Psoriasis Information

What is Psoriasis?
Progression of Psoriasis
Types of Psoriasis
What Causes Psoriasis?
What triggers an outbreak?
How can I get Relief from psoriasis?
Psoriasis testimonials

What is Psoriasis?

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder that results when skin cells reproduce too rapidly at a rate approximately 1000 times greater than normal skin. Instead of normal regeneration that takes about a month, psoriasis skin cells regenerate every three to four days. In skin affected with psoriasis both the epidermis and the dermis are affected by this abnormal cell division.

What happens is this, the epidermis reacts to this abnormal cell reproduction by producing red patches covered with thick, silvery scales. These psoriatic lesions result simply from too many cells developing all at once. They usually appear on the backs of elbows and knees as well as on the scalp, lower back, buttocks, wrists and ankles.

Blood vessels become enlarged and engorged with blood. That is what makes the reddish color of patches and plaques and causes them to bleed easily.

Progression of Psoriasis

Psoriasis doesn't have any set way of progressing. It develops differently depending on the person. Some people may only have occasional and minor symptoms for their entire lives. Others may have to cope with severe symptoms on a regular basis.

In most people, the symptoms come and go. Flare-ups might be brought on by some conditions like dry weather or stress.

Untreated, extremely severe psoriasis can be dangerous. Although it happens very rarely, if lesions cover enough of the body, the immune system can become overwhelmed. Be sure to see your doctor immediately if your psoriasis spreads to cover large parts of your body or if you show signs of infection, such as fever.

Coping with psoriasis can be exhausting and frustrating. It's important to try to stay emotionally and physically healthy during treatment.

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Types of Psoriasis

There are several types of psoriasis as well as symptoms. The most common type of psoriasis is he plague type psoriasis which is marked by red, raised lesions with clear borders and silvery scales. This type usually breaks out on the knees, elbows, scalp and lower back. Guttate psoriasis appears as red droplets, usually on the arms, legs or trunk. Flexural or inverse psoriasis usually develops in skin folds such as the armpits, under the breasts or in the groin area. These lesions usually appear red and inflamed, but generally do not scale.

• Guttate psoriasis. This form of psoriasis usually affects children, teenagers, and young adults. It often appears after a bacterial infection, such as strep throat. Its typical symptoms are red, scaly, raindrop-shaped spots on the skin, usually over the abdomen, arms, legs, and scalp. It can often clear up on its own without treatment.
  

• Pustular psoriasis. The typical symptoms of pustular psoriasis are pus-filled blisters on the skin. The blisters usually dry up, turn brown, become scaly, and peel off. The lesions usually occur on the hands and feet and are primarily seen in adults.

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What Causes Psoriasis?

Normally, skin cells are constantly being formed deep beneath the surface of your skin. Over about a month, these cells are pushed up to the surface. This is called cell turnover. The cells eventually die and flake off, revealing new skin cells.

In people with psoriasis, the skin cells grow too quickly. The exact cause of psoriasis is not completely understood, but genetic and immune system abnormalities are believed to play key roles in the condition. In psoriasis, cell turnover can happen in a matter of days. A faulty immune system signals increased growth cycle of skin cells. Layers of skin build up, forming a whitish, flaky crust. Blood vessels increase flow in an attempt to nourish this skin, which leads to redness and swelling. The classic symptoms of psoriasis are reddened, inflamed skin with a whitish, flaky layer of dead cells on top.

Although psoriasis usually appears as a skin condition, recent discoveries show that its real cause is a problem with the immune system.

Your body naturally fights infections and heals injuries with special cells -- called white blood cells -- that battle viruses or bacteria. Normally, these cells go to the site of infection or injury to help repair wounds and prevent infection. One byproduct of this normal process is inflammation (redness and swelling).

For reasons that doctors don't yet understand, the immune systems of people with psoriasis malfunction. One type of white blood cell, the B-cell, begins creating antibodies that destroy normal skin cells. Another type of white blood cell, the T-cell, begins overproducing a type of protein called a cytokine. This overproduction appears to turn off a signal that controls the growth of skin cells.

So this is why psoriasis is considered an autoimmune disease -- your own immune system malfunctions and attacks normal body tissues. Other autoimmune diseases include lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.    

Psoriasis of the skin or nails may look like a rash or fungus, but you can't catch psoriasis from another person. You also can't give it to anyone else or spread it from one part of your body to another by touch. Experts now know that if psoriasis runs in your family, your chances of developing it are higher.

