Doctors and Health Care

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Stressed, Exhausted: Frontline Workers Faced Big Mental Strain in Pandemic

Doctors, nurses and other frontline health workers in U.S. emergency departments have struggled with significant mental...
Why Are ER Wait Times Getting Longer for Kids in Mental Health Crisis?

U.S. children commonly wait hours in the emergency room for help with a mental health crisis...
Most Injured Workers Resume Jobs After Recovery, But Finances Suffer

About six in 10 U.S. workers who’ve been hospitalized for an injury return to their jobs,...

More Doctors and Health Care News

Many Recovering COVID Patients Show Signs of Long-Term Organ Damage
Long-term organ damage appears to be common in hospitalized COVID-19 patients after they’ve recovered...
- Posted April 1, 2021
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Black Patients Often Treated at Hospitals With Poorer Safety Records: Report
Compared with white patients, Black adults are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes...
- Posted March 30, 2021
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Secondhand Smoke Is Sending Kids to the ER
Nonsmokers usually try to avoid secondhand smoke, but many kids have no option, and...
- Posted March 29, 2021
- 5
‘Avoidable Hospitalizations:’ Another Way the Pandemic Is Tougher on Minorities
White Americans had a greater decline in potentially avoidable hospitalizations during the early months...
- Posted March 19, 2021
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On-the-Road Help: ‘Mobile Stroke Units’ Are Saving People’s Lives
Time is never more precious than in the minutes after a stroke. Now, research...
- Posted March 18, 2021
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Minutes Mean Months: Getting Stroke Care Fast Is Vital, Study Confirms
For someone suffering a severe stroke, every 10 minutes that goes by before treatment...
- Posted March 15, 2021
- 4
How Moving the Homeless to Hotels During the Pandemic Helps Everyone
Giving homeless COVID-19 patients a free hotel room for their quarantine and recovery pays...
- Posted March 5, 2021
- 10
COVID Death Rates 10 Times Higher in Countries Where Most Are Overweight: Report
(Healthday News) — In a finding that suggests overweight people should be prioritized for...
- Posted March 4, 2021
- 17
Does an Arthritis Drug Help Patients Battling Severe COVID? It Depends on the Study
Two new studies suggest that the jury is still out on whether the arthritis...
- Posted March 3, 2021
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How Climate Change Could Put More MS Patients in Danger
When temperatures rise, people with multiple sclerosis need to keep cool. Heat sensitivity is...
- Posted March 2, 2021
- 2
‘Telestroke’ Care at Hospitals Is Boosting Patient Outcomes
You’ve had a stroke and arrive at a hospital, but the stroke specialist is...
- Posted March 2, 2021
- 16

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.