Hi Everyone,
I live in Andover, Hampshire in the UK. I have had Psoriasis since around 2002 and over the years it has steadily worsened and I may be getting psoriatic arthropathy  (arthritis) in my joints just to make things worse!!
I currently have a moderate amount on the usual places and torso/back and it has been bugging me for a while now (about 2 years since I was last clear)
I had a bad flare up in 2008 and was covered in P, but it cleared up nicely after spending 6 weeks sunbathing for about 15 minutes each day (I was in the Army in Afghanistan) after which I was mostly clear.
I have tried all the creams and ointments and none of them do any good for me. I want to try some UVB treatment but the NHS doctors are rubbish and aren't interested so I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge or experience of a commercially purchased UVB lamp and how expensive/effective they are?
Any information would be great as I am seriously thinking of spending some money on one soon.
Rob

Just found this site and am so thrilled! I feel so alone since developing this horrible skin disease/rash called psoriasis/eczema?? It just started about a year or two ago and is slowly getting worse...I have been to three or four doctors who keep giving me different creams to try but all of them only made it worse. Now I'm just trying to make my own and trying different combinations of herbs, etc. I feel so alone in this whole thing and from seeing some pics online it has me really scared so...glad to make friends with others who are also suffering with this.

Hi all
I have seen a few forums, I think this is the most fun!!!!
My name is Sylvia and this is my first time posting on this forum.
I have had psoriasis since I remember it, it starts from my scalp and it goes down to my belly. I learned how to somehow live with it, but during winter it can get very bad. Indeed the most that helps me is sun.
I have just given the opportunity to try a new natural treatment, and I will tell you more once I will get to the end (still a couple of weeks)... it seems to be good, but I still want to see whether it satisfies all the promises... hey, keep your fingers crossed for me please!
Talk to you soon! And enjoy another great day
Sylvia

When I was 15 I had my first significant psoriasis outbreak. I was away from home for the summer so I went to a doctor I'd not seen before. He prescribed some sort of cream for me. It didn't come in a tube but in a 4oz white container with a screw on/off lid. It was was the consistency of hand lotion, quite runny, and was a whitish colour with a greenish/yellowish tint. I was instructed to apply it twice a day and it worked amazingly well and years went by before I had another outbreak. I have no idea what it was. it was so long ago that I have no way of finding the doctor (long retired) and asking him. I've tried many things since and nothing has been as effective as this medication was. I suspect it was not a steroid as the use instructions had none of the usual warnings that come with the corticosteroids medications, but I could be wrong.

If this description rings a bell with any of you please let me know what you think it might have been.

Thanks

duaneaise@gmail.com

The secrets of the itch have been discovered by scientists at the National Institutes of Health and hope one day to be able to turn off chronic itch without causing unwanted side effects.

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Scientists at the National Institutes of Health report they have discovered in mouse studies that a small molecule released in the spinal cord triggers a process that is later experienced in the brain as the sensation of itch.

The small molecule, called natriuretic polypeptide b (Nppb), streams ahead and selectively plugs into a specific nerve cell in the spinal cord, which sends the signal onward through the central nervous system. When Nppb or its nerve cell was removed, mice stopped scratching at a broad array of itch-inducing substances. The signal wasn’t going through.

Because the nervous systems of mice and humans are similar, the scientists say a comparable biocircuit for itch likely is present in people. If correct, this start switch would provide a natural place to look for unique molecules that can be targeted with drugs to turn off the sensation more efficiently in the millions of people with chronic itch conditions, such eczema and psoriasis.

The paper also helps to solve a lingering scientific issue. “Our work shows that itch, once thought to be a low-level form of pain, is a distinct sensation that is uniquely hardwired into the nervous system with the biochemical equivalent of its own dedicated land line to the brain,” said Mark Hoon, Ph.D., the senior author on the paper and a scientist at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Hoon said his group’s findings began with searching for the signaling components on a class of nerve cells, or neurons, that contain a molecule called TRPV1. These neurons, with their long nerve fibers extending into the skin, muscle, and other tissues, help to monitor a range of external conditions, from extreme temperature changes to detecting pain.

Yet little is known about how these neurons recognize the various sensory inputs and, like sorting mail, know how to route them correctly to the appropriate pathway to the brain.

To fill in more of the details, Hoon said his laboratory identified in mice some of the main neurotransmitters that TRPV1 neurons produce. A neurotransmitter is a small molecule that neurons selectively release when stimulated, like a quick pulse of water from a faucet, to communicate sensory signals to other nerve cells.

