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2009-05-09

Psoriasis home phototherapy


What is psoriaris

Psoriasis is a chronic, non-contagious autoimmune disease which affects the skin and joints. As a skin disorder, rapid production of new skin cells give rise to red scaly patches (plaque psoriasis) like what you see in the photo below:

red scally patches of skin caused by psoriasis

Close-up photo showing plaque psoriasis courtesy of Wikipedia


Phototherapy Treatment for Psoriasis

One of the treatment for psoriasis is Ultra Violet B (UVB) phototherapy using a contraption similar to sun tanning bed involving exposure to UVB radiation done over three visits each week for between eight to 10 weeks. This UVB phototherapy is usually done at a hospital as most dermatologists (skin doctors) believe that home phototherapy is inferior and that it carries more risks. This entails visits of 24 to 30 visits to the hospital. This means that only those fortunate to stay near hospitals can avail themselves to UVB Phototherapy.

Home phototherapy treatment for psoriaisi

According to Dr. Mayke Koek of Utrecht University Medical Center who led a study of psoriasis patients from 14 hospital dermatology departments randomly assigned to either home-based or hospital-based UVB phototherapy, home-based phototherapy was found to be equivalent to hospital-based phototherapy both in terms of efficacy and safety. Not only that, the study found that those receiving home-based phototherapy were significantly more satisfied.

Source: BBC News - Home light therapy psoriasis hope

4 comments:

veronica waks MD, ND said...

i also check my patients with Psoriasis for food sensitivities. Wheat and dairy are on top of the list. Check vitamin D level too.if low, supplement.

Nurse Triage said...

Does it spread over the years?And the ones that start in the scalp do they spread to the body?

EMR said...

Ok that's good...this is a very cruel and painful irritation.

Medical Travel said...

Good to know about this less know disease.

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