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Psoriasis is a skin disease that usually affects people between 10 and 40 years of age. For patients with psoriasis, there was hope for a return to normal life. Drugs that completely eliminate the symptoms of this troublesome disease are already available, which patients can take at home. Unfortunately, the National Health Fund is not financing this therapy yet.
Professor Andrzej Kaszuba, a national consultant in the field of dermatology, emphasizes that the effect of treatment with new drugs is really spectacular. One injection, which the patient can do on his own once a month, and with some medications, every three months all symptoms of psoriasis disappear. And they are very burdensome; the patient’s skin becomes flaky and the nails become dull, distorted and thickened. The sick person feels like burns.
Psoriasis takes away hope
For several years at the Department of Skin Diseases of the Provincial Hospital in Poznań “Lutycka” prof. Zygmunt Adamski conducts an innovative therapy with biological drugs in patients suffering from psoriasis vulgaris and articular psoriasis. Unfortunately, due to the high cost of therapy, the hospital is unable to continue this treatment. – It’s hard to even imagine what this means for our patients. For treatment, we selected patients with the most severe form of psoriasis, who had previously been treated with poor results for 20 or 30 years. Biological therapy allowed them to return to normal life.
Meanwhile, after discontinuation of drugs, the recurrence of symptoms occurs with a doubled intensity. Therefore, the extinction of therapy is a medical problem. Moreover, it is a huge psychological burden for the doctor. When starting therapy with such expensive drugs, we make a very responsible decision. We must be aware that treatment must be continued throughout the patient’s life. What is the situation when the doctor is placed to enable the patient to return to normal first and then to let him know that his nightmare will start all over again? – says the professor.
Symptoms of psoriasis
64-year-old Danuta Nowakowska from Poznań is a patient of prof. Zygmunt Adamski. She has been treated with biological drugs for three years. She says that starting this therapy changed her life diametrically.
The first symptoms of psoriasis appeared when she was 19 years old. – I was in my first year of pharmacy. I was starting a new adult life without realizing what a nightmare I would be struggling with – he recalls. First, there were small blemishes on her skin, then huge red spots and huge scabs. – It hurt as if someone was pouring boiling water on it – he says.
- Soothing in the case of psoriasis skin, it is worth using Bioherba’s Enchanted cleanser for oily and combination skin, which soothes the skin, reduces irritation and redness and gently cleanses.
Skin lesions covered 50 percent. of the patient’s body, appeared on the nails and on the hairy scalp. – It was the constant art of camouflage – long pants, long sleeves. Everyone with psoriasis has mastered this art – confesses Ms Danuta. During her studies, she lived with her friends in a boarding house. She was ashamed to undress even with them. Meanwhile, she had to lubricate her body with ointments prescribed by a dermatologist.
Treatment of psoriasis – in the hospital, as at home
Danuta’s illness was so much worse that it became necessary to be treated in a hospital. – I stayed in the hospital from 5 weeks to 3 months on average – he recalls. Ms. Danuta completed 50 such stays until the beginning of biological drug therapy. – In the hospital ward I felt good because I was among my own people. I didn’t have to hide my body – he says.
Ms Danuta believes that the disease greatly influenced her life. – I never went on vacation, I did not go to the beach, I did not do any sports – he admits. Psoriasis also affected her relationships with other people. – I always kept everyone at bay because I was afraid of rejection, but also sympathy. My marriage broke up. I think that due to my illness my relationship with my husband was not quite as I would like – she says.
– It wasn’t normal life. When I came home from work, I used ointments and told my children that there was no one for me. I didn’t want anyone to see me like this.
Sleep in clean sheets
Danuta’s psoriasis became so severe that the steroids stopped helping. The only relief was radiation. However, in order to qualify for such treatment, Danuta had to grow her psoriasis, because only extensive changes allowed for irradiation. The hospital, where she was treated, was undergoing renovation. Meanwhile, the symptoms were so severe that the patient began to seek help in other hospitals. – This is how I found Professor Adamski, who qualified me for biological drug therapy, and then my life changed dramatically – he recalls.
Since she fell ill, she always used greasy ointments at night. Therefore, her great dream was to go to bed with beautiful clean sheets and not destroy her the first night. And that’s how it happened. After starting treatment with biologics, the symptoms of psoriasis disappeared. – My daughter bought me a beautiful nightgown as a gift. I cried with happiness. My dreams came true – he says.
