Psoriatic plaques tend to appear mainly on the knees, elbows, lower back and scalp (scalp psoriasis), but the fact remains that they can also affect larger areas of skin.
and both physical and psychological stressors.Among the possible triggering / pejorative factors the disease, however, we find:
- Accidental and surgical wounds;
- Local trauma;
- Excessive sun exposure
- Bacterial and viral infections;
- Some drug treatments.
In patients with psoriasis, epidermal turnover is 10 times faster than physiological turnover; this causes an "incomplete maturation of the keratinocytes, a tortuous vascularization with increased blood flow in the affected area, an" infiltration of neutrophils and the consequent inflammatory trigger.
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Systemic treatment, on the other hand, is undertaken for the most severe forms of psoriasis and may include the administration of:
- Acitretin (a derivative of vitamin A) by mouth;
- Immunosuppressants such as cyclosporine and methotrexate, useful against psoriasis because they reduce the immune response;
- Biological drugs, indicated for severe and refractory psoriasis.
Another category of drugs that can be used in the treatment of psoriasis is constituted by photosensitizing drugs which - depending on the case and the active ingredient used - can be administered topically or systemically.
The main characteristics of the aforementioned active ingredients will be briefly described below.
