Hi

Been lurking for a couple of days so thought I would sign up.

My names Sam and I have what I would describe as Chronic Psoriasis covering about 90% or more of my body.

I'm 26 years old and it came out at the age of about 22 when I went through a bad split up with the mother of my child. (stress induced?)

I have tried all the steroid creams from my doctor and also the moisturiser creams - Doublebase etc.

But now i've decided it's finally time to try and get my Psoriasis under control, It's had a hold on me for too long and affects my self confidence way too much!

I like the idea of the natural treatment route and as a result of reading this forum will be trying Hemp oil, Coconut oil and possibly Bicarbinate of Soda.

Very recently (last couple of weeks) I have been using a natural cream called Sorion, It's very expensive from Amazon BUT it has so far had the best results so i'm going to keep on using it too.

I'd like to share some pictures if i'm allowed to? Hopefully then I can track my own progress.

Thanks for reading.

After lurking here the past month or so, I've decided to take the plunge and introduce myself! 
I've spent the last 20 years living with psoriasis being diagnosed at age 15. Of course went through all the creams and such for quite a few years. But the psoriasis gradually spread from my arms to my legs. Pregnancy 11 years ago completely cleared the psoriasis up, but alas it came back with vengeance! Arms, legs, hands, feet and face were all affected. Thus started my journey with MTX. 
MTX worked fairly well for me for quite a few years. It keept everything clear with the exception of my arms which I could live with. About 3 years ago the side effects of MTX seemed to start to get worse. Instead of being tired and nauseous for one day it was stretching into two or three. And the psoriasis started to pop back up everywhere. But I contined taking it until last summer. I started feeling sick and tired all the time. Psoriasis was getting worse and worse. A lot of pain which was really really starting to impact my every day life. 
So back to my derm last fall where she switched up the dose of MTX, but that didn't help. She then set me up with Stelara, which my insurance has decided not to cover but thank goodness I was approved for long term compassionate care. I just had my second injection on friday, and can't even begin to believe the difference this drug is making in my life!!!!! 
No one else in my family not do any of my friends have this disease. A lot of times I feel so very alone, like no one can truly understand what it is I go through on a daily basis. Coming here and reading all of your posts have helped me feel like I'm not so alone!
Thank you!!

Hi, I've been taking Acitretin for about 7 weeks now and all I can say about it so far is that I seem to have had a lot of the side effects without any of the benefits.

I have had Psoriasis for about 20 years and over the last 5 or so it's got gradually worse. I've had a few light treatments that have worked but it always came back. My consultant advised Acitretin so I thought I'd give it a go.

I've read that it's slow but I've been on it for 7 weeks now and instead of seeing improvements, all I've seen is a dramatic worsening! It now almost completely covers my buttocks and legs and is slowly making its way up my stomach, back and arms.

I can cope with some of the side effects - dry lips and nostrils with the accompanying nose bleeds, but some of the others are getting to me. I'm almost constantly cold (yet when I'm sat my psoriasis is hot and sweaty), my skin feels very smooth and almost waxy or like it has a thin film of plastic on it - including the roof of my mouth and yet my plaques are now paper thin and get cut at the slightest scratch. But like I said the worst has to be the huge flare that just seems to be getting worse. There are new patches appearing on a daily basis and they all seem to want to join up and have a party!

Is this normal for Acitretin? I am meeting my derm on Tuesday and I don't know what to say. Do I stick with it for another 8 weeks or do I ask for something else?

I hope some of you kind folks can give me some advice.

Thanks.

Hello everyone. I look forward to participating in the forums. I've had P from the age of 7 and have learned to live with it without too much trouble, even though it fluctuates in its severity. We all have to live with it, so I expect there are many coping methodologies in play. I can't say it has not affected my life or confidence at times, but age brings tolerance of others' intolerance so I don't go out of my way to hide it. Have a great day. 

I just did my 3rd starter doses of Cosentyx today. I seem to be having some success as I am starting to clear a little bit already. I have taken Humira, Embrel, and Methotrexate over the last six years. Each worked initially for me, but after some time I would have to take them in conjunction with Methotrexate to clear completely. I am hoping this works without the Methotrexate. So far, I have not felt any side effects from the Cosentyx. I will update my progress weekly for anyone that is curious. 

