Until The Early 1980S, Psoriasis Was Believed To Be A Disease

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

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.

To be more specific, a cell called T lymphocyte or T cell is a type of white blood cells that typically travels throughout our body to detect and fight off viruses or bacteria. People who have Psoriasis, however, their T cells attack the healthy skin cells mistakenly which can trigger other immune responses. Dilation of the blood vessels in the skin is the effect of overactive T cells where other white blood cells increases and enters the outer layer of the skin. “These changes result in an increased production of both healthy skin cells and more T cells and other white blood cells. This causes an ongoing cycle in which new skin cells move to the outermost layer of skin too quickly — in days rather than weeks. Dead skin and white blood cells can't slough off quickly enough and build up in thick, scaly patches on the skin's surface.”

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 is a common chronic autoimmune disorder that is characterized as having an immune-mediated inflammatory pathology which presents with skin lesions that vary in severity. Affecting nearly 3% of the world population (Jadali & Eslami 2014) the cause of psoriasis in not fully understood, but there is considerable evidence that points to genetic, environmental, and immunological factors that influence the disease.

This includes scaling, inflammation, pain and pruritus (Penzer & Ersser, 2010). Another physical symptom is well- demarcated red, silvery, dry, raised, scaly plaques, follows by unpredictable patterns of relapse and period of remission (Green, 2011). In psoriasis, there are few factors that can trigger the psoriasis to come and appeared in the skin. This factor includes drug such as beta blocker and lithium, koebner phenomenon that form along the trauma, streptococcal throat infection, ultraviolet light exposure and stress (Penzer & Ersser, 2010).

Psoriasis is a perplexing, reoccurring immune system disorder described by red, flaky patches on the skin. Those living with psoriasis need to battle the urge to scratch the red, flaky, and bothersome patches of dry skin consistently. In any case, that doesn't mean the condition needs to assume control over your life.

Psoriasis is a disease that greatly affects a small amount of the population. It is estimated that about 3-5% percent of the population is diagnosed with psoriasis (Yu, 2016; Pg. 1). Psoriasis is defined as a chronic inflammatory skin disease (Lahousen et al, 2016; Pg. 78). The disease creates, in most cases, rough dry patches or lesions on the skin surface. Multiple sights on the body can be affected ranging from the scalp, face, and nails (Wade et al., 2016; Pg. 1). Though the disease largely results in physical symptoms, many patient’s health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is affected as well; health-related quality of life is an evaluation of how a person’s health affects aspects of life, mainly focusing on social, psychological and cognitive functions (Gonzalez et al., 2016; Pg. 2). This paper will examine multiple literatures in order to explore the connection between a patient’s health-related quality of life in regards to a diagnoses of psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a type of noncontagious chronic dermatitis. The types of individuals that can be at risk for psoriasis has a mixture of genetic predisposition and types of environmental factors, individuals with immune regulation defects are most likely to obtain this condition; Most causes for psoriasis is unknown by doctors. Whithin this condition there is several different forms of psoriasis including;

Although psoriasis plaques can only be confined to a few small areas, this may involve extensive skin areas anywhere in the body. Psoriasis symptoms vary depending on the type of psoriasis. Common psoriasis symptoms can include the following:

Several people suffer from psoriasis, a chronic, incurable disease of the immune system that causes scaly, itchy patches to form on the skin. My father is one of them. As a child, I didn’t understand why my father didn’t wear short pants or t-shirts. Later, when I began middle school, I discovered that my father has psoriasis, sparking my interest in medicine and human biology. Afterward, I would watch my father unsuccessfully try different steroids, creams, and extracts, wondering how each medication affected his body and skin condition. This seed of interest eventually blossomed into an insatiable curiosity of how disease interacts with the human body.

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

Known environmental factors modify the course and severity of the disease: Psysocial stress, obesity, HIV, physical trauma (Koebner phenomenon), streptococcus and candida infections, dyslipidemia, medications (lithium, beta blocking agents, antimalarial agents, corticosteroid withdrawal, NSAIDs and tetracyclines), winter season, alcohol abuse and tobacco use can all exacerbate or trigger psoriasis in a genetically predisposed person (Habif et al., 2011; Habif,