The scientists screened the various neurotransmitters, including Nppb, to see which ones corresponded with transmitting sensation.

“We tested Nppb for its possible role in various sensations without success,” said Santosh Mishra, lead author on the study and a researcher in the Hoon laboratory. “When we exposed the Nppb-deficient mice to several itch-inducing substances, it was amazing to watch. Nothing happened. The mice wouldn’t scratch.”

Further experiments established that Nppb was essential to initiate the sensation of itch, known clinically as pruritus. Equally significant, the molecule was necessary to respond to a broad spectrum of pruritic substances. Previous research had suggested that a common start switch for itch would be unlikely, given the myriad proteins and cell types that seemed to be involved in processing the sensation.

Hoon and Mishra turned to the dorsal horn, a junction point in the spine where sensory signals from the body’s periphery are routed onward to the brain. Within this nexus of nerve connections, they looked for cells that expressed the receptor to receive the incoming Nppb molecules.

“The receptors were exactly in the right place in the dorsal horn,” said Hoon, the receptor being the long-recognized protein Npra. “We went further and removed the Npra neurons from the spinal cord. We wanted to see if their removal would short-circuit the itch, and it did.”

Hoon said this experiment added another key piece of information. Removing the receptor neurons had no impact on other sensory sensations, such as temperature, pain, and touch. This told them that the connection forms a dedicated biocircuit to the brain that conveys the sensation of itch.

But the scientists had stepped into a conundrum. Previous reports had suggested that another neurotransmitter called GRP might initiate itch. If that wasn’t the case, where did GRP fit into the process?

They tested the receptor neurons that express GRP, finding the previous reports were correct about this molecule relaying the signal to the central nervous system. GRP just enters the picture after Nppb already has set the sensation in motion.

Based on these findings, Nppb would seem to be an obvious first target to control itch. But that’s not necessarily the case. Nppb also is used in the heart, kidneys, and other parts of the body, so attempts to control the neurotransmitter in the spine has the potential to cause unwanted side effects.

“The larger scientific point remains,” said Hoon. “We have defined in the mouse the primary itch-initiating neurons and figured out the first three steps in the pruritic pathway. Now the challenge is to find similar biocircuitry in people, evaluate what’s there, and identify unique molecules that can be targeted to turn off chronic itch without causing unwanted side effects. So, this is a start, not a finish.”

ive been on 45mg stelara for 2 yrs and its done me great.
have a long history of p and have tried everything else...this has been the best medication for me.
i recently got strep throat and flared up everywhere - my last stelara injection (4 weeks ago) hasn't helped at all. is there any risk in taking another dose 4 weeks later to kick it into gear..just as a one time thing? has anyone ever done that before? considering im not on the 90 mg i'm assuming it might be ok...

Hi guys, new to this forum but I have been a scratcher for what's been an eternity since I was 1 year old. Think I have been on every treatment available and the current treatment has been far the best ever but it has taken decades to get to where I am. I have had all sorts of topicals, steroids, tablets, lights including UVB, PUVA and TLS01 , had weeks on end in hospital for treatment and now finally I am on a combination of injection (Etanercept) and Methotexate tablets which I have been on for 2 years and I am almost psoriasis free and the scratching is down to a minimum now. I want now to be totally free but happy enough if it remains stable.

forever optimistic

Scapaflow

Hi everyone. My name is Cassie. I will be 26 in sept. I've been suffering with psoriasis since I was about 5. Since I've had two children and put on some weight it has gotten worse. I use to only suffer on my scalp. Its moved everywhere and I mean everywhere which just sucks. I no longer feeling beautiful. The itching and the pain make it really hard to save energy for my children. So most days I push myself too far trying to not let them know mommy is tired and not feeling well so I end up suffering more. But I'm a warrior and I'm not going to let this disease run me down. I hope I can meet more people like me that I can relate to. Cant wait to start talking to new people.

Hi all,  my son also has psoriasis, he is 11 and has suffered with this condition for two yrs, he has had numerous creams that haven't worked and now is about to embark on methotrexate, I know this works well and I am familiar with it having used it previously my self, would love to hear your thoughts, x

More Men are offered Biological Treatments for psoriasis than Women. Is it sex discrimination, or is there another reason? This survey from researchers at Sweden's Umeå University thinks it has found the answer.