Best Regards,

Cotton

Hello,

My name in Michele, I'm 30 and I have P. I read a lot of info posted here and I'm glad this support group exists. I'm sure I will find a lot of interesting things around here.

Thank you all for being here for people like me!

PS: My English is not very good, but I will try to do my best. Who knows, maybe it will be improved, having a lot of nice people around     


Have a nice day my new friends!

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and XenoPort, Inc announce they have entered into a license agreement pursuant to which Dr. Reddy's Laboratories will be granted exclusive U.S. rights for the development and commercialization of XenoPort's clinical-stage oral new chemical entity, XP23829 for psoriasis.

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Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and XenoPort, Inc. announced today that they have entered into a license agreement pursuant to which Dr. Reddy's Laboratories will be granted exclusive U.S. rights for the development and commercialization of XenoPort's clinical-stage oral new chemical entity, XP23829. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories plans to develop XP23829 as a potential treatment for moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis and may potentially develop XP23829 for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Under the terms of the agreement, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories will receive exclusive U.S. rights to develop and commercialize XP23829 for all indications. In exchange for these rights, XenoPort will receive a $47.5 million up-front payment and an additional $2.5 million for transfer of certain clinical trial materials to Dr. Reddy's Laboratories. XenoPort will also be eligible to receive up to $190 million upon the achievement by Dr. Reddy's Laboratories of certain regulatory milestones, which could be achieved over a period of several years. In addition, XenoPort will be eligible to receive up to $250 million upon the achievement of commercial milestones, and up to mid-teens royalty payments based on potential net sales of XP23829 in the United States.

Dr. Mark Jackson, M.D., clinical professor of medicine, Dermatology, University of Louisville, stated, "Based on today's available treatments, physicians need additional oral medications that are both safe and effective for patients with psoriasis. Fumaric acid esters possess a unique anti-inflammatory mechanism of action and have been used to treat psoriasis in Germany for over 20 years. XP23829, a novel fumaric acid ester, has the potential to be a meaningful treatment option for patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis."

"XP23829 complements our internal development efforts, which have primarily focused on the mild-to-moderate psoriasis segment to date. In other markets, fumarates have been used as first line choices of treatment prior to initiation of biologic therapies in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. We intend to initiate the registration program for XP23829 as soon as feasible so that we can accelerate the availability of this important treatment choice for moderate-to-severe psoriasis patients in the U.S. market," said Raghav Chari, Executive Vice President, Proprietary Products Group, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories.

"We are very pleased to announce this agreement with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories," said Vincent J. Angotti, Chief Executive Officer, XenoPort, Inc. "As one of our key objectives for 2016, we were interested in finding a strong partner that would recognize the opportunity of this innovative therapy that we believe will make a significant difference in the lives of psoriasis and MS patients. We are now fully focused on our HORIZANT® (gabapentin enacarbil) Extended-Release Tablets commercialization effort."

The agreement is subject to review by the U.S. Government under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act, as amended, and will become effective only after clearing HSR review.

About XP23829
XP23829 is an investigational drug discovered by XenoPort. It is a novel, oral fumaric acid ester compound that is a prodrug of monomethyl fumarate (MMF). Fumaric acid ester compounds have shown immuno-modulatory and neuroprotective effects in cell-based systems and preclinical models of disease. TECFIDERA, which is approved for relapsing forms of MS in the United States and relapsing-remitting MS in the European Union and FUMADERM, which is approved in Germany for psoriasis, are based on another MMF prodrug known as dimethyl fumarate (DMF). XP23829 is protected by a U.S. composition-of-matter patent that currently has an expiration date of 2029.

In September 2015, XenoPort announced results of a Phase 2 clinical trial of XP23829 as a potential treatment for moderate-to-severe chronic plaque-type psoriasis.

Another study looking at the prevalence of psoriatic arthritis, this one also takes enthesitis into consideration.

