My Derm wants me to try Acitretin if my legs don't clear from UVB. But there seems to be quite a lot of side effects from acitretin. He also wants me to use it for 3 months then come off it, my concern is that coming off it will cause a flare up.

I'm considering discussing Fumaderm with him but have read that Psorinovo is a better pill since it's enteric coated. I was wondering if it possible to get Psorinovo in the UK?

If not, is it possible to go to the Netherlands to get treated and have the durg sent over?

Thanks

Hello peeps.
I am having real problems with my psoriatic arthritis at the moment.
Where the pain has normally been in my joints (knees, fingers, wrists) I am now getting what I can only describe as muscle pain in my upper arms. It got so bad last night that I couldn't lift my arms up without going 'aaaarrrrrrgggggggg!' or 'ooouuucchhhhh'! Got to laugh really
Still in agony now...

I don't know if I have pulled the muscles or whether it is another side effect of the arthritis.
Has anyone else experienced this at all? Haven't got an appointment with Rheumatologist for a few months.

Ta muchly
Charlotte

At Psoriasis Club we're often talking about the cost of our treatments, but we always look at as an individual. Imagine though that you was running a country and had to pick up the tab, this study set out to determine the US economic burden of psoriasis from a societal perspective.

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Importance:  
The total cost of psoriasis in the United States is unknown. Defining the US economic burden of psoriasis is needed because it provides the foundation for research, advocacy, and educational efforts.

Objective:  
To determine the US economic burden of psoriasis from a societal perspective.

Evidence Review:  
pub med and MEDLINE databases were searched between January 1, 2008, and September 20, 2013, for economic investigations on the direct, indirect, intangible, and comorbidity costs of adult psoriasis in the United States. The base year costs were adjusted to 2013 US dollars using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers and multiplied by the estimated number of US patients with psoriasis in 2013 to determine the 2013 psoriasis cost burden.

Findings:  
Among 100 identified articles, 22 studies were included in the systematic review. The direct psoriasis costs ranged from $51.7 billion to $63.2 billion, the indirect costs ranged from $23.9 billion to $35.4 billion, and medical comorbidities were estimated to contribute $36.4 billion annually in 2013 US dollars. Patients with psoriasis would pay a lifetime cost of $11 498 for relief of physical symptoms and emotional health; however, intangible cost data are limited. The annual US cost of psoriasis amounted to approximately $112 billion in 2013.

Conclusions and Relevance:  
The economic burden of psoriasis is substantial and significant in the United States.

Not everyone knows how to get going on a new forum, and we like to encourage our members to share information with each other so I'm going to show you how to start a new thread
First we need to decide where to start our new thread, so let's say we want to talk about the use of Dovonex. We will be starting our new thread in Prescribed Treatments (Don't worry if you're not sure where to start your thread as we can always move it for you later)

From the front page click where it says in Blue "New Thread" on the section you want to use. (click image below to see full size)


Now you are in a new page and you will see some white box's, some smilies, and some buttons. (This is a basic tutorial just to get you going, so we wont be using the smiles or buttons)

It's good to see many new treatments coming forward to help us live with psoriasis, and here is another that expects to announce preliminary results in first half of 2015 of their phase 2 trial of KD025 for the treatment of psoriasis.

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Kadmon Corporation, LLC, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase 2 clinical trial (Study 206) evaluating the safety, efficacy and tolerability of KD025, the Company’s orally bioavailable, potent and highly selective inhibitor of ROCK2 (Rho-associated coiled-coiled kinase 2), in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis vulgaris who failed first-line therapy. The open-label, dose-finding study will examine KD025 administered at doses of 200 mg twice daily and 400 mg once daily for three months in 24 patients at six sites in the United States.  

In a Phase 2a single-arm safety study, KD025 demonstrated encouraging pharmacodynamic activity at a lower dose of 200 mg once daily. Administration of KD025 at this dose was generally well tolerated, with all patients showing the previously demonstrated positive changes in inflammatory markers, including a specific decrease in the secretion of IL-17, a pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays a key role in psoriasis. In addition, three of the eight patients showed a decrease in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores of up to 66 percent after only one month of treatment.    

