Poriasis: A Case Study

This essay explores and reflects on the lived experiences of an elderly patient living with the long-term condition (LTC) of psoriasis. A case study is used to illustrate some of the key features of LTCs and the impact they can have on a patient’s physical, psychological and social state. It is also going to be looking at the effect some of the key features can have on a patients support network or family. In addition it will examine the nurses role in the management of LTCs and the health and social policies that may have an impact on the care received by patient with LTCs.

Mr. .J. is a 30 year old Caucasian male presented to the Emergency Department with symptoms of myalgia, fever, rash, swollen glands, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia. Mr. J. reported fever and sore throat started about a week ago and the rash presented today. Mr. J. stated “I thought I had the flu but I am not feeling any better and now I have a rash, that’s why I decided to come to the E.D.”. (Health and Human Services panel, 2013)

Psoriasis: This is a common, chronic and recurring skin disorder that changes and alters the life cycle of skin cells. It causes cells to accumulate quickly on the skin surface. The extra cells from the skin forms a thick, itchy, silvery scale and a red patch. It can appear at any part of the body such as the knee, scalp, elbow etc. it is treated with drugs applied to the skin, ingested and with ultraviolet radiation. This disease has affected about 1%-5% of the world population and it is more common to the light skinned people. Psoriasis may persist throughout a person’s life as it comes and goes but it is usually reduced during the summer period when the skin is exposed to ultraviolent radiation and flare ups are common during

The pathophysiology of psoriasis is characterized by epidermal hyperproliferation, enhanced antigen presentation, T helper 1 cytokine production, T cell expansion, and angiogenesis. (El-Darouti and Abdel Hay, 2010 ).

Background: Plaque psoriasis is a painful autoimmune disease that affects up to 3% of the US population.1 Moderate-to-severe psoriasis can have significant psychological and physiological effects on a person’s health and although psoriasis can be controlled, it cannot be cured, so medications play an important role in reducing related comorbidities and improving patients’ quality of life.2

Some environmental factors that may trigger psoriasis are stress, injury to skin like cuts or scrapes, infections and certain medications.

40 patients were reported to have Psoriasis (skin rash) within their peripheral extremities. The skin rash appear to be red with pus, liquid oozing from the rash (looking like a zombie rash). Each patients are also reports that their extremities itch, and sometime even inflamed.

Psoriasis is a inflammatory and hyper proliferative disease of the skin, which is caused by the immune system. The immune system is overactive causing for cells to be produced at a faster rate than normal. Someone with Psoriasis immune system will attack their skin cells causing for damage in the skin. The Immune system produces T-cells which aid in recognizing foreign invaders and attacking them. However, with psoriasis the T-cells mistakenly identify skin cells as invaders and attack them. Furthermore, the attack on the skin cells leads to skin damage causing for the body to produce skin cells at a higher rate. The integumentary which is responsible for the production of skin cells is affected and goes in hyper drive. Normally, it would take approximately, a month to produce new skin cells, however, when someone has Psoriasis skin cell production is at a higher rate. Psoriasis causes for new skin cells to be produced at faster rate causing for skin cells to surface in 3-4 days. The body cannot shed skin cells at that rate which causes for old skin cells to pile up and cause flakey watched know as plaques. Scientist have discovered five different forms of psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disorder, easily identified by its symptoms of white, scaly skin and red lesions, though not so easily cured or understood. In psoriasis, skin cells mature faster than the body can shed them, causing a buildup. Although there are many theories as to what the cause of such a disease might be – genetics, stress, or other triggers – no one is quite sure why the disease occurs, or what could be a possible way to fully cure it. In this essay we will explore the symptoms, types, and effects of this condition, and also some of the known treatments.

“Psoriasis Uncovered,” goes into depth about the causes of Psoriasis and how the skin disease disrupts the keratinocytes in the epidermis of the skin. Whenever a patient has an outbreak of Psoriasis, keratinocytes reproduce at ten times the rate of normal skin, which means that the skin does not have time to mature, therefore dies and forms a scale-like rash on the infected area. As treatment goes, since the disease is not curable, the symptoms must be treated to improve the quality of life of the patients. Over one hundred years ago, tar was used to collect the dead skin cells and stop the skin from becoming irritated, but since then, there has been a combination of medication, light exposure in tanning beds, and different ointments that have been used to combat the side

Your first patient this week has a problem of the genitourinary tract that has plagued him since birth. Hypospadias is a birth deficiency of the penis that generally has four characteristics:

A psoriasis patient’s skin cells usually grow within days, whereas normally, skin cells can take up to a month to grow. Psoriasis makes the skin look thick with patches of red, white, or silver that are symptomatic of the skin cells that are growing abnormally fast. Psoriasis can cause a stinging or burning feeling in addition to itchiness and appears most commonly on knees and elbows, palms of the hand and soles of the feet, the face, and the lower back. Psoriasis is often exacerbated by stress, sunburns, and scratches. Psoriasis is most common in adults.

So far, 25 genetic variants have been identified that make a person more susceptible to getting psoriasis (Genes, 2015). Based on these findings, it has been determined that about 10% of the population are a carrier of one of these genetic variants, but only 2-3% of the population will experience a trigger that causes the disease to present itself. These triggers include stress, skin injuries, certain medications, and infection (specifically a correlation has been found between the streptococcus bacterium and patients that present with psoriasis) (Psoriasis, 2015; Genes 2015). Of the people who are diagnosed with psoriasis, 30% will develop psoriatic arthritis. This condition comes with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, depression, cancer, crohn’s disease, and

As previously stated, Psoriasis is caused by a mistaken trigger in the Immune system. “Normally, T cells help protect the body against infection and disease.” (NIAMS, 2013) When the disorder triggers the immune system, it causes the T cells to activate and trigger other immune responses. This will develop the redness and scaling of the

Psoriasis was copied from the Greek word psora, which means “to itch” (Jean, 2011). Psoriasis is a chronic, long lasting autoimmune skin disease that disturbs the speed of the growth cycle in skin cells (Stress-Related Disorder Sourcebook, 2016). Normal, healthy skin cells replace dead skin cells every twenty-eight to thirty days (Langley, 2005). Skin is the largest organ in the body. It protects from the environment, regulates body temperature, helps coordinate immune system regulation, function of touch sensations, waterproof, and prevents toxin substances from entering the body (Langley,2010). Psoriasis effects greater than three percent