Ever wondered what we would become like if our immune system gets out of order. Well this happens in many cases that the immune system which is guided to kill foreign bodies, starts acting against the very own cells of the body. The immune cells might go under some abnormality due to any certain cause that might lead to the destruction of body’s own normal functioning cells.
If this happens, many different consequences develop which depend upon the type of normal body cells being affected or destructed. An example of such immunological disease is Psoriasis. What follow next in this article is the causes and symptoms of psoriasis.
Psoriasis occurs as a consequence of immune disorder in which the immune cells recognize body’s normal skin cells as faulty, and send wrong signals against it so that the skins cells multiply abnormally. This increased speed of cell division results in accumulation of the divided cells in the form of masses, plaques or patches which are visible at the surface of skin.
Cell formation, maturation and its sloughing off, this whole process normally takes 30 days but the rate is increased in an individual suffering from psoriasis and the whole process is completed within 3 to 6 days. Psoriasis is a non-contagious, auto-immune and chronic disease which is characterized by red, dry and scaly patches on the skin. It affects almost 1 to 3 % of the world’s population.
Causes of Psoriasis
The causes of psoriasis up till now are unknown. But relative hypothesis have been developed which are mentioned as follows:
Genetic Susceptibility
It is known that psoriasis runs in families. Many individuals affected with psoriasis are found to have some gene abnormality in 1- 9 loci on different chromosomes and these are known as psoriasis susceptibility 1 through psoriasis susceptibility 9 (PSORS 1 through PSORS 9). Loci are referred to the specific location of genes on a particular chromosome.
The fact is that, genes that occur in these loci may function in coding for the immune cells and mutations in these genes can result in the immunological abnormality. The most involved immune cells are MHC (major histocompatibility complex) and the T-cells.
PSORS 1 is found to be the major determinant. It is responsible for 35- 50 % of heritability. It is known to control those genes which affect the encoding of proteins that are found in greater amounts in the skin of psoriasis affected individuals.
Psoriasis Triggers
Although an individual may inherit the psoriasis genes but not necessarily every one of these develops the disease. Certain triggers are required to cause onset of the disease which are known as psoriasis triggers.
Some of these triggers are stress, injury to skin; certain medications such as lithium, anti-malarial drugs, quinidine, Indomethacin (an NSAID drug) and Inderal (a high blood pressure medication) are known to trigger psoriasis.
Immune Disorder
As mentioned afore, psoriasis is an auto-immune disease. Hence, the body’s own skin cells are confused as foreign bodies. The most involved immune cells are MHC, dendritic and T-cells.
These cells normally function in setting off a cascade of events against a foreign substance such as a bacterium or virusbut during psoriasis, these events are occurred against the skin cells and in this way, the keratinocytes are stimulated to multiply abnormally. The chemical released by these immune cells also cause inflammation of the skin and joints.
Stress
Stress plays an important role in flaring out the symptoms for the first time and in aggravating the existing psoriasis. Stress techniques and relaxation will help in reducing stress which in turn leads to reduction of psoriasis.
Symptoms of Psoriasis
Psoriasis may range from mild to moderate to severe in different cases. The symptom of psoriasis includes:
Plaque and Patches
Appearance of silvery white patches on the skin at the sites of elbow and knees is a symptom of psoriasis. These plaques may also occur at the scalp, palms, sole and the genitals. Plaque can have different appearances.
It may appear as red, raised area of the skin or as red patches. It may range from pink and mildly dry skin to big and dry flakes. Scalp plaque can sometimes be mistaken as dandruff. Finger nails and toe nails are also likely to be affected.
Psoriatic Arthritis
Psoriatic arthritis is a common symptom of psoriasis. It is a condition where patient develops psoriasis along with arthritis. In psoriatic arthritis, patient develops red skin patches and scales.
The look of the affected skin varies from the type of psoriasis. Arthritis is a condition of joint inflammation. Psoriasis along with arthritis forms a potentially destructive and aggressive psoriatic arthritis.
Pain and Itching
The patient may suffer from some kind of itching and pain symptoms. In some conditions white skin flakes are also formed on the skin. By anyhow, if these dry white flakes get pulled, it forms a small red spot on the skin. In medical terms, these tiny blood spots are referred as Auspitz sign.
Genital Lesions
Genital lesions may also occur as a symptom of psoriasis. It develops on the head of the penis. Genital psoriasis also develops around the moist area like naval and between the buttocks (intelguetal folds).
The red, flat patches on the skin around the moist area are formed. These symptoms can be misunderstood with the other skin diseases like, bacterial staph infections, yeast infections, skin irritation and fungal infections.
Effects on the Quality of Life
Due to psoriasis, the quality of life also seems to go down. The affected individuals become conscious about their appearance due to the presence of plaques on their skin. Psychologically, they may face depression or may feel isolated.
Psoriasis is not a contagious disorder i.e. it cannot be spread through skin to skin contact. But, this condition can be inherited from the parents to the child. The family history plays a major role in diagnosing the psoriasis. Researches have shown that, psoriasis is fairly a common skin condition that has affected around 2 to 3% of total population. An immediate health check-up is advisory, if you find any of the above mentioned symptoms on your body.
Photo Credit: http://www.e-psoriasis.com/app/causes.asp