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Objective:
To estimate the prevalence of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in primary care patients diagnosed as having psoriasis and to estimate the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in psoriasis patients in primary care.

Methods:
We conducted a cross-sectional study in adult primary care patients with psoriasis. Responding patients reporting pain in joints, entheses, or the lower back were interviewed by telephone to determine eligibility and, if eligible, were invited for clinical evaluation. During clinical evaluation, skin, nails, joints, and entheses were assessed. Additionally, ultrasound of the enthesis was performed by an independent trained examiner if a patient had at least 1 tender enthesis (determined by the Leeds Enthesitis Index and the Maastricht Ankylosing Spondylitis Enthesitis Score). Patients who fulfilled the Classification of Psoriatic Arthritis (CASPAR) Study Group criteria were classified as having PsA.

Results:
We invited 2,564 psoriasis patients from databases of 97 participating general practitioners. Of 1,673 responders (65.2%), 841 (50.3%) were willing to participate. A total of 823 patients (32.1%) reported having musculoskeletal symptoms; 659 of these patients were determined to be eligible, 524 of whom were clinically evaluated. We identified 64 cases of established PsA and another 17 cases of newly diagnosed PsA, leading to a prevalence of 3.2% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 2.5–3.9) among psoriasis patients in primary care. This prevalence would increase to 4.6% (95% CI 3.8–5.4) if PsA cases based on enthesitis were also taken into account.

Conclusion:
Among psoriasis patients in primary care, the prevalence of PsA is conservatively estimated to be 3.2%, increasing to 4.6% if enthesitis is taken into account. The prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among psoriasis patients is comparable with the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in the general population.

This study looked at the risk of developing psoriatic arthritis in patients with psoriasis

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Objective:
To estimate the incidence of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in patients with psoriasis, and to identify risk factors for its development.

Methods:
The study was designed as a prospective cohort study involving psoriasis patients who did not have a diagnosis of arthritis at the time of study enrollment. Information was collected about lifestyle habits, comorbidities, psoriasis activity, and medications. Patients who developed inflammatory arthritis or spondylitis were classified as having PsA if they fulfilled the criteria of the Classification of Psoriatic Arthritis Study group. The annual incidence of PsA was estimated using an event per person-years analysis. Cox proportional hazards models, involving fixed and time-dependent explanatory variables, were fitted to obtain estimates of the relative risk (RR) of the onset of PsA, determined in multivariate models stratified by sex and controlled for age at onset of psoriasis.

Results:
The data obtained from the 464 patients who were followed up for 8 years were analyzed. A total of 51 patients developed PsA during the 8 years since enrollment. The annual incidence rate of PsA was 2.7 cases (95% confidence interval 2.1–3.6) per 100 psoriasis patients. The following baseline variables were associated with the development of PsA in multivariate analysis: severe psoriasis (RR 5.4, P = 0.006), low level of education (university/college versus high school incomplete RR 0.22, P = 0.005; high school graduate versus high school incomplete RR 0.30, P = 0.049), and use of retinoid medications (RR 3.4, P = 0.02). In multivariate models with time-dependent variables, psoriatic nail pitting (RR 2.5, P = 0.002) and uveitis (RR 31.5, P = 0.0002) were associated with the development of PsA.

Conclusion:
The incidence of PsA in patients with psoriasis is higher than previously reported. A severe psoriasis phenotype, presence of nail pitting, low level of education, and uveitis are predictive of the development of PsA in patients with psoriasis.

Hi guys. Happy to join
Just curious, how many people here have tried brodalumab?

Hello all,

Looking forward to sharing information.

I am doing a research. Have you ever tried Aloe Vera Gel (drink) + Aloe Vera Gelly?  (cream) :-)

This is a bit of a knock for Cosentyx as Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Healthcare (IQWiG) says an added benefit of Cosentyx in comparison with the appropriate comparator therapies is not proven.

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Secukinumab (trade name: Cosentyx) has been approved since November 2015 for adults with active ankylosing spondylitis or psoriatic arthritis. For patients with plaque psoriasis, the drug already underwent an early benefit assessment according to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG) in 2015.

