Blood and Blood Disorders

Don't Miss

When to Treat Varicose Veins

About half of the population will one day have a vein problem. For some, it will...
Gene-Linked Iron Disorder More Common Than Thought

The most common genetic disorder among northern Europeans — called hemochromatosis — occurs more often than...
Health Tip: What is Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy?

(HealthDay News) — PRP (platelet-rich plasma) therapy is a relatively new treatment for pain, the American...

More Blood and Blood Disorders News

Health Tip: Understanding Blood Clots
(HealthDay News) — Blood clotting is the body’s way of preventing excessive bleeding when...
- Posted December 14, 2018
- 10
Frail Heart Patients at High Risk for Bleeding
Older heart attack patients who are frail are at increased risk for bleeding when...
- Posted November 22, 2018
- 4
Uncontrolled Blood Pressure? Maybe It’s Time to Check Your Shins
If you’re on multiple medications and your high blood pressure is still not under...
- Posted October 24, 2018
- 5
Health Tip: Manage Symptoms of Anemia
(HealthDay News) — If you have anemia, you are more likely than others to...
- Posted September 27, 2018
- 17
Blood Infection Sepsis Tied to Heart Attack, Stroke
Survivors of serious bloodstream infections called sepsis are at increased risk for stroke and...
- Posted September 10, 2018
- 16
Health Tip: Use a Blood Thinner Safely
(HealthDay News) — More than 2 million people take a blood thinner regularly, the...
- Posted July 2, 2018
- 9
Artificial Pancreas Helps Hospitalized Type 2 Diabetics
Using an artificial pancreas can help hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes maintain good...
- Posted June 26, 2018
- 16
Could a Blood Test Spot Lung Cancer Early?
Genetic blood testing is showing potential as a means of catching some early stage...
- Posted June 2, 2018
- 16
Blood Type May Play Role in Death Risk After Trauma
People with the most common blood type, type O, may be at higher risk...
- Posted May 2, 2018
- 6
A Better Clot-Buster Drug for Strokes?
After a stroke, many patients are given the clot-busting intravenous drug alteplase, but another...
- Posted April 26, 2018
- 9
Health Tip: Factors That Raise Risk of Blood Clot
(HealthDay News) — Blood clots can dissolve on their own, but don’t always. Deep...
- Posted April 26, 2018
- 5

Are You Living with Psoriasis?

A growing knowledge of the skin disease called psoriasis is leading to greater treatment choices, including personalized therapies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports.

Psoriasis is an immune system disorder that causes overproduction of skin cells, resulting in scaling, pain, swelling, redness and heat. The condition affects about 7.5 million Americans.

“As we better understand the disease, researchers know more about what specific factors to target in order to develop effective treatments,” FDA dermatologist Dr. Melinda McCord said in an agency news release.

There is no cure for psoriasis, so the main goals of treatments are to stop skin cell overproduction and reduce inflammation. Current therapies include medicines applied to the skin (topical), light treatment (phototherapy), or drugs taken by mouth or given by injection.

Doctors used to take a step-by-step approach, starting patients with mild to moderate psoriasis on topical therapy. If that was ineffective, doctors moved on to phototherapy or drug treatment.