Doctors and Health Care

Don't Miss

One Man’s False Teeth Got ‘Lost’ in His Throat After Surgery

Scheduled for surgery? Don’t forget to take your dentures out. According to a new report, one...
Where Is Your Risk of Dying Greatest After Surgery?

Patients who have noncardiac surgery are much more likely to die after they leave the hospital...
How to Make Your Child’s Hospital Stay Safer, Less Stressful

More than 3 million kids are hospitalized in the United States every year. Whether it’s for...

More Doctors and Health Care News

Dangerous UTIs Can Follow Hospital Patients Home
For the sick or elderly, a urinary tract infection (UTI) can prove deadly. With...
- Posted July 9, 2019
- 17
In-Hospital Cardiac Arrests May Be a ‘Major Public Health Problem’
Many more U.S. hospital patients suffer cardiac arrest than previously thought, a new study...
- Posted July 9, 2019
- 11
Meet ‘Huggable,’ the Robot Bear Who’s Helping Hospitalized Kids
He sings, he plays games — and Huggable the ‘social robot’ teddy bear could...
- Posted June 28, 2019
- 9
Patient Catches on Fire During Heart Surgery
Having emergency heart surgery is always risky, but a new case report reveals an...
- Posted June 4, 2019
- 5
Quieter NICUs a Good Rx for Premature Babies
Shhhhh. Preterm infants can benefit from quiet times in hospital neonatal intensive care units...
- Posted May 15, 2019
- 8
Quick Test Helps Predict Hospital Readmission Risk After Heart Attack
For elderly heart attack survivors, how well they perform on a simple mobility test...
- Posted April 23, 2019
- 5
Kids’ ER Visits for Swallowing Toys, Foreign Objects Have Doubled Since 1990s
About 100 kids a day are rushed to U.S. emergency rooms after accidentally swallowing...
- Posted April 12, 2019
- 1
Hospital Privacy Curtains Could Be Breeding Ground for Germs
Privacy curtains in hospital rooms might offer patients some personal dignity, but they can...
- Posted April 12, 2019
- 17
Microbes on International Space Station Are Familiar From Earth
Scientists have been cataloging bacteria and fungi inside the International Space Station (ISS), and...
- Posted April 8, 2019
- 12
Heart Attacks Fall By One-Third Among Older Americans
A groundbreaking new study holds heartening news for older Americans. Since the mid-1990s, the...
- Posted March 15, 2019
- 10
Blood Test to Diagnose Heart Attacks May Not Be Foolproof
A blood test used to detect a heart attack may often provide some misleading...
- Posted March 14, 2019
- 9

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.