The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) now commissioned the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) to conduct a dossier assessment also for the new therapeutic indications. Since the manufacturer cited no suitable studies in its dossier, an added benefit of secukinumab in comparison with the appropriate comparator therapies is not proven.
No studies for direct comparison

According to the G-BA, the monoclonal antibody secukinumab had to be compared with one of four TNF? inhibitors.

Since the manufacturer presented no studies on these comparisons in its dossier, an added benefit of secukinumab in comparison with the appropriate comparator therapies for patients with active ankylosing spondylitis or psoriatic arthritis is not proven. This result concurs with the assessment of the manufacturer.
Indirect comparison: Manufacturer referred to unpublished analyses

Since studies of direct comparisons were lacking, the manufacturer conducted an unsystematic literature search for both therapeutic indications to find out whether an indirect comparison would be possible. According to the manufacturer, no relevant data from studies on the appropriate comparator therapy were found in this search. This approach cannot be checked because the manufacturer did not disclose the inclusion criteria, the search itself or its results.

In addition, the manufacturer enclosed two unpublished indirect comparisons (network meta-analyses) in its dossier. Based on these analyses, the manufacturer also stated that no indirect comparison was possible. However, it did not process the analyses for the present benefit assessment and therefore did not present them in the publicly available part of the dossier.

Overall, it remained unclear whether an indirect comparison would have been possible and suitable for the derivation of greater or lesser benefit.
G-BA decides on the extent of added benefit

This dossier assessment is part of the early benefit assessment according to AMNOG supervised by the G-BA. After publication of the dossier assessment, the G-BA conducts a commenting procedure and makes a final decision on the extent of the added benefit.

Taltz formerly known as (ixekizumab) has been given the green light for psoriasis by the FDA for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Taltz (ixekizumab) to treat adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a skin condition that causes patches of skin redness and flaking. Psoriasis is an autoimmune disorder that occurs more commonly in patients with a family history of the disease, and most often begins in people between the ages of 15 and 35. The most common form of psoriasis is plaque psoriasis, in which patients develop thick, red skin with flaky, silver-white scales.

“Today’s approval provides patients suffering from plaque psoriasis with another important treatment option to help relieve the skin irritation and discomfort from the condition,” said Julie Beitz, M.D., director of the Office of Drug Evaluation III in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Taltz’s active ingredient is an antibody (ixekizumab) that binds to a protein (interleukin (IL)-17A) that causes inflammation. By binding to the protein, ixekizumab is able to inhibit the inflammatory response that plays a role in the development of plaque psoriasis.

Taltz is administered as an injection. It is intended for patients who are candidates for systemic therapy (treatment using substances that travel through the bloodstream, after being taken by mouth or injected), phototherapy (ultraviolet light treatment) or a combination of both.

Taltz’s safety and efficacy were established in three randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials with a total of 3,866 participants with plaque psoriasis who were candidates for systemic or phototherapy therapy. The results showed that Taltz achieved greater clinical response than placebo, with skin that was clear or almost clear, as assessed by scoring of the extent, nature and severity of psoriatic changes of the skin.

Because Taltz is a medicine that affects the immune system, it is being approved with a Medication Guide to inform patients that they may have a greater risk of an infection, or an allergic or autoimmune condition. Serious allergic reactions and development or worsening of inflammatory bowel disease have been reported with the use of Taltz. Monitor patients closely for these conditions. The most common side effects include upper respiratory infections, injection site reactions and fungal (tinea) infections.

Following on from this report Enstilar submitted for psoriasis treatment in Europe Leo Pharma annouced today it has received approval for Enstilar in Europe for patients with psoriasis.

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LEO Pharma today announced that it received scientific approval of Enstilar® (calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate 50 micrograms/g / 0,5 mg/g)  for the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris in patients 18 years of age or older. Enstilar® is an alcohol-free foam formulation for the topical treatment for psoriasis vulgaris.  