“Therapies targeting IL-17 have shown significant efficacy in treating psoriasis,” said Mark G. Lebwohl, M.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and primary investigator of Study 206. “KD025 represents a novel oral approach to treating psoriasis by blocking IL-17 secretion while concurrently increasing the suppressive function of regulatory T-cells (Treg), helping to resolve inflammation with a minimal effect on the rest of the immune response.”

“Selective ROCK2 inhibition by KD025 has demonstrated activity in preclinical models of autoimmune and fibrotic diseases. We have also demonstrated clinical activity of KD025 in a Phase 2a trial of psoriasis,” said John Ryan, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Kadmon. “We believe this Phase 2 study will provide further insight into the unique activity of KD025 and its potential in treating these diseases.”

About Kadmon Corporation:
Kadmon Corporation, LLC, is a vertically integrated biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative products for significant unmet medical needs. We have a diversified product pipeline in oncology, autoimmune and fibrotic diseases, monogenic diseases and metabolic disease.

A new Aerosol foam treatment for psoriasis has been submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by LEO Pharma, the aerosol foam formulation is a fixed combination calcipotriene/betamethasone dipropionate 0,005%/0,064%.

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LEO Pharma announced it has submitted a New Drug Application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)for calcipotriene/betamethasone dipropionate aerosol foam 0,005%/0,064% for the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris.

The novel aerosol foam formulation of the fixed combination calcipotriene/betamethasone dipropionate has been developed with the aim of improving treatment for patients with psoriasis vulgaris – the most common clinical form of psoriasis.

The regulatory submission in the US is based on studies of patients with psoriasis vulgaris. These include the Phase 3a PSO-FAST study which evaluated efficacy, safety, itch relief and itch-related sleep loss across a four week period, and the Phase 2 MUSE safety study.

Kim Kjøller, Senior Vice President, Global Development, commented:

“Psoriasis is a chronic, debilitating disease. Patients with inadequately managed psoriasis can experience substantial burden of illness, with similar reductions in quality of life to those experienced by patients with diabetes or cancer.

With the regulatory submission announced today, we are taking a step further in our mission towards reducing this burden by making calcipotriene/betamethasone dipropionate aerosol foam available for people living with psoriasis.”

Regulatory filings in Europe and other countries are planned during the course of 2015 and 2016.

With this latest submission LEO Pharma reinforces a strong commitment to dermatology.

Having psoriasis psoriatic arthritis has really been a challenge to say the least.As i said before i had the psoriasis long before I knew it.I had what I thought was dandruff during my teenage years and my nails were always weak.I didn't have pretty nails like the other girls at the time.Plus I used to bite them.About 9 or 10 years ago my scalp was so bad I went to a Dermatologist and she said I have Psoriasis and I had about 20 steroid shots in my scalp.Talk about painful but I got thru it.I showed her my knee which was double in size and she told me she thought I has Psa on top of the skin issues.So i started to see a Rheumatologist and sure enough I have both.They call it a double whammy just my luck to have both!I had tried all kinds of pills to help me but nothing seemed to help.One time was on Clinerol don't know how to spell it.Was generic for sulfasalazine and my hands swelled up like baloons from it.My Rhemmy was on vacation so I went to the ER they gave me a steroid shot plus steroid pills you take 7 day pres.and you keep tapering down.Was on Cymbalta,Lyrica.Celebrex and nothing helped finally the Dr said well Glenda looks like it time for biologics.Started out on Remicade was on it for about 8 months then I broke out in hives last Jan,not bad thought it was from a food allergy.March had another infusion hives again.Thought it was something else.Then May 1st had another infusion ended up in the ER.could't breathe they gave me an IV coctail of steroids,benadryl,pepcid.Finally figured it was from Remicade.So now I am on Enbrel for the past 3 months and so far so good.My PSA is better I am hoping after a while I'll see improvements in my skin.Keeping my fingers crossed.I try to go to the tanning bed a couple times a week not for the tan but to help with the psoriasis.I only stay in the bed for 7 minutes scared of getting skin cancer.Will keep all informed on my progress with Enbrel.