Discontinuation of the treatment
When Ms Danuta found out that the treatment was to be stopped, she broke down. – I can’t imagine the yo-yo effect. I just can’t do it. I look at my granddaughter who may inherit this disease from me, and I think of young people suffering from psoriasis. The disease wasted the most beautiful period of my life. Young sick people already know about these drugs, read about how effectively they deal with the disease, and on the other hand, they do not realize what a nightmare their life without these drugs can become.
Patients with psoriasis like lepers
– Only people suffering from psoriasis know how their lives change when they do not have to be ashamed to shake hands in greeting – says Professor Kaszuba. He says that the sick complain that living with this disease is like being a leper. Everyone on the bus moves away from the sick person because they fear they will get infected. One patient reported that when he gets up in the morning and takes off his pajamas, he has to sweep his exfoliated skin.
The rejection stress of psoriasis leaves many sufferers depressed. Therefore, dermatologists believe that it is a disease not only of the body but also of the soul, which also requires psychological support. Moreover, it does not only affect the skin, but is a systemic inflammatory disease which, for example, doubles the risk of a heart attack. Inflammatory bowel diseases and joint diseases are also more common in psoriasis patients. The disease also contributes to a significant shortening of life – even by 20 years, when it occurs before the age of 25.
Appropriate cosmetics are necessary to care for the skin with psoriasis. Try Atopos cream for atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, which has an anti-inflammatory effect and nourishes and regenerates the skin at the same time. Recommended for skin with psoriasis is also an anti-wrinkle face elixir with vitamin C 5% with a strong moisturizing, soothing and anti-aging effect. Thanks to the content of sage extract, Green Laboratory nourishing hand cream supports the treatment of psoriasis lesions. You can buy the products at Medonet Market.
New biological drugs for psoriasis
The therapy uses the natural mechanisms of the human body – the ability to create antibodies against viruses, bacteria or other factors causing diseases. This ability is possessed by lymphocytes, i.e. white blood cells. Were it not for them, the most ordinary infection could turn out to be fatal for humans. Lymphocytes produce a protein that kills the attacking intruder. So scientists used lymphocytes to produce drugs against various diseases. Transgenic mice were created and implanted with human genes, thanks to which their lymphocytes were humanized. Human lymphocytes formed in the body of mice in laboratories produce an antidote to various diseases – called biological medicines. The first drugs of this type were registered in the USA in 1986.
Therapy for patients with psoriasis
New biological drugs are very expensive. The monthly cost of therapy for one patient is about PLN 5. zloty. These drugs are taken for life. In Poland, about a thousand of the sickest should receive them in the first place. Professor Kaszuba explains that a patient with a severe form of psoriasis often stays in the hospital three times a year for 6 weeks. If he were treated with modern drugs, he could live and work normally and would not occupy a hospital bed.
For comparison, in Romania such drugs are reimbursed in 100%. for 2500 patients, and in the Czech Republic – for 1500. In both of these countries, the number of patients with severe psoriasis who qualify for biological therapy is much smaller than in Poland. In addition, in most European countries, patients with milder psoriasis, but having a negative impact on their quality of life, are eligible for treatment, says Prof. Kashuba.
New drugs for psoriasis
According to prof. Kashubia, the current methods of treating psoriasis do not bring satisfactory results in patients with moderate to severe form of psoriasis and articular psoriasis, or they have many side effects. Hope for patients are new drugs that quickly eliminate the symptoms of itching, redness, flaking and joint pain and prevent its recurrence. They also relieve inflammation in the body, and thus lower the risk of many serious diseases. The professor hopes that the ministry of health will soon start funding this therapy. He has been talking about this with the Ministry of Health for almost a year.
Are you looking for products effective in the fight against skin psoriasis? On Medonet Market you will find, among others:
- a set of cosmetics for psoriasis of the scalp Psorisel,
- Psorisel night liquid for psoriasis,
- Psorisel night emulsion for psoriasis,
- Psorisel psoriasis shampoo.
Read also:
- Psoriasis treatment – what should you know?
- Is psoriasis contagious?
- Seborrheic dermatitis or psoriasis?