“The scientific approval of Enstilar® is exciting news, not only for LEO Pharma but also for the millions of Europeans living with psoriasis,” said Gitte Aabo, President and CEO of LEO Pharma.  “Enstilar® is a first-of-its-kind topical spray foam and we believe it will help people living with psoriasis by providing a new type of treatment option that they are looking for.”

Enstilar® was developed to treat patients with psoriasis vulgaris, the most common clinical form of psoriasis. In Europe, nearly four million people are living with psoriasis.

The application in the EU decentralized procedure for Enstilar® was based on the pivotal Phase 3a PSO-FAST study which evaluated the efficacy and safety profile across a four week period, and the Phase 2 MUSE safety profile study.  In the PSO-FAST clinical trial, over half of patients treated with Enstilar® were “Clear” or “Almost Clear” by Week 4 as measured by the Investigator Global Assessment (IGA) improvement score.1 Additionally, more than half of patients treated with Enstilar® achieved a 75% improvement in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score from baseline.

The scientific approval means that LEO Pharma has received a positive outcome of the decentralized procedure.  Receiving this positive outcome is the final step before national marketing authorisations can be granted by the 30 EU countries which are part of the procedure.  The national approvals of Enstilar® are expected later this year.  In October 2015, Enstilar® was approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  

My Fiancé has has psoriasis for almost 8 years, however right now it's the worst it has ever been
 We have been together for 3 and a bit years now and have 2 children.
I've supported him fully since he confided in me about his condition. At the beginning I didn't even notice it, but looking back on photos of us in the early days, I can now see it was there.
My poor baby has it over his entire body, scalp, face, chest and back, arms and legs. He's been seeing a dermatologist for over 2.5 years. He tried numerous creams and steroid lotions, light treatment for 16 weeks, methotrexate for almost a year and since Christmas he's been on Acitretin. We've cut out refined sugar and lactose, use coconut oil and even aloe vera. Nothing is helping. In fact right at this present time it's the worst I've ever ever seen it. Some of the marks on him are almost the size of palm on his legs. 
No surprisingly he gets very very upset and down about it. I try my best to support him by putting the creams on him, cooking meals to help his diet. I wash his hair for him,  I've researched the shit out of therapies and remedies to help try and ease his pain and discomfort. I feel a lot of the time he doesn't help himself though. He complains about how bad it is but then doesn't use the creams. I offer to help and he just says later but later doesn't happen. I've advised him to stop drinking and see if it helps as he always has a bad break out the day after alcohol but he doesn't even try to cut back to see if it makes any difference. 
It's really beginning to affect our relationship in that we are never physical anymore. When ever I make advances I am rejected. It's been this way for months now and it's really beginning to get to me. Also his cleaning up after himself. The bath and sink is always full of hair and flaked skin, he doesn't wash it away, it's left to me to clean. We have wooden floors and he will just stand and scratch himself leaving skin everywhere...on the sofa on our bed. Our sheets are all blood and dead skin but he will never wash them or give the floor a once over. I'm ashamed to say that I'm fed up of cleaning up dead skin from everywhere when I've got enough to do looking after the babies. 
I know he can't help it, but his lack of effort is really affecting me now. He thinks his psoriasis just affects him. I can't say anything to him with the fear of upsetting him. But it's upsetting me. It's like he's just given up!
So I've come here, to listen to others, to find other ways to help him or a way I can talk to him without offending.

I can't imagine what he goes through. I hate to see him cry and being in pain. I don't know what else I can do. Now I feel our relationship is suffering and I feel very low and sad about it. 

I don't feel any better writing my feelings out, in fact I feel worse.

This study set out to determine the current status of psoriatic arthritis in Japanese patients.

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To determine the current status of psoriatic arthritis, we conducted a retrospective survey by sending questionnaires.

The newly visited psoriatic arthritis patients accounted for 10.5% (95% confidence interval, 7.9–13%) of all newly visited psoriasis patients (n = 2581) between April 2014 and March 2015 in 73 institutes. Additionally, questionnaires on detailed patients’ information were returned by 92 institutes (response rate, 70.8%), where 1282 patients with psoriatic arthritis were identified. There was a male predominance.