Hi all my name is Misty. I am 39 and been dealing with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. I have had psoriasis since I was 17 and dx 'ed with PsA for about 3 yrs. But, have had symptoms for many years.
I am a mother of two girls and expecting my first grandchild in June 2015. I have been married for 13 years.
So, that's a little about me to begin with.

Hello,
I'm Andy. I'm 44, live in Minnesota, USA.
I've had psoriasis since I was 30. (OK. It was on my head as a child, but I didn't know what it was. )
I found out about 4 years ago I have psoriatic arthritis.
If I recall correctly over 80 % of my spine.
I also have degenerative disk disorder.
Ha, and Add, and aspergers (that is technically undiagnosed, but I have taken several tests
and I score very high, and a clinical diagnosis won't do anything so, I assume I likely
have it.)
I'm going in soon to discuss treatment for psoriasis. It's spread wildly in the past few months,
from my elbows to total scalp, eyes and nose, ears, face, groin..
Anyway, I work everyday, I am married (2nd) to a wonderful woman.
I'm fairly quiet, I like to be alone. I love comics and cartoons, animals, anything that makes me laugh.
I guess I tend to be negative, I'm working on that. ... I wife to live in a happy home.
OK. I feel I am rambling.
So, hello! Nice to meet you all.
Andy.

This may seem a bit crazy but bare with me.
I recently had a blood test done and the phlebotomist commented on my skin (nothing unusual there) So I started doing my normal ramblings. Such as 'Oh I know. Don't it look 'orrible' etc (Sorry about the wording but I am from Essex)
But then she told me about her friend who had psoriasis who she said used a waxing strip on a small spot of skin and that it made it much better.
Now i'm willing to try most things in order to make it look better so I gave it a try.
I'm not saying it's a miracle cure or anything and wouldn't recommend it as a regular treatment but it did actually help. Probably because I was just ripping off all the dead skin and so it looked a bit smoother...

Anyway, just thought I'd share that with you but please don't go injuring yourselves! And please don't ban me either!!!  

Guess this all started earlier in the year. Started having cracks and dryness in my fingers and palms, then on to my feet. What's real bad is I'm a guitarist and I also build guitars and basses on the side. Talk about cruel. I think I could handle it anywhere else, but this is for the birds.

I went through all the usual self diagnosis for most of the year. Was it this chemical or that substance that I was exposed to at work (water plant operator)? I normally protect myself from harsh chemicals, but went above and beyond to rule everything out. Was down to a couple of things. One was the fluoride room door. I noticed my fingerprints on the window where the fluoride has etched to glass. Crap, so I wear vinyl gloves when I get near that room. Same with the silicone oil used on lab glassware. It seemed to cause my skin to itch. So on to protect myself and rule it out.

This went on for most of the year. Tried various crèmes and remedies until I was talking to a relative who had it bad in her feet. She had several jars of a topical steroid crème and swore by them to relieve her pain. She gave me a jar with a little left and I tried it out. Hoky smokes, seemed to clear up, almost. She said go see the Dermatologist in town, another friend confirmed he was good, so I made an apt and went.

Well it's been about a month and a half and the results are mixed. They prescribed  Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream 0.1%. I have also been using various other ointments, crèmes, oils and anything that looks like it could help. At first it seemed to clear right up. thought I had it licked. Then it came back with a vengeance. My next apt was upon me and I told them of what happened. They gave me a shot of cortosteroid (sp?) to help it out. It knocked me on my tail for two weeks, and really didn't do anything to clear it up. Not doing that again.

So I've lost my calluses on my fingertips from years of playing, which really ticks me off as I love jamming out the blues, SRV style. Well I don't know I can beat this thing or if it's something I'm going to live with the rest of my life. Well I have 2 guitars I'm building right now, one is an acoustic bass project and the other is a neck thru body strat. Gonna go ahead and finish them as my optimistic side says this is just another minor setback. I'll find a way.

