This study looked at the efficacy, safety, and effective dosage of 308‐nm excimer light in the treatment of scalp psoriasis.

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Background:
Scalp psoriasis is a major therapeutic challenge due to the hindrance caused by hair. Treatment with the 308‐nm excimer lamp is purported to provide many benefits over conventional phototherapy. This retrospective study evaluates the efficacy, safety, and effective dosage of 308‐nm excimer light in the treatment of scalp psoriasis.

Methods:
We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with scalp psoriasis who received treatment with 308‐nm excimer light. Clinical and epidemiological data as well as details regarding treatment were statistically analyzed to determine the treatment outcomes.

Results:
Twenty patients with scalp psoriasis were included in the study. Their mean age was 47.45 ± 17.93 years. Eleven patients responded to treatment at the end of 10 sessions. The median baseline Psoriatic Scalp Severity Index (PSSI) was 12 (range, 3‐32). At the end of the protocol, the median PSSI was 4.5 (range, 0‐24), indicating a statistically significant reduction (P<0.001). Common adverse effects included erythema, irritation, and desquamation.

Conclusion:
The 308‐nm excimer light appears to be an effective and safe modality that requires short treatment time. The modality could be considered as an alternative or adjuvant treatment for scalp psoriasis.

Hello,

It took 21 years to get almost rid of my scalp psoriasis. Very slight traces remain, but overall looks very good, and I do not see it coming back. I have now seen 15 days of complete clearance! This is incredible news for me personally. So I want to share what I actually did to get rid of this condition. Please note I am free and open to questions and I will try my best to answer as many people as possible.

First of all let me state that my scalp psoriasis was visually not very scary. Most of it was hidden behind my hairline. However, slight traces could be seen and if you move the hair aside you could see very serious lesions. So here are my point-wise notes:

1. Never Tried Any Meds (Except Once)
I have never tried any meds except just once 18 years ago for just 2 times, and I noticed that I did not react well to it. I saw slight bleeding on site where I applied a topical cream. Can't remember the name. And I also lost hair at that site. I was quite worried and discontinued the medication immediately. It took 3 years to get rid of the lost hair patch. I had to work very hard to recover from this.

2. Digestion
You must improve your digestion. You must be able to digest all food you eat! 

3. Elimination
You must be able to eliminate well.

4. Sugar
Avoid sugar (especially refined sugar). If you must have sugar, use only brown sugar and not more than 2 spoons a day. Natural sugar from fruits is fine. However no corn syrups.

5. Dental Health
This is very important. By the time you complete reading this article, you will realize that nothing special needs to be done, as you will have zero dental issues if you follow all the points. However dental health does play a significant role. The germs in your gums and tooth plaque travel to your intestines and body and circulate in your blood.

6. Metabolism
You must have a healthy metabolic cycle. Never eat when you are not hungry! You must be able to burn what you ingest, not just digest it. High metabolism will give you more energy with less food, and you will feel more hungry.

7. Diet
Eat less food, and do not over drink water! It's important that you eat less food. If you are not hungry for dinner you must skip dinner and instead eat a fruit or yogurt. Consume fewer grains but do not eliminate them completely! Try Indian lentils over wheat. Rice is more acceptable than wheat. But Indian lentils and beans are best. 

8. Probiotics
You should make natural yogurt at home (home-made) and eat it daily.

9. Exercise
You should do a light jog of 3 miles every morning, about 5500 steps or 3 miles approximately. You must do a total of 10K steps every single day. Your average must be above 10K.

10. Yogic breathing or Pranayama
Every morning on an empty stomach, perform atleast 15 minutes of yogic breathing. Check out Kapalbhati or Anulom Vilom on Youtube.

11. Avoid Processed Food
Avoid processed food (usually dead food), such as muffins, pastries, cookies, donuts, chips etc. The stuff usually in bakeries and packets. Minimize bread, eat very little. Avoid frozen food. Eat only freshly made food. Prefer gourmet food over cold foods.

12. Vegetarian
Try to become a vegetarian. But I do not think this plays a very big role as long as you are not eating processed food.

13. Weight and BMI
You must reduce your weight and BMI. Keep a BMI of less than 23. This is hard but doable. You an avoid sugars and fats. You may be dieting, but you must reduce your BMI below 23.

I had about 70% of above done right, but it wasn't unfortunately enough. I had to get all 13 things correct, before I saw the results. No 5 and 13 were most important.