Other factors may contribute to the development of psoriasis, make the condition worse, or make it return, including:

• Climate. Cold, dry weather causes symptoms to become worse. Hot weather, sunlight, and humidity may improve symptoms.
• Skin injury. An injury to the skin can cause psoriasis patches to form anywhere on the body, including the site of the injury. This includes injuries to your nails or nearby skin while trimming your nails.
• Stress and anxiety. Stress can cause psoriasis to appear suddenly (flare) or can make symptoms worse.
• Infection. Infections such as strep throat can cause psoriasis to appear suddenly (guttate psoriasis), especially in children.
• Certain medicines. Certain medicines, such as NSAIDs, beta-blockers, and lithium, have been found to make psoriasis symptoms worse. Whenever your doctor prescribes any medicines for you, tell him or her that you have psoriasis.

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What triggers an outbreak?

Many factors trigger an outbreak. Psoriatic skin is much more prone to a breakout if it’s exposed to trauma, irritation or prolonged pressure or friction. Prolonged pressure from sitting, kneeling or leaning on your elbow for a prolonged period of time can trigger an outbreak.

Emotional stress can cause an outbreak of psoriasis. Infections like strep throat as well as medications (including steroids, Advil, Aleve )may also trigger psoriasis.

Certain foods can trigger psoriasis:

*Tomatoes
*peppers
*potatoes
*eggplant
*fried foods
*hydrogenerated fats
*red meats
*pork
*alcohol

these are all common triggers for psoriasis.

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How can I get Relief from psoriasis?

First of all consult with your doctor to discuss your condition and regimen.

Nutritional Regimen

Additional ways to get relief:

1. Get on a nutritional regimen. Watch what you eat. A healthy protocol for eating can bring relief to people suffering from a skin disorder of any type, including psoriasis
   
2. It is important to get your liver healthy. The liver is a giant filte that purifies your body of toxins, poisons environmental chemicals and anything else that could harm your body. One of the problems with living in today’s world is that our livers must work much harder to cleanse our bodies from all of the toxins we encounter daily. When your liver starts to fall behind on its work, the body becomes toxic and subject to disease. If you are suffering from a skin disorder, it is not only important to heal the intestinal tract, but to begin providing adequate nutrition for your liver to help it catch up on its internal detoxification.
3. Digestion problems can aggravate psoriasis. Usually with poor digestion comes increased intestinal permealbility. This is a term for microscopic holes appearing along the walls of your small intestine that allow food that has not been completely digested to pass right through your blood stream. These toxins go directly into the liver, undermining your liver’s role of detoxification and triggering the release of free radicals, which puts even more strain on your liver. This condition is sometimes called “leaky gut” because our gut actually leaks toxic substances into your bloodstream. It leads to food allergies, food sensitivities and autoimmune diseases. Not surprising, it is very common in those with skin disorders.
4. Common food allergies are: tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers, dairy products, alcohol, fried foods, red meat, pork, vinegar, gluten(found in all wheat products), sweets and processed foods.
5. Eliminate your acidic overload. Increase your consumption of alkaline foods. Most of us eat too many acid-producing foods, such as processed foods, meats, sugary foods, fried foods and so forth. Most us do not eat enough alkaline producing foods like fruits and vegetables. The result is that the tissues of the body tend to become more acidic rather than neutral or slightly alkaline as they need to be. A acidic condition makes it more difficult for nutrients to enter into the cells and for metabolic waste and toxins to be eliminated from the cells. As mentioned above, patients with skin disorders often have a liver that is already very toxic. Therefore, eating more alkaline foods will help cleanse the tissues of the body, which will in turn relieve the skin conditions.
6. Research has shown that many patients with psoriasis are lacking adequate amounts of GLA, an activated essential fatty acid in their diets. Sources of GLA are oatmeal, evening primrose oil, borage oil, and black currant oil.

An actual customer testimonial of Gastric Gold®:

My name is Carl and I have psoriasis. I have suffered from psoriasis of the over-the-counter remedies, and the light box. By changing my diet and taking Gastric Gold my skin started to become clearer. Below are pictures of before and after.

As you can see from the before picture, my skin was cracked, dry and bled easily. It was painful, embarrassing, and frustrating. I took the max dosage of 3 capsules 3 times per day of Gastric Gold. After a couple of months I started to see improvements and improved to what you see my in after photo. Another plus by taking Gastric Gold is my arthritis went away. My fingers are no longer stiff and in pain.

I highly recommend that you try Gastric Gold and get your skin disorder under control.