#31 Psoriasis Series: Part 1 - What causes psoriasis? | Dr. Shabari Arumugam

What causes psoriasis?

Psoriasis runs in families: If a parent, grandparent, brother, or sister has psoriasis, you have a higher risk of getting it.

Psoriasis is not contagious. Unlike chickenpox or a cold, you cannot catch psoriasis from someone. 

You also CANNOT get psoriasis by: 

• Swimming in a pool with someone who has psoriasis

• Touching someone who has psoriasis

• Having sex with someone who has psoriasis

While we know that psoriasis isn’t contagious, scientists are still trying to determine exactly how psoriasis develops. 

Scientists have learned that a person’s immune system and genes play a role in causing psoriasis. Here’s what studies have revealed about each of these. 

Immune system: When a person has psoriasis, something goes wrong in the immune system. The individual's immune system starts to attack the body’s skin cells. This attack causes the body to make new skin cells more often. The extra skin cells pile up on the surface of the skin, and you see psoriasis. 

Once the immune system starts to attack skin cells, this usually continues for the rest of a person’s life. There is one exception. Some children who get a type of psoriasis called guttate psoriasis never have it again. 

Genes: We know that psoriasis runs in families. Scientists have found that people who have certain genes are more likely to get psoriasis. 

What complicates matters is what else scientists have learned. It seems that some people who get psoriasis don’t have genes that increase their risk of getting psoriasis.

It’s also possible to have genes that increase the risk of getting psoriasis and never develop psoriasis. It’s this discovery that led scientists to believe that the person must be exposed to a trigger before psoriasis appears. 

What can trigger psoriasis? 

Plenty of everyday things can act as a trigger, causing psoriasis to appear for the first time. Common psoriasis triggers include: 

• Stress

• Skin injuries, such as a cut or bad sunburn

• Infection, such as strep throat

• Some medications, including lithium, prednisone, and hydroxychloroquine

• Weather, especially cold, dry weather

• Tobacco

• Alcohol (heavy drinking)

These triggers can also cause psoriasis flare-ups. Different people have different triggers. For example, periods of intense stress may trigger your psoriasis but cold weather may not.

That’s why it’s so important for people who have psoriasis to know what triggers their psoriasis. Avoiding triggers can reduce psoriasis flares. 

If you think you have psoriasis, it’s important to find out. Treatment can help relieve your discomfort and lead to clearer (or clear) skin. 

If you have further queries, please leave it in the comments.

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SOURCE:

• AAD

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