Psoriasis, or as it is also called, scaly lichen, is a chronic skin disease. According to statistics, this disease affects about 2-3% of all inhabitants of the Earth. As a rule, psoriasis affects the skin on various parts of the human body, joints, nails, and less often mucous membranes. This disease has no age limits, since psoriasis can develop at any age, although in most cases, psoriatic manifestations first appear in people in their youth, up to 20 years.
Causes and symptoms of psoriasis
Where this skin disease comes from is unknown, there are only guesses. Some scientists believe that heredity is to blame for everything, others are stress, and still others are viral diseases. But so far none of these versions has categorical factual evidence. However, the fact that it is a genetic predisposition in some way increases the chances of getting psoriasis has already been proven. Scientists assure that if 1 parent suffered from the disease, the torisk of getting sick in a child is 25%, if both parents are sick, the likelihood of developing psoriasis increases to 65%.
This disease can be provoked by skin injuries, flu or tonsillitis, stress, certain allergic foods, medications, chemicals, weakened immunity, metabolic disorders in the body, chronic diseases of internal organs, dysfunction of the endocrine, nervous or digestive systems. Specific symptoms of psoriasis are localized pink plaques covered with a scaly, scaly crust. Rashes on the skin have an extremely unpleasant appearance, accompanied by excruciating itching, burning, excessive dry skin, thickening of the epidermis in the lesions.
Psoriasis Diagnostic Process
If the clinical picture of the disease is typical, then the diagnosis of psoriasis will not pose any particular problems. In the event that any of the parents or close relatives has the disease, the patient is obliged to inform the doctor about this fact, which will help determine the form, type and type of the disease.
As a rule, psoriasis is diagnosed by a dermatologist and rheumatologist. The form of the disease is determined by external signs and locations of psoriatic plaques. If skin pathologies characteristic of a particular type of psoriasis are found, the specialist is obliged to conduct a complete clinical examination of the patient. This approach allows for a preliminary diagnosis and a picture of the disease. If the diagnosis is confirmed, the doctor begins to develop a treatment and prescribes a course of complex therapies for the patient.
If psoriasis is suspected when examining a child, the doctor may prescribe additional tests and studies to distinguish similar skin diseases. Sometimes a skin biopsy is necessary during the examination.
The essence of the biopsy is that a small piece of skin is taken from the patient, approximately 6 mm in diameter. This sample is transferred to the pathologist , who performs all the necessary microscopic examinations. All the data that the pathologist receives during the research are recorded in a special report. Typically, only one biopsy is needed for a correct diagnosis. But there are times when the form or nature of the disease changes, and the result of the biopsy becomes unclear. In this situation, another biopsy is prescribed. Before prescribing any treatment, the doctor must once again carefully review all the conclusions on the results of laboratory tests.
Blood tests for a patient with psoriasis are not particularly important, because this disease does not affect the blood in any way. But during the examination, such analyzes are still necessary, since they allow us to find out the degree of danger for the patient of a particular drug. If a diagnosis of severe psoriasis is carried out , blood tests are of great importance, because at this stage of the disease, the balance of salts in the blood changes.
If the patient complains of pain in the joints, the doctor is obliged to conduct tests for the presence of psoriatic arthritis in the patient . The diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis can be made by either a dermatologist or a rheumatologist or other orthopedic doctor. In this case, an X-ray is required, a blood test and a detailed examination of the joints are prescribed.
Correct diagnosis is a guarantee of successful psoriasis treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to approach the process of diagnosing the disease with the utmost responsibility.