August is National Psoriasis Month. Run by the National Psoriasis Foundation is run every year for the whole month. Among other things they run a great blogging section called http://services.psoriasis.org/treatment-tips/it-works-for-me/ which actaully provides tips for living with Psoriasis. Do check it out!

At PatientTalk.Org we like to support different healthcare related awareness months and this is no exception. A slight change in tacj we thought we would produce a blog post outlining five thinks you need to know about psoriasis!

So what actually is psoriasis? We have share these five basic facts about psoriasis which we would like to share.

1) Psoriasis is a chronic (long term), (and happily) noncontagious autoimmune disease that presents on the skin. It occurs when
the immune system sends out the wrong signal which in turn increase the rate of growth cycle of skin cells.
2) Psoriasis is the autoimmune disease with the highest prevalence in the USA with an estimated 125 million people worldwide live with psoriasis. That’s nearly 2% of the world’s population!
3) Plaque psoriasis is the most common form of the disease, affecting 80 percent of those with
psoriasis. It appears as raised, red patches of skin covered by silvery, white buildup called scale.
But there are other types of psoriasis as well these include :
o Guttate psoriasis: Small dot-like lesions
o Pustular psoriasis: White blisters surrounded by red skin
o Inverse psoriasis: Occurs in armpits, groin and skin folds
o Erythrodermic psoriasis: Intense shedding and redness of skin
4) Psoriasis may appear anywhere on the body, but normally occurs on the scalp, knees, elbows
and torso.
5) The causes of psoriasis are still unknown. Both genetics and external factors known as triggers play a
role in the development of the disease. Triggers include: injury to the skin, infections, stress and sometimes adverse reactions to other treatments.