Infectious Disease

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Living With HIV Raises Odds for Sudden Cardiac Death

People living with HIV have to take powerful drug cocktails to keep their disease in check,...
Less Than 1% of People Who’ve Had Severe COVID Get Re-Infected

People who have had severe COVID-19 and worry about going through another bout of it can...
Pandemic Silver Lining: Fewer Dangerous Flare-Ups for COPD Patients

Public health precautions meant to reduce the spread of COVID-19 may have had an unintended but...

More Infectious Disease News

Third Dose of COVID Vaccine Boosts Protection in Transplant Recipients
Researchers say an extra dose of two-dose COVID-19 vaccines may improve immune system protection...
- Posted June 15, 2021
- 8
After COVID, Many Americans Are Struck by New Maladies: Study
Suffering through a case of COVID-19 unleashed a host of other health problems in...
- Posted June 15, 2021
- 4
Novavax’s COVID Vaccine Shines in Latest Trial
Novavax, a Maryland biotechnology company that has struggled mightily with delays in developing its...
- Posted June 14, 2021
- 8
Babies Produce Strong Immune Response to Ward Off COVID-19: Study
British researchers report that babies have a strong immune response to the virus that...
- Posted June 14, 2021
- 17
Will People Really Need a Yearly COVID Booster Vaccine?
As the number of people fully immunized against COVID-19 rises into the hundreds of...
- Posted June 11, 2021
- 12
More Evidence Flu Shot Is Safe in Pregnancy
There’s more proof that getting a flu shot during pregnancy doesn’t pose a risk...
- Posted June 10, 2021
- 14
Did People Smoke More or Less During the Pandemic?
The coronavirus pandemic has affected American smokers in different ways, a new study finds....
- Posted June 10, 2021
- 4
Colds, Bronchitis Cases Resurged After Texas Eased COVID Rules
After Texas relaxed COVID-19 restrictions, other respiratory illnesses — such as colds, bronchitis and...
- Posted June 9, 2021
- 16
Real-World Study Shows Power of Pfizer, Moderna Vaccines to Prevent COVID
A real-world study shows that even when folks who get the Pfizer and Moderna...
- Posted June 8, 2021
- 12
‘Breakthrough’ COVID Infections May Be Common in Vaccinated Transplant Patients
New research suggests that many people who’ve undergone an organ transplant do not get...
- Posted June 8, 2021
- 16
New Disabilities Plague Half of COVID Survivors After Hospital Discharge
People hospitalized for COVID-19 are often discharged in much worse shape than before their...
- Posted June 7, 2021
- 14

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.