ShareKUWAIT: Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) hosted on Monday the Meraas campaign of the Kuwait Dermatologists Association to provide awareness on chronic psoriasis, its causes, and ways to alleviate and deal with the symptoms. Dr Muhammad Al-Adwani, a member of the association and a dermatologist at Farwaniya Hospital, told KUNA that the association launched its awareness campaign “Meraas” in early October—the month of awareness of psoriasis around the world. The campaign began at Farwaniya Hospital, followed by Al-Adan Hospital, and then KUNA to conclude the campaign at Kuwait University this week.
Al-Adwani added that psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune skin disease that is not completely cured at the present time, but there are several methods to control its symptoms, such as topical creams and ointments, some oral medications, as well as ultraviolet phototherapy. He explained that psoriasis is linked to dietary habits, and its symptoms increase when eating processed and packaged foods and eating red meat, as well as dairy products and refined sugar because they contain high levels of saturated fats and sugars that may increase inflammation.
On the symptoms of the disease, he said that when suffering from psoriasis, the immune system in the human body mistakenly attacks the body’s healthy cells. The factors leading to the infection are genetic causes and a defect in the human immune system, in addition to various environmental and biological factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and psychological factors such as stress.
Al-Adwani indicated that psoriasis has different types, including plaque, which is the most common. Chronic psoriasis, which affects 2 percent of people globally, is usually accompanied by several diseases, including psoriatic arthritis and cardiovascular diseases, as well as metabolic syndrome (obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol, and type II diabetes), as well as mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety.
Psoriasis is also accompanied by inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and is also associated with liver diseases such as cirrhosis and an increase in the percentage of fatty masses on the liver. Al-Adwani called on people with psoriasis to visit dermatology departments in various hospitals in the country to receive the latest treatments available to curb and control the symptoms ahead of the winter season.—KUNA
