Psoriasis: Epidemiology, diagnosis and management strategies

Abstract

Psoriasis is a common, non-infectious, chronic inflammatory skin disease characterised by distinctive erythematous plaques that multiply and scale over with silvery patches. Psoriasis can affect any cutaneous site and is frequently found on the extensor skin surface of elbows and knees, scalp and sacral regions. Psoriasis is also associated with systemic conditions, including psoriatic arthritis, Crohns disease and lymphoma. This book discusses the epidemiology, diagnosis and management strategies of psoriasis. Chapter One provides an overview of the challenging medical condition. Chapter Two discusses the possible factors raised by literature as main contributors to sleep disturbances and its correlation to psoriasis. Chapter Three gives an overview of the current results where blood plasma thermal changes have been detected by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) technique on psoriatic patients with different clinical stages, and monitored patients with no symptoms to patients with serious symptoms. Chapter Four discusses psoriasis treatment that targets the IL-23/Th17 axis. Chapter Five reviews natural health products for managing psoriasis.