Psoriatic Arthritis

psoriatic is a disease characterized by "chronic joint inflammation. As the name suggests, it is often associated with psoriasis, in particular, it affects about 30% of people with this inflammatory skin disease.

Psoriatic arthritis can affect any joint in the body and typically presents with limited symptoms such as pain, swelling and joint stiffness. Early identification, diagnosis and treatment are therefore essential to control inflammation and limit joint damage.

. In particular, it is believed that the immune system of genetically predisposed subjects can attack the joints and other healthy tissues, causing the onset of an inflammatory process; this attack would be triggered, or in any case favored, by particularly stressful events, such as some environmental factors ( prolonged exposure to sunlight), trauma, surgery, infections etc.
Psoriatic arthritis is typically associated with psoriasis and the related familial predisposition. We remember that psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease, neither infectious nor contagious, characterized by an abnormal and often incomplete keratinization. At the level of the affected skin areas, patches arise. red, delimited and raised, covered with silvery or opalescent flaking (plaques). The sites most commonly affected by psoriasis are: elbows, knees, palm of the hand, sole of the foot, lumbar region, scalp and nails. cases, this skin disease precedes the onset of psoriatic arthritis, but the opposite situation is less frequent (onset of the joint condition at the same time as psoriasis or before it).

Most patients experience psoriatic arthritis between the ages of 30 and 50, however the disease can occur at any age and is unusual in children. Men and women are equally affected, although females are more likely to develop it. especially after pregnancy or menopause.