(Sat-19-01-2019, 02:00 AM)Green0wl979 Wrote: Best of luck to you Martin! I just started my first dose today after being on Humira for 2 years with spotty success. Hope you see results soon!

hi all. started my new drug yesterday. cosentyx after stelara had failed. had 2 injections yesterday. 2 injections next monday and so on for 5 weeks. then its one injection per month. feel ok apart from feeling like im getting a cold. will update on my journey

Hi there,
I'm new here - hello!
Wondering if anyone can help. 
After I go for a run, +7miles, the psoriasis spots on my back on stomach flare up. 
I'm assuming it is from the irritation from the clothing mixed with the sweat from exercising. Does anybody know that the best clothing is for running long distance as a Psoriasis suffer?
Thank you!
mjb

Happy new year all. 100% clear skin finally after 12 years , after only 2 months of treatment.
Thank you Novartis!

This French study looked at the dermatologist's position and the patient's preoccupations as to psoriasis and pregnancy.

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Background:
While some information on psoriasis impact on pregnancy is available, very little is known on the preoccupations of women afflicted by the disease or on the dermatologists’ (D) positioning as to psoriasis and pregnancy. The “Objectifs Peau” project demonstrated a 4.7% prevalence of psoriasis in women aged 18‐45 years in France.

Objective:
This project sought to further address these issues in view of a targeted action plan.

Methods:
A questionnaire was made available to 361 D of different types.

Results:
Overall, 152 D answered the questionnaire, 50.7% working in private or mixed practice and 49.3% in hospitals, with 63% females (DF) and 37% males (DM). Over the last 3 months, the mean percentage of women of child‐bearing age seen by these D was 28.6%. The main issue addressed by D upon psoriasis diagnosis was the patient's wish to become pregnant in the short‐term (84%), while the compatibility of drug treatment with pregnancy was the issue prioritized by patients (64%). Among DM and DF, 46% and 29% reported having been confronted with an unplanned pregnancy, with their reaction mainly dependent on the treatment taken in 66%. Regarding follow‐up, 26% D declared having shared their decision‐making with gynecologists, while 56% considered the first pregnancy trimester to be the highest risk period. Only 28% D were familiar with existing recommendations, with only 21% of them considering them appropriate.

Conclusion:
Overall, 26.2% of French psoriasis women are of child‐bearing potential, in line with our dataset (28.6%). Only 56% D considered the 1st pregnancy trimester to be the highest risk period, with only one‐third familiar with existing recommendations. The gap between recommendations and actual practices must be addressed through policies that take women's preoccupations better into account.

I've been diagnosed with Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis for just under three years.
Started off innocently, and took over a year to actually grab my attention. 
Mid 2017 until Mid 2018 - All the first off meds such as Methotrexate etc...
Nothing with any results.
Beginning of 2018 the Plaque growth jumped exponentially.

No decent dermatologists in my country.
Had to find out about biologics on my own. 
Went to the US to see a dermatologist. Prices we're absurdly high.
Was able to find Cosentyx marketed as Scapho in India.
Still extremely expensive but much cheaper than Cosentyx from the US.

Planned on starting Cosentyx in October however;
Did a TB test; came back positive;
Turned out i had a mycobacteria not TB. 
Currently on isoniazid and wasn't allowed to start Scapho until i had been on isoniazid for atleast two months.

Just had my 5th loading dose of Scapho last week.
Seeing decent results but not as good as some of the posts i had been reading on.
I'm on Scapho without any dermatologic supervision.

My Plaque psoriasis is extreme, Scapho has only cleared around 15%.
Now that loading is over, i want to use it bi- monthly.

Has anyone here ever deterred from the standard dosage?

Cheers,

Hi there,

Been a lurker for sometime now. I’m in my mid twenties and have had psoriasis since I was 12. I’ve gone through the motions with various topicals, with only Enstilar and the protopic ointments being of any use. I only got my hands on these earlier last year, but they’re only help marginally with comfort, but the clearance hasn’t really happened.

Last year I also tried acitretin but this didn’t give much clearance either, so now have been suggested to try Skilarence. The private script I’ve been given however seems to cost around £1300 for a 14 weeks at one of the well known high street pharmacists which is pretty darn steep. 

I was wondering if any other UK users of Skilarence had had any luck with getting it cheaper anywhere else?

Marcus

This study looked at  the Health literacy (HL) strengths and weaknesses in psoriasis patients.

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Background:
Health literacy (HL), the ability to seek, understand and utilize health information, is important for good health. Suboptimal HL has been associated with poorer health outcomes in other chronic conditions, although this has not previously been studied in patients with psoriasis.

Objectives:
The aim of this study was to investigate the HL strengths and weaknesses of a cohort of patients with moderate to severe psoriasis. Another aim was to examine possible associations between patients’ quality of life, their demographic, clinical and self‐management characteristics and dimensions of HL.

