For the 3% of the population in the United States who struggle with psoriasis, the road to relief can be frustrating, but there’s hope for this autoimmune disorder.
Since your skin is on the front line when it comes to psoriasis, the team here at Z-Roc Dermatology, led by Drs. Matthew Zarraga and Khongruk Wongkittiroch, understands your frustration, and we're here to help.
While there's still no cure for psoriasis, new science and medications are making great headway in better controlling the condition, giving our psoriasis patients renewed hope.
Here, we review three of these promising therapies and how they can help you reclaim your life when you have psoriasis.
Until recently, our best defense against psoriasis was in treating the symptoms (more on this in a moment). While effective, these treatments didn’t address the underlying autoimmune disorder, which is not only responsible for the inflammation and plaques in your skin, but it can lead to psoriatic arthritis and cardiovascular issues, as well.
For a more systemic approach to psoriasis, we’re now leaning on biologics, which go straight to the heart of the problem — your immune system. Made from human or animal proteins, these medications quiet your hyperactive immune cells by blocking the most potent pro-inflammatory biochemical interleukin-17 — IL-17A.
The FDA has approved several of these biologics, including secukinumab (Cosentyx®) and adalimumab (Humira®), but a new biologic is poised to be even more effective — bimekizumab.
This biologic targets your IL-17A like the others, but goes a step further as it also addresses your IL-17F, which isn’t as powerful as IL-17A, but this chemical is plentiful.
Early clinical trials have shown bimekizumab to be very successful. One trial was conducted at 77 sites around the world and involved people with moderate to severe psoriasis. After receiving either bimekizumab or a placebo, the patients who received bimekizumab experienced a 90% reduction in plaques in four months. And with further maintenance dosing, these patients maintained their results over 56 weeks.
We’ve also had great success in reducing the inflammatory responses in the skin with light therapy. With this innovative technology, we deliver ultraviolet B rays into your skin, which target and slow the cells that create the visible signs of psoriasis.
Another great way to manage the plaques and rashes on your skin is through retinoid therapy. Retinoids are synthetic forms of vitamin A that can slow the growth of rapidly growing skin cells, lessen redness, and reduce thick plaques of psoriasis.
While you can buy over-the-counter retinols, they aren’t generally effective for psoriasis. Instead, we provide you with prescription-strength retinoids that contain the dosing your psoriasis requires.
As you can see, science and research have come together to help us fight psoriasis more effectively than ever before. If you’d like to learn more about these treatment options, contact our office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to set up an appointment.
