FRIDAY, Sept. 25 (HealthDay News) — Stelara (ustekinumab) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.
The immune system disorder is characterized by the rapid overproduction of skin cells, which leads to red, scaly patches of inflamed skin. Some six million people in the United States have plaque psoriasis, the FDA said in a news release. Read More
MONDAY, June 15, 2009 (Health.com) — Leonard Kleinman, an 82-year-old retired grocer in Boynton Beach, Fla., always thought of psoriasis as a nuisance separate from his other health problems, but now he is learning that his skin condition, which causes raised, silvery plaques on his legs, may actually be related to some of his other health issues.
“My doctor told me I was at risk for diabetes, and he referred me to a cardiologist because of some blockages in my heart arteries,” says Kleinman. “It didn’t occur to me that this could be connected to my psoriasis. But he said that it could be the case and I needed to take it seriously.”
Like Kleinman, about seven million Americans have psoriasis. Now, a new study suggests they are more likely to have heart attacks; strokes; blockages in the arteries of the legs, arms, and groin; and a greater risk of earlier death than those who do not have the inflammatory skin disease. The findings, published in the June issue of the Archives of Dermatology, add to a growing body of evidence that links psoriasis to a laundry list of other systemic, inflammatory diseases. Read More
THURSDAY, May 28 (HealthDay News) — Should it worry you that there are 19 different species of bacteria living behind your ears?
Not especially, when you consider that there are 44 species thriving right out in the open on your forearm.
This information comes to you from scientists at the U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute, who have used the same techniques that enabled them to map the human genetic makeup to identify all the bacteria living on human skin. Read More
THURSDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) — Home-based ultraviolet B (UVB) therapy for psoriasis is as effective and safe as outpatient phototherapy at a hospital, Dutch researchers report.
Receiving UVB treatment at a hospital can be difficult for patients with the chronic inflammatory skin condition because a course of treatment typically involves going to the hospital three times a week for eight to 10 weeks. In addition, many dermatologists believe home UVB treatment is inferior to, and carries more risks, than hospital treatment, even though there’s no evidence of that, the study authors noted. Read More
MONDAY, April 20, 2009 (Health.com) — Psoriasis may do more than wreak havoc on your skin. Those scaly, red patches are also associated with a higher risk of diabetes and high blood pressure, possibly due to the underlying inflammation that causes the skin problem.
Women with psoriasis are 63% more likely to develop diabetes, and 17% more likely to develop high blood pressure than their counterparts who do not have the common skin condition, according to a study in the April issue of the Archives of Dermatology. Read More
THURSDAY, April 9 (HealthDay News) — The drug golimumab shows promise in treating psoriatic arthritis, according to a new study. Psoriatic arthritis affects about 11 percent of people with psoriasis.
The University of California, San Diego-led study included 405 patients who still had active psoriatic arthritis after taking anti-rheumatic drugs or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The patients were randomly selected to receive injections of either 50 or 100 milligrams of golimumab or placebo every four weeks for 24 weeks. Read More
WEDNESDAY, April 8 (HealthDay News) — The troubled psoriasis drug Raptiva is being withdrawn from the U.S. market, California-based drug maker Genentech announced Wednesday.
The move comes almost two months after U.S. health officials issued a public health advisory on the drug after confirming a link to a rare, sometimes fatal brain infection. Read More
TUESDAY, March 17 (HealthDay News) — Low-dose treatment with a drug used to treat skin psoriasis seems to help reduce nail psoriasis, according to Italian researchers.
As many as 78 percent of people with psoriasis have nail psoriasis, which includes irregular pitting, salmon-colored patches on the nail bed, separation of the nail from the nail bed and reddened and often inflamed borders on the nails. Read More
THURSDAY, Feb. 19 (HealthDay News) — U.S. health officials issued a public health advisory Thursday for the psoriasis drug Raptiva after confirming that three people using the medication have died.
Two of three people with confirmed cases of a rare brain infection called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) are among the dead, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory. The third death was a person believed to have contracted the brain infection, according to the advisory. Read More
THURSDAY, Feb. 12 (HealthDay News) — The drug ustekinumab shows promise against psoriatic arthritis (PA), according to a study that included patients from 24 sites in Europe and North America.
PA affects about 11 percent of patients with psoriasis, an autoimmune disease that affects the skin and joints. Some patients don’t respond to current drug treatments for PA, so researchers are trying to find alternative therapies, according to background information in a news release about the study. Read More