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Objectives:
Moderate to severe psoriasis, once regarded as merely a skin disease, is today seen as an inflammatory systemic disease. The sex ratio of the prevalence of psoriasis is balanced. In recent years several reports have documented that men receive more systemic or UV treatment than women, and different hypotheses were made. In PsoReg, the national registry for systemic treatment of psoriasis in Sweden, we have, like other European registries, observed a predominance of men (59%), especially of men treated with biologics (63%). Biologics are a relatively new group of very effective but high-priced drugs. The objective of this study was to analyse if women are discriminated by not having the same access to the high-priced biologics.

Design:
Population based cohort study using data from a nationwide quality register of psoriasis patients.

Population:
2294 patients with moderate to severe psoriasis receiving systemic treatment from a specialist in dermatology.

Main Outcome Measures:
Time to initiation of biologic treatment. A multiple Cox proportional hazard’s regression was performed, with time to initiating a biologic treatment as the outcome in order to assess the independent role of the patient’s sex in initiating such therapy. The psoriasis severity was defined as a time-varying variable.

Results:
Men had more severe psoriasis than women according to the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), regardless of age at enrolment, and throughout the study period. The analysis in the multiple Cox regression show that age, psoriasis severity and psoriasis arthropathy were relevant factors for initiating biologic therapy, whereas sex is not.

Conclusions:
Although as many women as men are believed to suffer from psoriasis, men seem to be more severely affected by psoriasis. The asymmetry in allocation of biologic therapy thereby probably reflects the differing disease activity between the sexes, and is not a discrimination against women per se.

Are you single and looking for love? Do you have psoriasis? Do you want to meet the person of your dreams?

****** are making a third run of the romantic, insightful and acclaimed documentary series ********* for *******.

Once again they will be following people with a variety of conditions through the highs and lows of their quest to find love. As with both previous acclaimed series they will explore and challenge some of the issues and barriers that are faced.

They are very interested to hear from you if you suffer from psoriasis and feels this affects your search for love.

If you are interested in taking part please get in touch on *****************

Hello all

Im new to the site and forum so thought Id drop by and say hi to you all. Hope to chat more now I have found you guys

Love to all

xx

It's that time of year again when my psoriasis gets at its worst...

My scalp psoriasis is currently out of control I currently use Ketopine shampoo but it doesn't seem to be working at the minute if anything making it worse. I was just wondering people's views on tar shampoo and if someone could explain how the shampoos work, and any tips or advice on controlling the flakes although at the minute there more like bits. I have to tie my hair back to cover it but its not wlenoygh at the minute :(

Thanks Kath

Many people weigh themselves and track what they eat, but neurobiology professor Russell Poldrack studies himself in an in-depth way no one has done before in his quest to learn how a healthy brain functions daily.

His study consists of a weekly blood sample and two MRI scans per week paired with mood questionnaires, according to Poldrack. Poldrack said he also completes daily surveys measuring aspects such as sleep quality, diet and what happened that day. Poldrack said he began data collection in September 2012 and plans to publish his results in the fall.

Poldrack said he tracks the fluctuations of his psoriasis and has found that on days he recorded it being worse, the genes related to psoriasis are expressed more.

“Even though this is really preliminary, it starts to show us the kinds of stuff that we might be able to find,” Poldrack said. “The question is if we had enough data could we relate this back to brain function, too.”

There is no research on how brains change over a period of weeks and months, and because some disorders, including depression, fluctuate over this period, people with these disorders could get scanned regularly to measure which treatments work, Poldrack said.

One of Poldrack’s colleagues, Tom Schonberg, said that his research receives some criticism. “His colleagues try to plant the seeds of doubt and criticism all the time because when it’s out there scientifically, when he reaches the stage of trying to publish this, he’ll get criticism from all directions,” Schonberg said.

Poldrack said although it will be challenging to find people willing to participate, he wants to do the study on a large set of people. Poldrack said he may not have the funds to analyze a year’s worth of blood samples, which show how gene levels relate to what is happening in the body, because it costs $700 to analyze a week’s worth of blood.

“If we could find the money … then we could go back and do it,” Poldrack said. “It would be a really unique data set. I don’t know of any other data sets of a person who collected blood at the same time every week for such a long period of time.”

Source: NO LINKS ALLOWED

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced today that New York along with 35 other states reached an $11 million settlement with the drug manufacturer Amgen, Inc. The agreement resolves claims that the company inflated pricing data for six of its prescription drugs in a way that caused New York and the other settling states’ Medicaid programs to overpay for those drugs.

“There are no excuses for ripping off New York State taxpayers and defrauding our Medicaid programs,” Attorney General Schneidermansaid.“At a time when state budgets are already strained, I am committed to going after any company that rips off our taxpayers-no matter how big they are.With this settlement the message we are sending is clear: Biotechnology giants are not above the law and my office will continue to ensure that those who cheat the system are held accountable.”

