Treatment Of Chronic Psoriasis Research Articles

EFFICACY COMPARISON OF ACITRETIN VERSUS NARROW BAND ULTRAVIOLET B IN THE TREATMENT OF PSORIASIS

To compare the efficacy of Acitretin versus Narrow Band Ultraviolet B in the treatment of chronic Psoriasis

Psoriasis and Pregnancy

Background:Women comprise half of all psoriasis patients and because the majority of psoriasis cases present before age 40 the disease affects women who may become pregnant. Information regarding the heritability of psoriasis can be used in counseling patients who inquire about the potential risk to their children. Patients with psoriasis who become pregnant will likely notice an associated improvement of their symptoms if any change is noted at all.Objective:Because of potential fetal effects, the treatment of chronic psoriasis in pregnancy involves prudent consideration of whether the severity of the disease warrants treatment and selection of the safest treatments available.Conclusion:Topical corticosteroids and topical calcipotriene as well as topical anthralin and topical tacrolimus appear to be safe choices for control of localized psoriasis in pregnancy. UVB is the safest treatment for extensive psoriasis during pregnancy, particularly when topical application of other agents is not practical. Short-term use of cyclosporine during pregnancy is probably the safest option for management of severe psoriasis that has not responded to topical or UVB treatment.

Psoriasis and pregnancy.

Women comprise half of all psoriasis patients and because the majority of psoriasis cases present before age 40 the disease affects women who may become pregnant. Information regarding the heritability of psoriasis can be used in counseling patients who inquire about the potential risk to their children. Patients with psoriasis who become pregnant will likely notice an associated improvement of their symptoms if any change is noted at all. Because of potential fetal effects, the treatment of chronic psoriasis in pregnancy involves prudent consideration of whether the severity of the disease warrants treatment and selection of the safest treatments available. Topical corticosteroids and topical calcipotriene as well as topical anthralin and topical tacrolimus appear to be safe choices for control of localized psoriasis in pregnancy. UVB is the safest treatment for extensive psoriasis during pregnancy, particularly when topical application of other agents is not practical. Short-term use of cyclosporine during pregnancy is probably the safest option for management of severe psoriasis that has not responded to topical or UVB treatment.

Treatment of chronic psoriasis by Psoradrate (0.1% dithranol in a 17% urea base) applied under occlusion.

A small comparative trial has shown that the effectiveness of a 0.1% dithranol/urea cream in clearing chronic, resistant plaques of psoriasis can be significantly enhanced by using PVC film occlusion, although irritant side-effects are increased.

Non-steroid creams in the treatment of chronic psoriasis in general practice: Comparison of a 0.1% dithranol and urea cream with a refined coal tar cream

SummaryA single-blind, multi-centre study was carried out to compare two non-steroid therapies in the treatment of 51 patients with mild to moderate psoriasis. The study was designed as a within-patient comparison in which one side of the patient was treated with 0.1% dithranol in a 17% urea cream base and the other side was treated with a cream containing 5% refined coal tar extract and 2% allantoin, the creams being randomly allocated to right and left sides. Treatment lasted for 6 weeks and the investigators' assessments were made every 2 weeks. The results showed that the 0.1% dithranol/urea cream was significantly more effective than the refined coal tar cream in clearing psoriasis. After 6 weeks, a 67% mean overall improvement in psoriasis was obtained with the dithranol/urea as against 47% for the tar-based cream (p=0.01). The 0.1% dithranol/urea cream produced significantly greater reductions in scaling and redness of the psoriasis lesions than the 5% refined coal tar extract/allantoin product. The 0.1% dithranol/urea cream was preferred by the vast majority of patients because of its greater effectiveness, although initially it inevitably caused more minor irritant side-effects.

Evaluation of coal tar fractions for use in psoriasiform diseases using the mouse tail test. III. High boiling tar oil acids.

Twelve phenolic fractions of creosote and anthracene oils derived from a high temperature tar were applied in an ointment base to mouse tail skin. After treatment with the higher boiling acids, formerly parakeratotic scale areas underwent granular layer induction and 'basket-weave' keratin was produced. Changes in distribution of acid phosphatase and in horny layer fluorescence were consistent with the conversion to an orthokeratotic state. It is suggested that some of these phenols may be of value in the treatment of chronic psoriasis.