Methods:
A cross‐sectional study was conducted. Data were collected from a cohort of patients with psoriasis who had participated in climate helio therapy from 2011‐2016 (N= 825). HL was assessed by the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ). The association between HL domains, demographic, clinical and self‐management variables was analysed using bivariate correlation and a four‐step linear multiple regression model.

Results:
The scores on all HLQ dimensions indicate lower health literacy compared to other populations. The linear regression models showed a significant association between HL, quality of life and self‐management variables, with higher HL predicting higher quality of life, self‐efficacy, and psoriasis knowledge. Sex, educational attainment, age and disease severity had less influence on health literacy.

Conclusions:
Improving HL may be a useful strategy for reducing disparities in self‐management skills for patients with psoriasis. Interventions that aim to reduce disease severity and increase psoriasis knowledge, self‐ efficacy and quality of life may positively increase HL.

Hello

So I was put on Fumaderm last January. Sadly it has stopped working and my psoriasis has come back with a Boom!

As a result the doctor is going to put me on a biologic, either Humira or Stelara. I have been asked to choose as they don't favour one over the other. 

I was just wondering if anyone could give me advice...

At the mo I am swayed towards Stelara as you only have to take it once every 3 months but would love to hear from someone on either drug! 

Thanks in advance!

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) UK are advising anyone using Zudaifu cream stop using it immediately.

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The MHRA has been working to prevent the further sale of Zudaifu cream and advises anyone who has bought it online to stop using it immediately.

Zudaifu cream is not a licensed medicine and has been marketed in the UK as a “natural” Chinese herbal remedy for the treatment of a range of skin conditions, most commonly eczema, psoriasis and rosacea.

Our analysis of the product found the presence of the steroid clobetasol propionate. This is the active ingredient in Prescription-Only medicines used for the treatment of a range skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema.

Creams containing steroids should be used sparingly and as directed by the prescriber. They should not be used on children under 1 year of age.

This follows a warning earlier this year for a product called Yiganerjing Cream described as a “natural” Chinese herbal medicine that contained the same steroid and antifungal ingredients.

Dr Chris Jones, Manager of the Medicines Borderline Section at MHRA said:

We have again identified a potentially harmful cream described as a natural Chinese herbal medicine on the market.

Selling creams directly to the public that contain strong steroids is illegal and they are potentially dangerous if they are used without medical supervision.

Steroids must only be prescribed by healthcare professionals who follow strict criteria when prescribing them and can monitor patients using them. They can suppress the skin’s response to infection and can also cause long-term thinning of the skin. If steroids are applied long term, particularly on children, they can lead to other medical problems.

Our advice to anyone who has bought it previously or is currently using Zudaifu cream – particularly on young children and babies – is to stop using it immediately. If you have any questions, please contact your healthcare professional.

If you are unsure about the safety of a medicine claiming to be “natural” or “herbal” you should check for a Marketing Authorisation (MA) or Product Licence (PL) number or Traditional Herbal Registration (THR) number / the THR logo. This means the product has been assessed by MHRA for safety and has been manufactured correctly. For more information, visit NHS Choices.

If you are aware of Zudaifu cream being sold, please report it to MHRA.

Lilly syas Taltz demonstrated superiority in improving active psoriatic arthritis compared to Humira.

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Eli Lilly announced today Taltz (ixekizumab) met the primary and all major secondary endpoints in the Phase 3b/4 SPIRIT-H2H study, which evaluated the efficacy and safety of Taltz versus Humira® (adalimumab) in patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) who are biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD)-naive. The SPIRIT-H2H trial is the first completed large head-to-head (H2H) superiority study in active PsA. This open-label, randomized, controlled trial is the first and only H2H study that utilizes on-label dosing for both Taltz and Humira and includes concomitant conventional DMARDs.

At 24 weeks, patients treated with Taltz met the primary endpoint by demonstrating superiority in improving the signs and symptoms of active PsA compared to Humira as measured by the proportion of patients simultaneously achieving at least a 50-percent reduction in disease activity, as defined by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR50), as well as complete skin clearance as measured by the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI100). In addition, Taltz met the major secondary endpoints.

"The positive results from the SPIRIT-H2H trial reinforce that Taltz effectively treats the debilitating joint signs and symptoms of active psoriatic arthritis, while also providing skin clearance," said Lotus Mallbris, M.D., Ph.D., vice president of immunology development at Lilly. "These results provide evidence that Taltz can be used as a first-line biologic treatment for patients with active psoriatic arthritis."