The mean onset age of psoriatic arthritis was 44.9 years, and mean onset age for cutaneous psoriasis (36.4 years) was lower than that for arthritis (45.1 years). The mean duration in patients who developed psoriasis prior to arthritis was 11.2 years, while that in patients preceded by arthritis was 4.4 years.

According to the Moll and Wright criteria, polyarthritis type was most common (36%), followed by distal interphalangeal type (26%) and oligoarthritis type (22%). Peripheral joint pain was 61.5%, back pain such as lumbago and neck pain was 34.3%. Enthesitis and dactylitis were observed in 28.3% and 59.2%, respectively.

Biologics were used in 55.5% of psoriatic arthritis patients, and 31% used disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.

In conclusion, the ratio of psoriatic arthritis in Japan is increasing, and nearly 10% of new psoriasis patients had psoriatic arthritis. This study shows the current status of psoriatic arthritis in Japan, including several unexpected findings such as male predominance, longer duration between the onset of cutaneous psoriasis and arthritis, and dominance of polyarthritis.

This article from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre says researchers have linked psoriasis to the risk of widespread bone loss and describe how the protein IL-17 acts as a 'messenger' between the skin and the bones, and recommends monitoring the bone mass of patients with psoriasis to select the most appropriate treatment.

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Researchers from the Genes, Development and Disease Group, headed by Erwin Wagner at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) have discovered that psoriasis patients experience a widespread bone loss as a result of the disease. In addition, this paper, which is being published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, describes the molecular communication that is established between the inflamed skin and loss of bone mass. This discovery highlights the possibility to treat psoriasis with drugs that are already on the market, or in advanced clinical trial stages, that would have additional benefits for the bone.

Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune disorder that affects 2% of the world population and more than one million people in Spain. It is characterised by inflammation and scaling of the skin, accompanied by a greater risk of contracting some type of metabolic syndrome, predisposing patients to pathologies, such as obesity, diabetes or cardiovascular diseases. Now, CNIO researchers have discovered a new feature of this inflammatory disorder.

“We have detected that psoriasis causes the widespread and progressive loss of bone tissue,” explains the researcher Özge Uluçkan, first author of the study. “There is no active destruction of the bone; on the contrary, during the bone regeneration cycle, bone is not formed at the necessary speed to replace what is being lost and, therefore, patients’ bone mass reduces over time.” The process takes place by means of a mechanism  —unveiled in this study — that inhibits the activity of the osteoblasts, the cells that produce the bone matrix so that bones can grow during childhood and youth, and remain in good condition in adulthood.

In a previous study (Meixner et al, Nat Cell Biol, 2008), Erwin Wagner's team generated a mouse model, from which they had removed the JunB gene in keratinocytes — cells that form the epidermis — mimicking what happens during cutaneous inflammatory disorders in humans. Now, they have observed that this mouse mutant suffers from bone loss.

The researchers found that the immune cells in the skin of this animal model generated large amounts of the cytokine IL-17 — a protein of the immune system that activates cellular inflammation in response to damage. IL-17 travels through the bloodstream to the bones. Once there, the protein acts on the osteoblasts and inhibits Wnt activity, which is a cellular signalling pathway that is involved in the formation of the skeleton and in certain disorders, such as osteoporosis, arthritis and myeloma. Treating these mice with IL-17 blockers allows the Wnt pathway to regain its normal activity and leads to bone formation.

A second mouse model, induced by overexpression of IL-17 in skin, also shows bone loss, and suggests that the deregulation of the protein is sufficient to cause this effect.

Subsequently, they analyzed a hundred human samples.  Using high resolution peripheral computed tomography (XtremeCT) — an imaging method known as virtual bone biopsy — they observed that psoriasis patients had bone loss when compared to healthy people, and this correlated with increased levels of cytokine IL-17A in blood.

These observations suggest that patients with psoriasis should be monitored for this loss of bone mass, or the presence of high levels of these factors in the blood.

“Treating psoriasis patients with IL-17 blockers — some already on the market — could have a beneficial effect on the loss of bone tissue, unlike other compounds that might only affect skin inflammation,” says Uluçkan. Antibodies that act on the Wnt signalling pathway are also being developed as a therapy for osteoporosis that could prove useful in these cases.