Jim

Hi everybody,

I have just discovered the Psoriasis Club and would like to wish all members a very Happy New Year. I hope you all had a good Christmas and have now recovered!!!!

Best wishes

More good news today for Cosentyx (secukinumab) as they today announce receiving full approval for it's use in Japan for treating psoriasis.

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Novartis announced today that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) approved Cosentyx™ (secukinumab, formerly known as AIN457), for the treatment of both psoriasis vulgaris and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in adults.

"We are pleased that Japan is the first country to approve Cosentyx for both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, providing an alternative treatment option for more than 400,000 Japanese citizens who are living with psoriasis, and those also living with psoriatic arthritis," said David Epstein, Division Head, Novartis Pharmaceuticals. "Nearly half of patients with psoriasis and PsA are unhappy with their current therapies. With this approval, we are able to address this critical unmet need and aim to make a real difference in the quality of life of these patients."

This approval was based on the safety and efficacy results from more than 10 Phase II and Phase III studies which included nearly 4,000 patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and supported by two pivotal Phase III studies, FUTURE 1 and FUTURE 2, involving more than 1,000 patients with PsA. In all studies, Cosentyx demonstrated a favorable safety profile, with similar incidence and severity of adverse events (AEs) between Cosentyx treatment arms (300 mg and 150 mg).

The positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommending Cosentyx as a first-line treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis patients in Europe was obtained in November 2014. US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in the same indication is anticipated in early 2015 following the unanimous recommendation of approval in October 2014 from the Dermatologic and Ophthalmic Drugs Advisory Committee (DODAC) to the US FDA.

Hi all:

I'm a newbie and wondering if anyone else had their first major outbreak of psoriasis in their late 50s? I seem to have the type that effects mostly my feet and hands ... other spots occur when I get chafed or injured.

I've just started low dose Naltrexone -- up to 3 mg but can't really tell if it's working :( Anyone having much luck with a change in diet??

Merry Christmas to everyone -- no snow here -- just lots of rain.

Maud

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Hi I have seen many new members looking through the introductions.
If you are one and are new to forums this may help you with your first post.
.
#1 From main menu click on Introductions
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#2 Above the introductions is a button new thread
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#3 Click on this a box will open
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#4 On the left of the box second line down is Thread Subject write your description in here for instance " jimbos  Intro" or whatever you want to name it
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#5 Below that is a big box to click on and write your introduction when you are happy with it and want to see what it looks like
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#6 At the bottom of the box past the green section it gives three options... Post thread ..... Preview post ... Or save as draft.
The first thing to do is click Preview Post ..... You can then see what others will see when posted... If there are changes to be made you can change it before you post it by clicking Post Thread
That's it its basic but simple if you follow the instructions.

If you want a more comprehensive instruction go here Starting a new thread
When you have done this and want to do more posts there is a tutorial here Posting A Reply

This study on Mice looked at the possibilities of a topical application of delphinidin modulating the pathological markers of psoriasiform lesions in flaky skin, delphinidin is a plant pigment, and also an antioxidant. It gives Blue Hues to to plants and fruits such as Delphinium, Cranberries, Pomegranates, the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. (Could be time to switch from the Merlot Fred)

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Background:
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by hyperproliferation and aberrant keratinocyte differentiation. We have shown that treatment of reconstituted human skin with delphinidin, an anthocyanidin, present in pigmented fruits and vegetables, increased the expression and processing of caspase-14, which is involved in cornification. Delphinidin also increases the expression of epidermal differentiation marker proteins.

Objectives:
To determine whether topical application of delphinidin can modulate pathological markers of psoriasiform lesions in flaky skin mice and if this is associated with increased epidermal differentiation and a reduction in proliferation and inflammation.

Methods:
Five-week-old female homozygous flaky skin mice (fsn/fsn) were treated topically with delphinidin (0·5 mg cm−2 and 1 mg cm−2 skin areas, respectively), five times a week, up to 14 weeks of age.

