Call for creating awareness about psoriasis.

Byline: Iqtidar Gilani

LAHORE -- Psoriasis, a disease more than 125 million people are suffering from worldwide, drastically affects everyday lives of patients.

A Pakistan Psoriasis Foundation report states that in an analysis of survey data from 5,000 psoriasis patients, 20 percent of women said that psoriasis was a massive problem in their everyday lives, compared to 12 percent of men. In addition, approximately 60 percent of women said that psoriasis interferes with their ability to enjoy life, as compared to 52 percent of men. Overall, women have greater difficulty dealing with psychological and social issues brought about by psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease clinically evident as raised inflamed scaly red skin lesions that crack and itch. International Psoriasis Day is observed globally on 29th of October to increase the awareness of one of the most important skin problems.

'Psoriasis has a bimodal age of disease onset. The first peak is around 20 and the second peak is around 60. Around one-third of patients are under the age of 18 years. Childhood obesity and psoriasis is considered amongst one of the prevalent factors. It is said that psoriasis has a genetic basis, as 23.4% to 71% of children will have a family history of psoriasis,' said Prof Ijaz Hussain, chairman of the Department of Dermatology, King Edward...