A total of 566 active PsA patients were enrolled in the study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Taltz compared to Humira. Patients with active PsA were randomized to receive Taltz at the approved dose (160-mg starting dose followed by 80 mg every four weeks), or Humira (40 mg every two weeks) for a total of 52 weeks, with the primary analysis conducted at 24 weeks. Patients meeting criteria for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis received the approved dose of Taltz (160-mg starting dose followed by 80 mg every two weeks from Week 2 to Week 12 and every four weeks thereafter) or Humira (80-mg starting dose followed by 40 mg every two weeks, one week after the initial dose).

"In the SPIRIT-H2H trial, Taltz demonstrated superiority in improving active psoriatic arthritis compared to Humira," said Philip Mease, M.D., Swedish Medical Center/Providence St. Joseph Health and University of Washington. "This study will help raise awareness and better inform conversations between patients and their healthcare providers about treatment options for active psoriatic arthritis."    

In SPIRIT-H2H, the safety profile of Taltz was consistent with previously reported results. No new safety signals were detected.

Lilly plans to submit detailed data from the SPIRIT-H2H study for disclosure at scientific meetings and in peer-reviewed journals in 2019.

So my son finds the Clobex Shampoo is to annoying to apply and it is thinning his already fine and very blond hair which makes the psoriasis easier for others to see. Any one tried any shampoos that are easy to apply and work for you? By easy to apply, I mean it works like an actual shampoo...you put it on, lather, let it sit for a few minutes and rinse off. His scalp is pretty bad. Starting the Stelara pretty soon but would be great if he didn't feel he had to hide in a hat every day...

Has anyone tried CBD oil (Cannabidoil)? It is now legal in Canada and I have a friend who I just discovered has Psoriasis. She swears by CBD oil skin cream and hemp oil for her scalp.

Hi, Just a quick introduction from me to your forum. I have had psoriatic arthritis since the mid 90s and have had most of the treatments prescribed over the years.I was just wondering if anyone he's any problem with eyes itching..I began treatment of taltz on Wednesday and have developed itching of my eyes today.I wondered if it was common. I have took loratadine tablets daily and eyedrops but it's not working. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance. . grifter123

This study suggests long‐term, low‐dose acitretin in patients with psoriasis is unlikely to cause significant liver or lipid problems.

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Background:
This retrospective observational study aimed to investigate the long‐term safety, drug survival, and factors associated with the survival of acitretin in a real‐world setting.

Methods:
Data of adult patients with psoriasis who attended Siriraj Hospital between 2012 and 2017 and were treated with acitretin were reviewed. Demographic data and clinical courses were recorded. The Kaplan–Meier curve and Cox regression were used to calculate drug survival and the factors associated with drug survival, respectively.

Results:
Of 104 patients, 56 and 48 were male and female, respectively, with a mean treatment duration of 3.2 years. The mean cumulative dose per patient was 19.28 ± 7.84 mg/day. Acitretin was administered to 73, 39, 24, and six patients for more than 1, 3, 5, and 10 years, respectively. Most side effects were mild and tolerable; only nine patients withdrew acitretin due to side effects. No patients developed clinical features of cirrhosis or uncontrolled hyperlipidemia. The drug survival rates were 79%, 69.5%, 61.2%, 57.6%, and 53.5% at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years, respectively, higher than those of previous studies. Patients without obesity, metabolic syndrome, and dyslipidemia did not have a significantly longer acitretin survival compared to patients with these comorbidities.

Conclusions:
Long‐term, low‐dose acitretin in patients with psoriasis is unlikely to cause significant liver or lipid problems. In countries with difficulty accessing biological agents for psoriasis, acitretin may have a high drug survival rate due to its long‐term safety. This study has several limitations: its retrospective nature, single‐center study design, and small sample size.

Does anyone get blisters on there palms and feet.  Has anyone found something that can stop it.  I’m on enbrell and using fluocinonide cream but the blisters are so bad I can barely walk. I use baking soda to bathes to help with the pain and soreness.  Any input would be appreciated.

Janssen has said in it's new phase 3 data that Tremfya has beaten Cosentyx in a head to head.

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The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson today announced results from the ECLIPSE study demonstrating that TREMFYA® (guselkumab) was superior to Cosentyx® (secukinumab)* in treating adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis for the primary endpoint assessed at week 48.  Data from the multi-center, randomized, double-blind head-to-head Phase 3 study demonstrated that 84.5 percent of patients treated with TREMFYA achieved at least 90 percent improvement in their baseline Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) score at week 48, compared with 70.0 percent of patients treated with Cosentyx (p<0.001).