The drug pricing data at issue in this settlement concerns the “Average Wholesale Price” (AWP) and “Wholesale Acquisition Cost” (WAC), benchmarks used by most states’ Medicaid programs, including New York, to set pharmacy reimbursement rates for pharmaceuticals dispensed to state Medicaid beneficiaries.New York and the 35 other states alleged that Amgen reported inflated AWP and WAC pricing data, thereby creating an artificially inflated “spread” between the price at which Medicaid providers dispensed the named drugs and the price at which the states reimbursed providers for the drugs. After creating the inflated spread, Amgen marketed that spread to Medicaid providers in order to boost Amgen’s sales of Aranesp, Enbrel, Epogen, Neulasta, Neupogen, and Sensipar.

This settlement was part of a larger investigation into allegations of illegal marketing practices, which included promoting the drugs for unapproved uses, and illegal kickbacks schemes by Amgen. The investigation resulted in a misdemeanor guilty plea in federal court by Amgen for introducing a misbranded drug into interstate commerce. The company has now paid a total of more than $647 million in damages related to the investigations, with New York’s Medicaid program recovering over $19.2 million of the money.

New York’s recovery pursuant to this national, multi-state settlement is $3.3 million.

In this instance, as in the previous settlements, New York lead a national team made up of state attorneys and analysts from California, Illinois, Indiana and North Carolina and worked through the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units.

The New York team was headed up by Jay Speers, Counsel to the New York MFCU; Carolyn Ellis, Special Assistant Attorney General; Michael LaCasse, Chief Auditor for MFCU’s Civil Enforcement Division; Meghan Collins, Associate Special Auditor Investigator; Matthew Tandle, Senior Special Auditor Investigator; Karin Flynn, Associate Special Auditor Investigator; Colin Ware, Special Auditor Investigator and Nicholas Furnari, Computer Programmer Analyst. The team was supervised by Deputy Attorney General Monica Hickey-Martin, Director of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and Executive Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice Kelly Donovan.

Source: NO LINKS ALLOWED

Ipsos Healthcare, the global healthcare division of Ipsos, has announced the launch of Ipsos Healthcare SEES (Syndicated Expert Ethnographic Studies). The disease-specific studies will bring to life the day-to-day challenges of living with a chronic disease.

Beginning with Psoriatic Arthritis (SEES PsA), the studies will reveal the patient perspective in 3 core areas: quality of life (lifestyle, coping mechanisms); medication (regimen, tolerance, compliance); and pathway to diagnosis (HCP interaction, time lapse). Initially available in the UK, France, Italy, Spain and the US, they will be delivered in collaboration between the disease experts from Ipsos Healthcare’s Global Therapy Monitors teams, and the anthropologically-trained researchers from Ipsos’ Ethnography Centre of Excellence.

Ipsos Healthcare SEES brings together the patient perspective offered by ethnography with the Global Therapy Monitors’ quantitative view of the market and physician perceptions; in doing so, it can help pharmaceutical and biotech companies identify wider patient-level and market opportunities. Subscribers will gain ongoing understanding through access to a searchable database of patient video footage, in addition to customised reports.

Commented Rhoda Schmuecking, President of Global Therapy Monitors, Ipsos Healthcare:
“Living with a chronic disease means constantly adapting to all aspects of life. Ipsos Healthcare SEES can help us to understand patients’ needs and motivations for seeking treatment, their true compliance versus stated levels, and the involvement of patients in their treatment decisions. This understanding can guide every articulation of a pharmaceutical or biotech company’s product value, from doctor detailing and conference material to employee education and patient support.”

Added Victoria Guyatt, Deputy Head of Ethnography, Ipsos UU:
“Ultimately, ethnography has the power to change the way the pharma / biotech industry views patients, putting them at the centre of decision-making.”

Source: NO LINKS ALLOWED

*Ipsos is a global independent market research company ranking third worldwide among research firms. They specialize in six areas: advertising research; marketing research; media, content and technology research; loyalty, quality and customer relationship management research; opinion polls and social research; and survey management, data collection and delivery.

This study published in The British Journal of Dermatology suggests clinicians should avoid intermittent treatment with Infliximab (Remicade) for psoriasis.

Background:
Continuous maintenance therapy with infliximab 5 mg/kg every 8 weeks is effective for moderate-to-severe plaque-type psoriasis.

