Treatments Help Psoriasis Patients Take Control

BOSTON -- Imagine living with itchy, scaly and painful skin. The feeling is bad enough and the appearance can make it even worse.

This is what millions of Americans with psoriasis live with. To top it off, psoriasis has no cure, but new treatments offer some hope.

Psoriasis can range from a mild rash to severe, thickened and scaly skin. To a person with the persistent skin disease, a simple touch can be painful.

"People can be actually debilitated from psoriasis and find it difficult to function in the workplace," said Boston dermatologist Robin Travers.

Travers said new treatments can make a world of difference.

"We all know that patients with psoriasis improve when they go out into the sun and we've determined that it's not all sunlight that improves psoriasis. It's particularly the ultraviolet rays," he said.

An excimer laser delivers ultraviolet radiation to affected areas. About 75 percent to 80 percent of patients have control of their psoriasis after 10 treatments.

"Their psoriasis is significantly less itchy, it's less thick, it's less red and it's less bothersome to them," Travers said.

The drug etanercept is another treatment showing success. It blocks the molecule in the body that triggers a psoriasis outbreak.

"If we can block that very specific molecule the thinking was, 'Can we block that entire response?' and in fact, after tests, we found that we are able to," Travers said.

In fact, 75 percent of patients had a 75-percent reduction in the severity of their psoriasis.

"There are so many new treatment options available, if we can just let people know about them I think a lot of people will be surprised at how well they can keep their psoriasis under control," Travers said.

The excimer laser is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of psoriasis but is currently not covered by insurance. The drug etanercept, marketed as Enbrel, is approved for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis, but not for psoriasis. FDA approval of the drug for psoriasis is expected to come late this year.

If you would like more information, please contact:

American Academy of Dermatology
(888) 462-DERM
http://www.AAP.org

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