Common Misconceptions about Psoriasis
Psoriasis is a common skin disorder but still, many misconceptions circulate and continue to exist about the condition. Even some sufferers of the disease have obvious and practical misunderstandings about it. In the Biblical times, people have thought psoriasis is a form of leprosy, the most dreaded and most contagious skin disorder. It is time such misconceptions are corrected. Psoriasis is not related to leprosy in any way.
There are many other myths that are perpetuating about psoriasis. It is important to identify the most common of them. It would also be appropriate if such myths would be properly addressed, reviewed, and corrected so as to help curtail the misconceptions about the disease.
Psoriasis is contagious. As mentioned, even in the Biblical times, people thought the disorder could be passed to others through direct skin contact. Because of the conditions appearance, it is easy for most people to easily conclude that it could be transferred. The truth is that there is no other way that psoriasis could be communicated. It is genetic or hereditary in nature. That means sufferers are born with it. On the other hand, flare ups could be triggered by several factors like weather, infection, stress, or intake of other medications.
Psoriasis is caused by dirty blood. This could be a sarcastic remark against sufferers of the condition. The truth is that no blood is dirty. Second, blood of psoriasis patients have high levels of TNF alpha, which should not be regarded as contaminants or waste products mixed with blood. TNF alpha are natural compounds found in blood. They are just higher in volume in psoriasis sufferers. Though hereditary in nature, psoriasis is not due to contaminated blood.
Psoriasis is a form of cancer. Apparently, the skin condition makes skin cells grow rapidly and abnormally. However, this disorder is not linked in any way to skin cancer. Psoriasis may look like an abnormally growing skin, with patches and redness, but it is not in any way a form of cancer. That is why there is no reason for any sufferer to think psoriasis is fatal or it may cause unbearable pain. It is just coincidental, according to experts, that risk of lymphoma is higher in psoriasis sufferers (2%) than in the general population (1%).
If you do not know any in your family who has psoriasis, you would not have it. While the idea of the skin disorder as hereditary in nature supports this assertion, it is not always correct. Psoriasis affects about 2% of the global population. Most patients could recall or identify relatives with the disorder. However, there are also many sufferers who could not. There may be other family members you do not know who have exhibited the condition. Those relatives may already have been dead long before you knew them. Some relatives may already have been good in hiding the condition out of embarrassment especially in the past.
There is cure for psoriasis but it has been kept secret. Many marketers love to arouse curiosity and interest by claiming to have developed secret cures for the disorder. The truth is that psoriasis is treatable but it is not curable. Psoriasis treatments are meant to relieve flare ups. Cure to get rid of psoriasis for good is yet to be formulated and developed.