New Delhi: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the skin associated with red, scaling, and irritation. Common myths that are associated with psoriasis are that psoriasis is contagious. So please note psoriasis is not contagious, it is an autoimmune disease that is caused by inflammation, and autoimmunity. A virus, bug, parasite, bacteria or any other fungus do not cause it. It is not contagious, it doesn’t spread from one person to another. It is not spread by contact or skin-to-skin contact.
Talking about the myths around psoriasis, Dr. Pravin Banodkar, MBBS, DNB (Dermatology), Co-Founder of Skin Beyond Borders (SkinBB), said, “Second important myth which we commonly see among people is that psoriasis is associated with cancer, especially skin cancer. Please note that psoriasis is not skin cancer. It cannot spread around the body in a malignant way and cause malignancy or cancer issues. However, the medications that are given to control the inflammation may have an anti-cancer therapeutic value. So most people read about that online and see that anti-cancer medications are being given to treat psoriasis. But it is all to control the inflammation and not a malignancy or a cancer.”
Thirdly people fear that when they have psoriasis they have increased mortality and an increased chance of dying from psoriasis. Please note that psoriasis cannot result in acute death. It is not an emergency for the skin. However, over the long term, it is important to control the inflammation to reduce the after-effects of psoriasis which can include a lot of itching and embarrassment of having the lesions on the skin visibly all the time.
Another myth of psoriasis is that when psoriasis happens it might cripple the patient. Though psoriasis causes psoriatic arthritis, it is important to know that when you treat psoriasis through medications you are even treating the arthritis. And this arthritis once it is under control can prevent any form of damage to the bones or the joint. It cannot cause crippling at a very fast speed or it cannot cause deterioration of the bones in just a month or two months. It needs many years of psoriatic arthritis to cause it and once treated well the inflammation comes under control.
Another myth of psoriasis is that when psoriasis happens it might cripple the patient. Though psoriasis causes psoriatic arthritis, it is important to know that when you treat psoriasis through medications you are even treating the arthritis. Health News Health News: Latest News from Health Care, Mental Health, Weight Loss, Disease, Nutrition, Healthcare
