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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >> Step one involves treatment applied directly to the skin, such as a steroid cream or ointment. In step two, light-based therapy (most often ultraviolet rays) is used to soothe the lesions. Step three involves medicines that affect the immune system in a way to prevent the overproduction of skin cells.
Those medicines include new breakthrough drugs called "biologics."
"If you just have psoriasis on your elbows, we're going to give you a cream," said Dr. Steven R. Feldman, a professor of dermatology, pathology and public health sciences and director of the Center for Dermatology Research at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C. "If you have more generalized psoriasis, then you'll be a candidate for the new biologics."
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The biologic drugs are made up of living proteins formed in bacteria, versus chemically created drugs, said Dr. Andrew Blauvelt, of the department of dermatology at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.
Blauvelt said the biologic drugs resemble a "laser-guided missile," compared with the "big bomb" medicines of years past.
"The biologics are excellent. Everyone should know them, and not everyone does," Blauvelt said. "They work in very specific ways, unlike past medicines that worked in a broad, nonspecific manner. That has allowed us to target specific symptoms and decrease side effects."
Biologics are injectable and are usually self-administered at home, another plus for the new treatments. "They aren't messy creams and ointments," Blauvelt said.
On the down side, biologics can be quite expensive and are relatively untested, as most have been approved for use over the past few years.
"The cost is still very high, and we still don't know the long-term effects," Blauvelt said.
Biologics also do not work on all psoriasis patients. Doctors estimate that only a third of patients will respond dramatically to a particular biologic, which means much trial and error in finding the best treatment.
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