Psoriasis Case Studies

The Integumentary is a vast organ system composed of exocrine glands, hair, nails, and the most commonly known organ, the skin. As a large system, it can be susceptible to many different types of diseases, one of these diseases are called Psoriasis. This affects a large portion of the Integumentary system, the skin. Psoriasis are considered to be a widespread, common and recurring disease that can be chronic at times. Psoriasis are defined by its appearance of light silver in color, flaky, rash on many parts of the Epidermis.

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.

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 ).

Psoriasis is mediated by helper T-cells that produce IL-17, an inflammatory cytokine that plays an important pathological role in psoriasis.2 Research has shown

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

Schweckendiek believed that psoriasis was due to a biochemical defect in the Citric Cycle in which there is a fumarate deficiency, however, researchers now believe that psoriasis is an autoimmune disease due to the immune system overreacting and attacking the body’s tissue which affects a person’s skin and joints. Therefore, according to DermNet, New Zealand, dimethyl fumarate is ‘thought to work by correcting the immunological imbalance that exists in psoriasis (shifting from a Th1 pattern of immune response to a Th2 one).’ According to BMJ 2000;321:424, Th1-Type cytokines tend to help in the production of proinflammatory responses which is responsible for perpetuating an autoimmune reponse. High amounts of an inflammatory response results in damaged tissue.Th2 include interleukins 4,5, and 13 and also contains interleukin 10 which has an anti-inflammatory response. Due to the immunomodulatory effect DMF has on the immune system, it was on the market in Germany in the 1990’s and was marketed as Fumaderm and the drug has lead to a 75% improvement in a sufferers psoriasis within the first four months of use. However, despite all the benefits of DMF, side effects such as gastrointestinal problems (nausea, diarrhoea and stomach cramps) occurred within 60%

“Psoriasis is a long-term (chronic) skin problem that causes skin cells to grow too quickly, resulting in thick, white silvery, or red patches of skin.” (WebMD, 2012) To uneducated individuals, they may look at a person with Psoriasis and think to stay away from them as it might be contagious. This disorder is not contagious, but it does affect a person with Psoriasis to go through social exclusion and discrimination. A mistaken trigger in the immune system is said to be the one of the causes of rapid production of skin cells in the body. Patients with Psoriasis produce new skin cells between 2-6 days. That is a little over four times less than the time they are normally produced, which is 21-28days. “Psoriasis affects approximately 3% of

Brian is a 27-year-old male who suffers from plaque psoriasis (L40.0). His symptoms include red, itchy, flaking plaques located on his scalp, genitalia and legs with a BSA of 11%. Brain has tried and failed various treatments including triamcinolone and fluocinolone, both provided him with little to no relief. Brian is not a candidate for said biologics, because they can raise the risk of possibly fatal infections, Lymphoma, and other malignancies. I believe those risks of infection, malignancies are too high for Brian, in addition to both Humira, and Enbrel suppresses the immune system. Systemic medications are also too much of a risk for Brian because they have adverse side effects, which can also be extremely fatal and he is still of

Geraldine, my mother, had diabetes and dealing with numerous ailments; one of them is dermatitis covering 90% of her body and the other a broken elbow she encountered due to an accident. She developed dermatitis from poor hygiene; that was so severe that she had to endure the effects from the ailment for years because the doctors kept treating the symptoms, never explaining what the cause was. By treating the symptoms and never correcting what caused this problem infection set in, the disease caused her skin to break and ooze fluid causing the condition to spread to other parts of her body, not to mention the constant scratching she did throughout each day. After trying numerous antibiotic treatments, her body stops responding to treatment. After several medical opinions, a team of doctors studied

Psoriasis is an ongoing skin condition, where the skin develops patches of itchy, red, scaly skin. Chances are, if you develop psoriasis, family members also have/had the condition, as there is a genetic association for psoriasis.

Psoriasis is another common chronic skin condition that rapidly changes the cycle of the skin cell which builds up on the skin’s surface. This condition is usually known as scaly, thick silvery red patches on the skin that could be sometimes painful. This is due because of the accelerated epithelial cell division and abnormal Keratinocytes. Signs and symptoms of Psoriasis can vary from person to person and are very common. The following symptoms include

Psoriasis is an immune disease that affects multiple layers of skin. As with most people,our skin takes almost a month to shed its outer layer. Psoriasis, however, causes the skin to overproduce skin in three or four days. This causes inflammation and a buildup of thick patches or scales. Some people are lucky to only have a few small patches, while others can have their entire back or legs covered.