New Psoriasis Treatment

Psoriasis is a skin disorder resulting from drastic increase in growth rate of skin cells that eventually accumulate in large number on the superficial skin. This causes the formation of red patches and scaly marks on the topmost layer of the skin. In some cases, this skin problem is accompanied by psoriatic arthritis that causes swelling of the joint. Unfortunately, the body's own immune system is the culprit behind the occurrence of this skin problem and joint inflammation. The infection fighting cells of the immune system, referred as T cells initiate actions that triggers abnormally high production of skin cells, resulting in psoriasis which makes it autoimmune disease. This skin problem that usually develop on the knees, elbows, scalp and back does not go away so easily and is long-lasting. Therefore treatment aims at managing the symptoms effectively. Is there any new psoriasis remedy available other than topical products? It is discussed below.

Conventional Psoriasis Treatment
Application of topical products is usually considered as the first line of treatment to manage psoriasis. Corticosteroids creams, topical retinoids as well as other medications like anthralin form an integral part of scalp psoriasis treatment. If this doesn't work, then stronger medications are prescribed which are either taken orally or administered intravenously. Unfortunately, the sad news is that most of them provide temporary relief. Also, taking these powerful medications for a longer duration can put a person in the risk zone of some serious side effects. On the other hand, topical products are not very effective to treat moderate to severe psoriasis.

New Psoriasis Remedy
New psoriasis treatment 2010 involve use of injections that have shown positive results in various clinical studies. New drugs taken in injectable form are found to be more effective and reliable in treating this skin problem as well as psoriatic arthritis. So what are these new drugs that have shown good results and grabbed the attention of experts. These new drugs are referred as biologic that are obtained from a living source. Unlike other medicines that are a combination of chemicals, biologics are primarily made up of proteins that are outsourced from living organism. The best example of biologics are vaccines that contain live bacteria or virus, which helps to prevent occurrence of infections.

Biologics that are used in to treat psoriasis are Stelara, Enbrel, Humira and Remicade. Basically, these biologics try to suppress the immune system that has turned 'wild' during this condition. Studies show that when conventional treatment doesn't improve psoriasis symptoms, biologics have found to be effective to relieve psoriasis substantially. Biologics attack the T cells of the immune system that are responsible for causing skin problems and joint inflammation. This in turn provides relief from psoriasis symptoms. Off all the biologics, Stelara is found to be most effective in treating psoriasis. According to a study, approximately 800 patients suffering from moderate to severe psoriasis were divided into 2 groups. While the first group was put on low and high doses of Stelara, the second group was given Enbrel. The outcome that was analyzed after a period of 3 months proved Stelara to be a better alternative to Enbrel. This is because, those taking Stelara showed greater improvement in their symptoms as compared to patients who received Enbrel.

Safety
One may think that although studies reveal these new medications to be more effective than the usually prescribed one, can they be considered safe? Just because, clinical studies highlight the ability of new drugs to heal psoriasis, one simply cannot ignore the safety aspect. The good news is that these injections have received FDA approval, which means it can be used in treating this skin problem safely.

Caution
T cells are the soldiers of the body that protect it from viral or bacterial attack. However, as biologics impair the immune system by targeting the T cells, patients put on these medications have higher chances of developing infections. So, one has to very careful when taking these biologics. Excess dosage can cause serious side effects and further complicate matters.

So, if the use of topical product is driving you crazy, with no effect on this condition, it is time you should talk to your doctor and explore switching over to these injections. You surely won't regret replacing creams with these injected drugs that can work wonders to heal severe psoriasis within a few months. However, for best results it is imperative that you talk to a dermatologist about this new treatment.