The findings of this study could also have implications for other autoimmune disorders. “IL-17 has become a focus point for the investigation of the immune system. Its deregulation is not only related to psoriasis, but also to other diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis. Some of these have been linked to loss of bone tissue, as in the case of inflammatory bowel disease, found in 70% of cases,” explains Uluçkan. “It would be interesting to study whether IL-17 is responsible for this secondary effect.”

This work has been carried out in collaboration with the Universities of Mainz, Hamburg and Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany, and the CNIO Bioinformatics Unit. Erwin Wagner was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, the BBVA Foundation, and the European Research Council (ERC), and Özge Uluçkan by EMBO, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, and ECTS-AMGEN.

Following on from this 2012 study Erectile Dysfunction and Psoriasis a new study here is nother erectile dysfunction and psoriasis study. It's a small study, but like the other one it suggests that physicians should ask psoriasis patients about erectile dysfunction.  

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Background:
Psoriasis is a multi-systemic disease involving the skin and joints, but it is also characterized by endothelial dysfunction, which may cause sexual impotence and erectile dysfunction (ED), an embarrassing disease frequently neglected by dermatologists.

Objective:
The principal objective was assessing the relationship between the severity of psoriasis and the severity of ED. We also investigated whether severity of psoriasis was related to International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5) score, whether genital lesions worsened the IIEF-5 score, whether ED was related to factors such as diabetes, smoking and hypertension, and finally the overall the psychological factors felt by the patient.

Methods:
We administered two questionnaires (one of which was the IIEF-5, a validated score to assess erectile dysfunction) to three groups of patients: 60 with mild psoriasis, 60 with severe psoriasis (assessed by Psoriasis Area Severity Index, PASI) and a control group including 60 patients without the disease.

Results:
In the group of mild psoriasis, the patients who suffered from ED were the 56.67%, while in the group of severe psoriasis, ED affected the 46.68% of subjects. In the control group, ED was reported by the 23.33% of patients. The average IIEF-5 score was 18.81 for patients with mild psoriasis and 20.31 for patients with severe form. The difference in the average IIEF-5 scores between psoriatic (mild and severe cases) and control group was not statistically significant. Most patients with sexual dysfunction had also genital lesions; diabetes, smoking and hypertension were not related to lower IIEF-5 scores. The overall psychological profile of psoriatic patients was worse than that of the controls.

Conclusion:
We concluded that ED was related to psoriasis, in particular to mild forms. Moreover, since ED is a marker of cardiovascular events, also related to negative impact on the quality of life, physicians should always investigate the presence of ED in clinical practice.

I am sure Fumaderm is safe for most people but I wonder if long term tests have been done on elderly people?

My husband started Fumaderm in the Summer after being taken off ciclosporin due to blood tests results which I think was poor kidney function.

Today he has visited a nephrologist, after blood and protein was found in his urine. The Nephrologist has taken him off the Fumaderm because he thinks it has affected the kidney function which is down to 50% - my husband is 77.
He will write to the Dermatologist because he is aware that the psoriasis may well flare up again.

Frankly I am horrified. He was kept on the high dose of 6 a day, although I did ask if we could try to taper if off. He had fortnightly blood tests so am amazed this was not picked up earlier. I just hope his kidney function recovers. Surely it will if he is take off the tablets and they are the cause unless they have been damaged to an extent that they do not recover.

He has to see the Nephrologist again in 6 weeks unless the blood tests taken today indicate otherwise.

I wonder what other options he has left? Obviously Ciclosporin and Fumaderm appear not to be options. He has tried acitretin and that did not work. Infusions were mentioned if the Fumaderm did not work and it looks like we may have to go down that route.

I am not being critical about Fumaderm - it worked well and his legs are clear but the loss of kidney function does really worry me especially as it has not been picked up until now? Could it has happened suddenly? Apparently the kidney function was normal in May......

BTW I was Quish16 originally but forgot my password so re registered! Thanks for reading.....just feeling very concerned frankly.