These data, to be presented at the 3rd Inflammatory Skin Disease Summit in Vienna, December 12-15, mark the first-ever results from a head-to-head study comparing an interleukin (IL)-23-targeted biologic therapy (TREMFYA) with an IL-17 inhibitor (Cosentyx). ECLIPSE is Janssen's fourth TREMFYA Phase 3 study in plaque psoriasis and is part of a comprehensive clinical development program that also includes ongoing Phase 3 studies in psoriatic arthritis and Crohn's disease.

ECLIPSE incorporated six major secondary endpoints that used a fixed statistical sequence procedure to control for multiple comparisons and included both shorter and longer-term analyses.  TREMFYA demonstrated non-inferiority to Cosentyx in the first major secondary endpoint, with 84.6 percent of patients on TREMFYA achieving a PASI 75 response at both weeks 12 and 48 vs. 80.2 percent of those on Cosentyx (p<0.001), however, it did not demonstrate superiority (p=0.062).  Because superiority was not demonstrated for the first major secondary endpoint, p-values for all the subsequent major secondary endpoints were considered nominal.

Three of the remaining major secondary endpoints evaluated efficacy at week 48, including achievement of a PASI 100 response and Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) scores of 0 (cleared), or 0 or 1 (cleared or minimal disease). At week 48, 58.2 percent of patients receiving TREMFYA achieved a PASI 100 response, compared with 48.4 percent of patients receiving Cosentyx; 62.2 percent of patients receiving TREMFYA achieved an IGA score of 0 compared to 50.4 percent of patients receiving Cosentyx; and 85.0 percent of patients receiving TREMFYA achieved an IGA score of 0 or 1 compared to 74.9 percent of patients receiving Cosentyx (all comparisons with nominal p≤ 0.001).

The remaining major secondary endpoints assessed non-inferiority of TREMFYA versus Cosentyx at week 12. The percentage of patients achieving a PASI 75 response at week 12 was 89.3 percent for TREMFYA and 91.6 percent for Cosentyx (p<0.001 for non-inferiority); the percentage of patients achieving a PASI 90 response at week 12 was 69.1 percent for TREMFYA and 76.1 percent for Cosentyx (p=0.127 for non-inferiority).

"The response-over-time curves show that maximum response rates with TREMFYA are achieved after six months and are maintained over time through one year, achieving superiority at the primary endpoint of the study," said lead study investigator Richard Langley, M.D., FRCPC, Professor, Division of Clinical Dermatology & Cutaneous Science, Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University. "Results of the study confirm a slightly more rapid onset of response with Cosentyx, but importantly, in a chronic disease like psoriasis, these data provide new insights into comparative longer-term efficacy."

Through week 44, 27 patients (5.1 percent) randomized to the TREMFYA arm discontinued treatment compared with 48 patients (9.3 percent) randomized to the Cosentyx arm.

The safety profiles observed for TREMFYA and Cosentyx in ECLIPSE were consistent with the known safety profiles seen in the respective registration trials and current prescribing information. Similar percentages of patients receiving TREMFYA (77.9 percent), and Cosentyx (81.6 percent) reported at least one adverse event (AE).  Serious AEs were reported in 6.2 percent of patients receiving TREMFYA and 7.2 percent of patients receiving Cosentyx. Serious infections occurred in six patients receiving TREMFYA and five patients receiving Cosentyx.

"Fortunately for patients, there are many good treatment options available for plaque psoriasis today. However, to make the best recommendation for their patients from among these options, physicians need long term comparative safety and efficacy data.  We're proud to have conducted this important trial to help guide clinical practice and continue to build on the robust database of clinical information that we've been able to generate on TREMFYA, the first IL-23 inhibitor," said Newman Yeilding, M.D., Head of Immunology Development, Janssen Research & Development, LLC.

I'm going to see the derm next week about switching to Taltz. I've been on Stelara for about 10 years (1 month after it was approved). It just doesn't seem to be as effective at my extremities. PsA in my feet is ridiculous, as is Plaques on my toes. Stelara has never done anything for my nether region.  From what I can tell Talz theoreticlly should be better in all areas, but of course I'll never know unless I try it...

Which brings me to my question about cutting over to Taltz from Stelara. There are no guidlines for this, and you can't completely wash out as you'd have to be off Stelara for like a year. I remember the rheumy wanted me to wash out of the Humira for 3 months. It's not her joints that might get permanantly damaged of course. Fortunately, it was being perscribed by a derm that didn't really care what I did, because it was so new she had position to say anything. Is there any real need to wash out or just jump right in and be ready with a Z-pack if I get sick?

Oh and nice place ya'll got here, 1st post!  

Thx,
Jay