Psoriasis is a common non-contagious inflammatory condition of the skin which is known to bring about skin itchiness and redness. It results in thick, reddish colored, dry skin plaques or scales which can be flaky with a particular silver-white coloring.

Signs and symptoms

Psoriasis may be extremely mild or particularly severe. The mild cases can be so slight that individuals who are affected do not even realize that they currently have psoriasis. In the slight instances, the dry spots tend to be small and faint. The severe cases are impossible to ignore. People with major cases may have their bodies completely coated with dense, reddish spots. Most of the time, psoriasis affects the skin of the knees, scalp and elbows, but it can certainly affect several other areas also.

Actually there are 5 varieties of Psoriasis: 1) Erythrodermic--severely inflamed and covers a substantial area 2) Guttate--tiny, pink dots on the skin 3) Inverse--redness and irritation where skin overlaps 4) Plaque--most prevalent variety 5) Pustular--white blisters and red, aggravated skin.

The vast majority of people consider psoriasis to be a chronic skin disorder. It seems to go in cycles. It might start to improve for some time then get worse. Sometimes psoriasis will seemingly spontaneously disappear for years only to return at a later point in time.

Psoriasis can be observed in all people across the globe. Men, women and all races can be afflicted. People of all age groups can be impacted however it is typically initially diagnosed in the young adult population (ages 15-35).

Psoriasis may possibly generate mental and emotional anxiety for those who have serious cases a consequence of social embarrassment and worry over their appearance.

What Causes Psoriasis

There is no unanimous agreement relating to the actual cause of psoriasis. It's thought that the body's immune system plays a main role in psoriasis. Some individuals think that the dry, scaly skin is brought about by abnormal lymphocytes in the blood stream. The lymphocytes cause the skin cells to proliferate quickly. Skin cells are made deep inside the skin and normally take about 4 weeks to rise to the surface, but with psoriasis, the skin cells rise to rapidly (in about 2 weeks) and a considerable amount of dead skin cells accumulate on the top of the skin.

Additionally it is believed that there exists a genetic component associated with psoriasis, and a predisposition for psoriasis could be passed down from parents to children. Psoriasis is often seen in members of the same family.