Objective:
This study evaluated efficacy and safety of continuous versus intermittent infliximab maintenance therapy.

Methods:
RESTORE2 was a long-term extension of RESTORE1. At baseline of RESTORE2, eligible patients who had received infliximab for 26 weeks and achieved Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) 75 in RESTORE1 were re-randomised 1:1 to continuous therapy (infliximab 5 mg/kg every 8 weeks) or intermittent therapy (no infliximab until >50% loss of PASI improvement). Safety and efficacy assessments occurred throughout the study.

Results:
222 patients were randomised to receive continuous therapy; 219 to intermittent therapy. Numerically more serious infusion-related reactions occurred with intermittent therapy (8/219 patients, 4%) than continuous therapy (1/222 patients, <1%), leading the sponsor to terminate the study. Mean duration of exposure to infliximab was 40.12 weeks (SD = 27.55,) with a mean of 5.8 infusions (range, 0–16) for continuous therapy and 22.78 weeks (SD = 22.98) with a mean of 3.4 infusions (range, 0–16) for intermittent therapy. Although no formal efficacy analyses were conducted, continuous therapy led to numerically greater PASI 75 at week 52 in the continuous group (81/101, 80%) than in the intermittent group (39/83, 47%); several other efficacy measures demonstrated similar patterns.

Conclusions:
For patients with moderate-to-severe plaque-type psoriasis, continuous therapy with infliximab may be more effective than intermittent therapy. The incidence of serious infusion-related reactions in the intermittent group suggests that clinicians should avoid intermittent therapy in this population.

Source: NO LINKS ALLOWED

Do you, or have you used Oat Baths to help with psoriasis? If so ********** would like to hear from you for their new ground-breaking programme exploring the world of alternative medicine, health and beauty.

They are looking for people who are using an unusual homemade remedy for health and beauty purposes. Across the nation, people are taking health and beauty matters into their own hands. More and more people are treating themselves at home, using all sorts of regular household products in unexpected ways to try and treat ailments or boost their wellbeing.

They are particularly interested in talking with psoriasis patients who use or have used oat baths as a successful treatment for psoriasis.

If you do use this treatment and would like to chat further, you can talk to ************

Please mention Psoriasis Club, and feel free to post on this thread how you got on.

I'm about to start taking ciclosporine for moderate/severe guttate psoriasis. Recreational drugs (in moderation) have never had too bad effects on my psoriasis. I'm really worried that certain ones might have an interaction with ciclosporine, and I cant find any information anywhere. I'm about to finish my degree and really dont want to have to worry about what I'm putting into my body for just two weeks, so I was wondering if anyone on here could help.
Sorry if I've offended anyone.

Background: 
Chronic plaque psoriasis is frequently associated with metabolic disorders including obesity. Antitumour necrosis factor α treatments can induce body-weight increase in patients with psoriasis. Information on the effect of ustekinumab (Stelara) on body weight is not available.

Objectives: 
To investigate whether therapy with ustekinumab (Stelara) is associated with changes in body mass index (BMI) in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis.

Methods: 
A prospective, multicentre study comparing the changes in BMI in two closed cohorts of patients with psoriasis during 7-month treatment with ustekinumab (Stelara) (n = 79) or infliximab (Remicade) (n = 83).

Results: 
Patients treated for 7 months with infliximab (Remicade) showed a significant (P < 0·001) increase in mean BMI (2·1 ± 4·5%) and body weight (2·5 ± 3·3 kg) compared with patients treated with ustekinumab (Stelara) (0·1 ± 3·3%; 0·6 ± 1·1 kg). Some 45% of patients treated with infliximab (Remicade) had a BMI increase > 2%, compared with only 11% of those receiving ustekinumab (Stelara) (P = 0·01). In the multivariate analysis, all other clinical parameters predicted the BMI increase, except for the use of infliximab (Remicade). At month 7, 96% of patients treated with infliximab (Remicade) and 82% of patients treated with ustekinumab (Stelara) achieved at least a 50% improvement from their baseline psoriasis area and severity index (PASI 50), and 69% of the infliximab (Remicade) group compared with 58% of the ustekinumab (Stelara) group achieved at least PASI 75. There was no difference in the proportion of PASI 50 and PASI 75 responders between the two groups.

Conclusions: 
In contrast to infliximab (Remicade), ustekinumab (Stelara) does not increase BMI in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis. This difference could be taken into account in the selection of biologics when treating patients with psoriasis.

Source: NO LINKS ALLOWED

Damn and I thought I could blame Stelara for my weight increase.