to a person when his immune system seems to send the wrong signals and this triggers a reaction in the skin cells believing that pathogens and other unwanted invaders are present. The immune system attacks normal cells, believing that these cells contain some type of harmful bacteria or perhaps a virus, when there is actually nothing wrong. The result is then over production of skin cells happening in the elbows and knees and even observed to happen in the feet as well as the scalp. The T cells in our body are the white blood cell that fights the infections and disease, and these are the cells that are not working properly and cause psoriasis to occur.
There are two types of psoriasis, pustular and nonpustular psoriasis. Pustular psoriasis or GPP (generalized pustular psoriasis) covers the entire body of the person and this is the rare type of psoriasis. When a person has this rare type of disease of the skin, pus-filled blisters can form on the skin instead of plaques. This can happen at any age but is rarely seen in children. The nonpustular psoriasis does not cover the whole person's body, and this is the more common type.
Psoriasis can be chronic and flare ups in the skin can occur at any time because of its unpredictable nature. When flare ups occur, severe itching and pain can be felt. There can also be cracking and bleeding on the skin, which can be a cause of irritation. There is also drug-induced psoriasis, with several drugs described as those that can initiate or aggravate the disease. Understanding the patho-physiology of these drugs can help in the treatment and management of the drug-induced psoriasis disease.
Depending on the psoriasis type occurring, the skin lesions seen can vary in appearance. Patches of thick scaly skin can be seen or plaques of skin growing on the knees and elbows, feet or scalp, and these are the general symptoms of this skin disease. It can also affect the fingernails or toenails as well as develop anywhere on the skin of the person. Changes happening on the person's fingernails, like nail discoloration or the nails seeming to be pulled away from the nail bed are seen on people who have psoriasis.
Sadly, there is no cure for this highly common and painful disease, but there are some treatments that do help. Sometimes topical treatments are affective, and sometimes a process known as phototherapy can be beneficial. Scientists studying custom monoclonal antibodies have created drugs such as Efalizumab, which stops the immune reaction that triggers these outbreaks and deals with the disease at the cellular level. This drug contains recombinant humanized monoclonal antibodies, and while there are some serious side effects that might occur, many people have found these drugs to be highly effective.
This disease can only occur to a person when his immune system seems to send the wrong signals and this triggers a reaction in the skin cells believing that pathogens and other unwanted invaders are present. The immune system attacks normal cells, believing that these cells contain some type of harmful bacteria or perhaps a virus, when there is actually nothing wrong. The result is then over production of skin cells happening in the elbows and knees and even observed to happen in the feet as well as the scalp. The T cells in our body are the white blood cell that fights the infections and disease, and these are the cells that are not working properly and cause psoriasis to occur.
There are two types of psoriasis, pustular and nonpustular psoriasis. Pustular psoriasis or GPP (generalized pustular psoriasis) covers the entire body of the person and this is the rare type of psoriasis. When a person has this rare type of disease of the skin, pus-filled blisters can form on the skin instead of plaques. This can happen at any age but is rarely seen in children. The nonpustular psoriasis does not cover the whole person's body, and this is the more common type.
Psoriasis can be chronic and flare ups in the skin can occur at any time because of its unpredictable nature. When flare ups occur, severe itching and pain can be felt. There can also be cracking and bleeding on the skin, which can be a cause of irritation. There is also drug-induced psoriasis, with several drugs described as those that can initiate or aggravate the disease. Understanding the patho-physiology of these drugs can help in the treatment and management of the drug-induced psoriasis disease.
Depending on the psoriasis type occurring, the skin lesions seen can vary in appearance. Patches of thick scaly skin can be seen or plaques of skin growing on the knees and elbows, feet or scalp, and these are the general symptoms of this skin disease. It can also affect the fingernails or toenails as well as develop anywhere on the skin of the person. Changes happening on the person's fingernails, like nail discoloration or the nails seeming to be pulled away from the nail bed are seen on people who have psoriasis.
Sadly, there is no cure for this highly common and painful disease, but there are some treatments that do help. Sometimes topical treatments are affective, and sometimes a process known as phototherapy can be beneficial. Scientists studying custom monoclonal antibodies have created drugs such as Efalizumab, which stops the immune reaction that triggers these outbreaks and deals with the disease at the cellular level. This drug contains recombinant humanized monoclonal antibodies, and while there are some serious side effects that might occur, many people have found these drugs to be highly effective.
About the Author:
Armand Zeiders loves blogging about biomedical research. For more info regarding custom monoclonal antibody production, please go to the PrimmBiotech.com site today.