Psoriasis is not established as an autoimmune disease simply because the autoantigen is not known. But there are lots of diseases thought to be autoimmune for which an antigen is not known. Dr. Christophers feels that an abnormality of a genetic allele, or a number of them, is likely to explain why the psoriasis patient's immune system recognizes antigens that are not either recognized or poorly recognized by other individuals. In a multifactorial, heterogeneous disease such as psoriasis, there may be more susceptibility genes participating to bring about that expression of the condition. Both Dr. Voorhees and Dr. Christophers classify psoriasis as an organ-specific autoimmune disease, such as multiple sclerosis, systemic sclerosis and Crohn's disease.
Physicians diagnosis psoriasis by examining the skin, scalp and nails.
You may have thought flaky was only an adjective for piecrusts and croissants but with psoriasis you will learn that in actuality, it describes skin with psoriasis. Oftentimes, a laboratory procedure is needed which involves a skin biopsy which is then examined under a microscope for a definitive diagnosis. The physician may prescribe medications to apply on the skin containing cortisone-like compounds, synthetic vitamin D, tar or anthralin. These may be used in combination with natural sunlight or ultraviolet light. Some patients may require oral medications, with or without light treatment.