Despite the fact that psoriasis is the most common autoimmune disease in the country – affecting 7.5 million Americans, according to the National Psoriasis Foundation – there is still plenty of misinformation surrounding it.
Because today is World Psorisis Day, Dr. Holly Gunn, medical director of the Dermatology, Aesthetic and Laser Center at St. Elizabeth Physicians, helps set the record straight.
Myth No. 1
Psoriasis is contagious.
Psoriasis is a disease that causes the immune system to overreact and results in flaky, pink patches appearing on the skin.
Some people have fewer patches with their psoriasis than others, but no matter how bad a person’s case of the disease is, it’s not contagious.
“Many of my patients say they can tell other people are looking at them and thinking their skin is gross or that they have an infection that’s contagious,” Gunn said. “I wish more people were aware of this disease so they could support the person, instead of making him or her feel like a leper.”
There are, in fact, much higher incidences of depression and suicide among patients with psoriasis versus the general population, Gunn said.
The truth? Psoriasis is only passed from person to person genetically.
Myth No. 2
Psoriasis can be cured.
Patients often are surprised when Gunn tells them she cannot cure their psoriasis because it’s a chronic disease, but it’s a fact.
“Some people have the perception that psoriasis is a rash that can be cured,” she said, “but even though people can go through periods of remission where they have no patches, it could come back.”
Myth No. 3
Surgery could cause psoriasis patients to develop a skin infection.
In her work, Gunn frequently is consulted by surgeons before they operate on a patient with psoriasis because they’re concerned about how the surgery will affect the patient’s skin.
In reality, however, patients with psoriasis actually are at a lower risk of developing a skin infection because their immune systems are working too well, Gunn said.
“Their skin tends to do very well during surgery,” she said, “but you can see how there is even misinformation among the medical community.”
Myth No. 4
Psoriasis is most likely to be diagnosed by a dermatologist.
Actually, Gunn said, the person most likely to diagnosis a person with psoriasis – when the patient presents with classic symptoms – is a primary care physician. (Remember it’s an autoimmune disease, not a skin disease.)
“By the time I see many patients, they usually have already heard they have it from their primary care doctor,” Gunn said. “I help them control the disease.”
Treatment options for psoriasis range from topical steroids to light treatments to systemic medications – prescription drugs taken orally or injected into patients whose psoriasis isn’t responding to topical medications or light therapy.
Myth No. 5
Sun exposure makes psoriasis worse.
One of the only times Gunn and her co-workers are able to tell patients to “get a little sun” is when they have psoriasis, she said.
It may sound counterintuitive, but sun exposure – a little, not a lot – can actually improve psoriasis. “I shock patients with that one,” Gunn said.
What does make psoriasis worse is anything that affects the immune system, such as stress, illness and smoking.