Results:
Treatment of flaky skin mice with delphinidin resulted in a reduction in (i) pathological markers of psoriasiform lesions; (ii) infiltration of inflammatory cells; and (iii) mRNA and protein expression of inflammatory cytokines. Delphinidin treatment also increased the expression and processing of caspase-14, and expression of filaggrin, loricrin, keratin-1 and keratin-10. Furthermore, there was a decrease in the expression of markers for cell proliferation (proliferating cell nuclear antigen and keratin-14) and modulation of tight junction proteins (occludin and claudin-1). In addition, delphinidin treatment increased the expression of activator protein-1 transcription factor proteins (JunB, JunD, Fra1 and Fra2).

Conclusions:
Delphinidin could be a promising agent for treatment of psoriasis and other hyperproliferative skin disorders.

Although it's always said smoking is bad for psoriasis, I've never been a believer myself all giving up ever done for me was make me put weight on. (Though I will admit it makes breathing easier, but that's another issue) This study looked at smoking and systemic treatments for psoriasis and suggests smoking did not affect response to systemic treatment in patients with psoriasis.

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Background:
Smoking is a well-established risk factor for developing psoriasis and is associated with development of more severe disease. Smoking cessation does not appear to result in clinical improvement of psoriasis. Whether smoking in patients with psoriasis impacts response to systemic therapy is unknown.

Objectives:
To determine whether smokers with psoriasis with or without psoriatic arthritis respond to systemic agents as well as nonsmokers do.

Methods:
We performed a retrospective review of patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis with or without psoriatic arthritis seen at our institution, who were either active smokers or nonsmokers, and calculated changes in Physician's Global Assessment (PGA) scores after 3–16 months of systemic treatment. We also calculated the average number of systemic treatments tried per patient.

Results:
Sixty-six patients (46 nonsmokers, 20 smokers) met our inclusion criteria. Changes in PGA scores between baseline and 3–16 months after initiation of systemic treatment did not significantly differ between smokers and nonsmokers, nor did the average number of systemic treatments tried per patient. We detected a borderline significant trend in the percentage of patients who had significant outcomes after treatment, with a higher percentage of patients smoking < 10 cigarettes daily achieving target PGA scores compared with those smoking > 10 cigarettes daily. Limitations of our study include its retrospective nature and the relatively small number of patients meeting our inclusion criteria.

Conclusions:
In our retrospectively studied cohort, smoking did not affect response to systemic treatment in patients with psoriasis. A prospective study examining the complex relationship between smoking, psoriasis and response to systemic therapy is warranted to explore this association better.

This study looked at the risk of kidney disease in people with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, it suggests they are at higher risk and that the use of Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) increases that risk.

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Background:
Few studies have examined the association between psoriasis and glomerulonephritis (GN) as well as chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Objectives:
To determine the risk of CKD in patients with psoriasis and evaluate the impact of the severity of psoriasis, comorbidities, and concomitant medications on the risk of GN and CKD in patients with psoriasis.

Methods:
We identified 4344 patients with psoriasis for the study cohort and randomly selected 13032 subjects as a control cohort. Each subject was individually followed up for a 5-year period to identify those who subsequently developed GN and CKD.

Results:
After adjustment with traditional CKD risk factors, psoriasis was found to be independently associated with an increased risk of CKD during the 5-year follow-up period (hazard ratio (HR), 1.28; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.14-1.44). The increased incidence GN in psoriasis patients (HR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.24-1.81) may partly contributed to the positive association between psoriasis and CKD. Both patients with mild and severe psoriasis had an increased risk of CKD and GN compared with control cohort and the risk increased with severity. Psoriasis patients with arthritis exhibited a higher risk of CKD than patients without arthritis (HR, 1.62 vs. 1.26). Among medication, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have the strongest association with CKD in patients with psoriasis (Adjusted Odds Ratio, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.14-2.49).

Conclusions:
Psoriasis was associated with a higher risk of developing CKD and GN. High severity, psoriatic arthritis involvement and concomitant NSAIDs use further increased the risk of CKD in patients with psoriasis.